§ Mr. GouldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to introduce a Bill to make squatting illegal; and what proposals he will make to rehouse those thereby displaced.
§ Mr. JackThe Government are committed to strengthening the protection which the law gives to people whose property is occupied by squatters. We are currently considering how best this should be done, in the light of the responses received to a discussion paper on this subject. It is not possible to say, at this stage, when legislation might be brought before the House.
Policy relating to the rehousing of those displaced as a result of changes in the law is a matter for the Department of the Environment. But consideration of individual cases will fall to be carried out in exactly the same way as those who are evicted under the law as it stands.