| Comment | I was a very active member of the squatting scene in Amsterdam for many years. One hard fought right we won was a change in the law that said that if a building was standing empty for more than a year without any plans, then it could be legally squatted, and in fact the polis would protect and uphold the rights of the squatters against the owners if they tries to kick out squatters illegally.
In the past some land owners held on to huge amounts of properties in the city centre for years while it fell apart and they could demolish it to build luxury flats or while the value of the land itself just increased year by year. Under the new laws, they had to have concrete plans and take on a whole legal process to evict squatters. |
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