Polling Primer: Little Sympathy for Squatters

Most Brits think the law should be changed to make squatting a criminal offence, according to a recent nationally representative survey of 1718 adults conducted online by YouGov.
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Most Brits think the law should be changed to make squatting a criminal offence, according to a recent nationally representative survey of 1718 adults conducted online by YouGov.

-81% think the law should be changed, while only 13% think it should be left as it is.

Within this majority, Conservative voters were even more adamant:

-93% in support of criminalising the act of squatting, next to 75% and 77% for Labour and Lib-Dem supporters respectively.

Meanwhile, the older we get, the more likely we are to look unfavourably on squatters. 85% of those aged 60 and over agreed with the change in law, while the figure for those between 18-39 was 77%.

There was also a small difference in views by social grade, with marginally more Middle Class (82%) than working class respondents (79%) favouring a change in law.

To some extent, therefore, marginal differences in attitude to the squatting issue reflect traditional divisions in society - young/old, lower/upper class, left/right - but not by much. Squatters evidently have few sympathisers among a majority of the UK.