The upper house of parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of a ban on squatting, ending a practice which has been part of the Dutch protest landscape for decades.

The ban was passed by the lower house of parliament last year when Geert Wilders’ PVV agreed to support the legislation, if the jail terms for squatting were increased.
Now senators have voted in favour of the ban, drawn up by MPs from the CDA, ChristenUnie and VVD. Left wing parties are opposed.
Legal
At the moment, squatting is legal if a property has been empty for at least a year and if the squat is registered with the police.
The new law means squatters face up to a year in jail if they take over an empty building, double that if violence is involved. It is also supposed to make it easier for local authorities to take over empty buildings which have been left empty for long periods.
One Socialist Party senator said the ban meant ‘thousands of people have become criminals overnight.’
October
The bill may come into effect on October 1, but justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has already hinted this could be sooner.
However, he does not expect police to begin clearing squats immediately.

Tradition
Squatting has long been a part of the Dutch political scene. However, opponents say in recent years the movement has moved away from its old ideals of combating property speculation and homelessness and has become more violent..
Research by the VU University into the Amsterdam squatters movement earlier this year showed the city has between 200 and 300 squats and no more than 1,500 squatters. In the movement’s heyday in the 1980s, there were some 20,000 squatters in the capital.