Anti-squat research group

Barcelona based Observatori DESC (Observatory for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) is looking for information on anti-squatting practices across Europe.

From the Observatori DESC in Barcelona, we would like to write a report on the impact of anti-squat companies on the right to housing in Europe. Private companies that  are on the edge of the law, such as Camelot in  northern
Europe or Desokupa in Spain, privatize ” security” and  threaten  tenant’s rights and stability. ‘Desokupa’ is a group of paramilitaries and members of far right groups carrying out intimidation and illegal evictions of squatters mostly around Barcelona but more recently further afield.

The blog (mostly in Catalan) for the campaign “Stop Desokupa” is here: https://stopdesokupa.noblogs.org/

Article about the group in Madrid-based radical newspaper Diagonal (in Castilian Spanish) here: https://www.diagonalperiodico.net/libertades/30817-paramilitares-y-extrema-derecha-integran-empresa-ejecuta-desalojos-extrajudiciales

Camelot offers “vacant property services”: they  rent empty flats or offices to “tenants”  who ensure that no one will squat the flat. Those tenants/guardians can then be fired without any justification.

Desokupa is a Catalan company that evicts violently people who don’t pay their rent or mortgage anymore.

Do you have any information about these practices or similar practices in your respective countries? More precisely:

– What does  the law  say in your country concerning tenancy at will  and eviction processes? Are this practices allowed? Did firms like Camelot did any lobby to allow them?

-Is Camelot or similar firms offering “vacant property services” settled in your country?

-Do you know any  other company that practices forced evictions?

-If this  companies exist, how do associations advocating for the right to housing react? Do they protest? How?

Please share any  complaint, evidence or practical information about anti-squat companies.

Thank you so much,

All the best,

Observatori DESC