Squatters rights?

[justasking]

Hi, i recently read about a woman who called in decorators to a house she had just bought and they liked the house so much they wont leave and are using squatters rights to stay. What i would like to know is if someone was to break into a house and refuse to leave would that be classed as squatting or burglary? Do you have to be envited into a house to squat in it? If i went to my friends house and she went to the shop could i refuse to leave and not let her in? It makes no sense to me hopefully some1 here will know. Thanks in advance.

[kempie]

Squatting means occupying empty property to live in. If a person is already resident at the address then nobody can legally squat there.

[RATTER15]

If you break into a house, i.e. damage a door or window to gain entry you are breaking the law. if you walk into a house via an open or unlocked door, you have broken no laws, strange but true! Michael Fagin for instance broke no laws when he walked into the queens bedroom as he walked through open or unlocked doors.

[RATTER15]

The way squatters get around these laws is to get somebody else to break in to a house for them. They can then claim to have walked through an open or unlocked door as long as they didn't cause the damage themselves.

[harleybobs]

To have squatters rights to a house that has been left empty I belive that you have to pay the " back " council tax for the amount of years the property has been stood empty. If anyone could clarify this I would be really greatful as there is a house next to my parents house that has been empty for at least the last ten yrs that I would love to get my hands on.