Causes of Squatter Settlements Squatters impinge on an abandoned/derelict property belonging to a different person and accommodate themselves there. If not evacuated, squatters use these properties as their permanent shelter. Technically, squatters are trespassers and trespassing is a civil matter and not criminal. Hence, squatting is a breach of civil law but not illegal. Squatting is relatively a modern problem due to various factors that contribute to lack of housing facilities, such as apathy of the ruling government, population boom, lack of land, lack of jobs and others.
So what prompts people to occupy a property that is not their own? Following are the causes of squatter settlements: • The chief reason for squatter settlements occurs due to economic reasons. The homeless are naturally inclined to search for shelter and they do so in abandoned properties, even if the property is in a dire state, unsuitable for occupation. • People squat in properties to evade criminal acts performed on homeless people such as theft. Thieves target homeless people on the streets as their only possession is money and if victimized, they are less likely to contact the police as the authorities won’t heed their problems. • At times, squatters are people who have relocated from rural areas to the urban areas in search for better economic opportunities. • High cost of living and lack of proper housing force them to squat. They either relocate to the peripheries of the cities where quality of life is dismal or to the centre of the cities where overpopulation leads to lack of job opportunities and suitable housing.