The Netherlands (squatting history)

The Netherlands has a long history of squatting, particularly after World War II, due to housing shortages and vacant buildings. In the 1960s and 1970s, activists and young people occupied empty properties to protest high rents and urban planning policies. Squatting became a social movement advocating for affordable housing and property rights. Over time, laws evolved, with some legal recognition of squats and efforts to regularize or evict them. Today, squatting remains a complex issue in the Netherlands, balancing tenants’ rights, property owners’ interests, and social activism.