Although the data on squatting and squatting seem to indicate a decrease in squatting, the reality is that the problem is far from being solved, according to specialists in the field.
In 2023, there were 15,286 reports of illegal squatting (breaking and entering and usurpation), 8.8% less than in 2022 and 11.5% less than in 2021. But according to jurists, despite what the data say, squatting is on the rise. It should be borne in mind that the numerous cases of squatting do not appear in these statistics and also that alternative ways of resolving the problem out of court are beginning to be chosen, such as negotiating with tenants (and/or paying) on their own or hiring companies specialised in evictions.
The Congress of Deputies is awaiting approval of a text that allows the crimes of breaking and entering and home invasion to be processed under a fast-track trial procedure of no more than 15 days. But this regulation excludes cases of squatting for rent (premeditated and voluntary non-payment of rent), which are the current focus of the problem.
Squatting for rent is increasing to the point of representing 80% of total squatting. In view of the administrative slowness, landlords avoid filing a complaint and opt for other means. Squatting for rent is also becoming, shall we say, professionalised and the sequence of actions is often repeated: the occupants rent the flat, pay their month's deposit, pay the current month's rent, present (false) documentation and gain ‘legal’ access to the flat. Once they are inside, they stop paying. There is even talk of organised mafias.
In the opinion of many of those involved, the government does not want to publish data on squatting for rent in order to avoid scaremongering. There are situations that will never appear in the statistics because agreements are reached with the occupants prior to the complaint or because they are handled by lawyers or companies. In addition, the data shown come from complaints, but there are many other common procedures to recover housing that do not appear in the statistics and distort reality.
Current legislation is facilitating squatting. It is very paradoxical, but the situation is that landlords end up negotiating a sum of money with tenants in order to get them to leave the property. And the tenants, once they leave, look for another objective than squatting.
The reasons for these decisions lie in the insufficient legal protection for landlords. The slowness of judicial procedures discourages them; a trial can take up to a year, plus possible appeals and appeals, and the possibility of suspension of the eviction due to vulnerability. In total, it can take more than 2 years to recover housing.
Nor do the various extensions that are being given to the regulations for the protection of vulnerable families that were established in the pandemic through Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 of 31 March, which clearly protects tenants, and which will remain in force at least until the end of 2025, facilitate the recovery of squatted dwellings.
In addition, the current Housing Law 12/2023, which has tied up the large landlords, who find it very difficult to recover their homes in cases of vulnerability, and delays legal proceedings with the obligatory intervention of the Social Services, the need for conciliation periods and the obligation of landlords to provide information that sometimes depends on the tenants themselves.
In short, landlords, faced with the fear of being two years or more without being able to repossess their property and without receiving any income, prefer to pay and re-rent the property rather than go to court.
At the beginning, the tenant in the negotiation with the landlord could be satisfied with a total or partial cancellation of the debt, or a small extra amount to pay the deposit and the monthly payment for a new home, but two or three years later the amounts demanded are higher and can reach 5000 euros in the case of non-payment of fees, or even 15,000 euros in the case of illegal squatting.
Faced with this situation of real blackmail, lawyers usually recommend landlords to initiate legal proceedings to gain time and, at the same time, to negotiate without abandoning the judicial process.
There is an alternative to the judicial process and to negotiation and payment, for the recovery of the property by the owners, which are the de-occupation companies. These are private entities specialised in the eviction of people who illegally squat a property.
The way of eviction companies to recover housing is the most discussed but has grown to 21% since 2022. These companies are often highly questioned and are often accused of exceeding their practices and of falling into crimes of coercion. The complaints they receive, however, are often dismissed for lack of evidence.
To avoid these alternative solutions that sometimes go beyond the bounds of ethics or border on illegality, legal professionals propose a series of comprehensive measures to tackle the root of the problem of squatting. Among the measures proposed by the jurists, the following stand out:
