Oldenzaal, 15 September 2005

Dear Tonia,

I found it very astonishing that you didn’t know that the phenomenon of breaking into houses is a big issue in the Netherlands. It really gets a lot of attention in the Dutch newspapers.

Very often, it happens with a lot of violence. Doors are being kicked in, windows are being smashed. Squatters are clearly considered to be criminals. Breaking into houses is illegal in the Netherlands, but very often it is being tolerated by the government.

Personally I think that that opinion is a good one. Sometimes squatters have their personal reasons. Especially students don’t always have enough money to pay for their study, books and housing accommodations. Also, it is sometimes very hard to find a proper accommodation near to the university. There are a lot of uninhabited flats and unused office blocks, for all sorts of reasons, for example an unattractive environment, or because they are crumbling. Do we just have to let these accommodations fall into disrepair when we could be helping people who don’t have the money to pay for an accommodation? The question is, can we allow people to make these accommodations their living place? Where is the line between what is yours and what isn’t?

Luckily, we do have a sort of solution for this problem. In the Netherlands, we have so-called anti-break-in-houses. You can rent a living space, like an empty office block, flat or other empty living space for a very low price, so that they are prevented for being broken into. Though, when the rightful owner decides that he can sell the accommodation or that it is time to demolish it, you’ll have to leave the accommodation within a week or so. That’s your own risk.

I think this is a very good solution. Not all the uninhabited accommodations are already anti-break-in-houses, but it would be very good if they would become one. In that way you can make a compensation for the people who can’t pay for a proper house to live in, and also for the rightful owners and there will be no discussion anymore about whether you can make an accommodation yours or not when you truly in need of one.

I would rent an anti-break-in-house when I needed a space to live and I couldn’t pay for one. Wouldn’t you? What do you think of this solution?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,