What Is Considered Squatting?

Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. ... In developing countries and least developed countries, shanty towns often begin as squatted settlements.

What is classed as squatting?

Squatting is when someone deliberately enters property without permission and lives there, or intends to live there. This is sometimes known as 'adverse possession'. Squatting in residential buildings (like a house or flat) is illegal.

How long do you have to squat in a house?

In California, a “squatter,” that is, a person who occupies land without the right to do so, can gain possession of someone else's property by openly occupying it for at least five years without interruption and acting the way a true owner would.