Anti-squatting law likely to be passed

A law to ban squatting is likely to win majority support in the senate on June 1, news agency ANP reports on Wednesday.

The ban can count on the support of at least 41 of the 75 senators – the Christian Democrats, the Liberals and two minor orthodox Christian parties, ANP said.
The law was only narrowly passed by the lower house (tweede kamer) with the support of Geert Wilders’ PVV. It agreed to back the draft legislation when it was amended to increase the maximum prison term for squatting from four months to one year. The PVV does not have any senators.
October
Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin said if the bill is passed, it will come into effect on October 1, possibly earlier.
However, it is unlikely that all 1,500 people currently squatting empty buildings would face criminal charges immediately, news agency ANP quoted Hirsch Ballin as saying.
Supporters of the ban say little is left of the ideology-based squatting movement of the 1970s and 80s which campaigned against property speculation and high rents.
The mayors of the country’s four biggest cities are opposed to a ban, saying it would be unworkable.