Also added: in 2011 that the British government estimated that there were "20,000 squatters in the UK" and "650,000 empty properties".
With so many empty properties, one would think that squatting would end homelessness. But no, because most genuine homeless people don't squat, (but do need help). Most squatters these days are proffessional squatters from relatively well off and well educated backgrounds who see it as a political statement. I saw one of them being interviewed on the news yesterday. Many could rent somewhere but choose not to, and that doesn't help the genuine homeless people.
If its about the morality of leaving houses empty, I wonder how they would feel if the law was amended so that someone CAN occupy an empty house BUT the owner would have the right to claim a market rent from them.
(slightly off topic, also saw on the News yesterday about "bed in a shed" dwellings used by some dodgy landlords, which is the other side of the coin, and the Govt seem to be cracking down on that too.)
We all deserve a decent home, but that doesn't mean anyone should have the right to take someone elses.