Repeal new squatting law (section 144 legal aid bill)

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Repeal new squatting law (section 144 legal aid bill)

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We call for Section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which criminalises squatting in residential properties to be repealed. The law is not working:

- Homeless people are being penalised. Many are finding themselves on the streets who would otherwise have found shelter in abandoned residential properties
- Some have ultimately gone to jail for using empty buildings to put a roof over their head
- Contrary to government propaganda, the law is doing nothing more to protect people in their homes, who were already protected by the existing Criminal Law Act 1977
- It is encouraging property speculators and unscrupulous landlords to keep buildings empty
- It is increasing the burden on taxpayers as squatters move into the housing benefit system on top of the prosecution costs
- Despite an overwhelming 96% rejection in the governments consultation, the law was rushed through parliament without sufficient scrutiny and therefore lacks any legitimacy

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