Squatting guide

This guide is a short introduction to the different steps you can take
when you want to squat a building in the Netherlands.

We decided to make a guide that does not go too much into detail. We want to keep it
as straight to the point as possible. If you want more information you can go to your
local Kraakspreekuur (squatting advice hour, more info on page 4) or look at the links
that are at the end of the document.
This is just a compilation of how some people squat and have squatted (in Amsterdam)
over the past few years. Now it is up to you to see what you want to take from this. You
can always decide do to things differently. Squatting is a lot about trying, being
flexible and finding creative solutions.

Good luck and have fun squatting your house !!!

A. Chose your house
1
1. Find an empty house
2. Tag the building
3. Go during the day

B. Find our more information about the building

1. Who is the owner?

2. How long has it been empty?
3. Are there any plans with the building?

C. Entering the building

1. Take a close look at the house and its surroundings

2. Get your crew together
3. Chose one method
4. Action day

D. Securing the house

1. House peace
2. Barricading

E. Reveal

1. What to have with you

2. Important tasks
3. The different things that can happen

F. After the reveal

1. Occupying
2. What happens legally?

G. Annex
 2

A. Choose your house

1. Find an empty house

Bike or walk around the city and look around to see if anything looks empty. Look
out for broken or boarded up windows, places where lights are off, trash on or in
front of the door.

2. Tag the building

This means that you slide a piece of

paper between the door.
This allows you to know if someone
entered the building. If someone
opens the door, the tag will fall.
Go several times during the next
days, weeks, months in order to
check if the tag is still there.

3. Go during the day

In order to be sure it is empty, you can go during the day. This allows you to see
better inside, you can ring the bell and see if anyone opens the door.
 3
B. Find out more information about the building

Once you found your empty house you will want to find as much information
as you can about it.

To complete these steps you can go to your local Kraakspreekuur (KSU).

They can help you to find, pay for and understand the information you will
encounter.
In Amsterdam:
KSU at Joe’s Garage:Pretoriusstraat 43, 1092 EZ, Amsterdam Every
Tuesday 19h to 20h30
SKSU at Vrankrijk: Spuistraat 216: Every Thursday from 19h to 20h30
Check radar.squat.net to find a KSU in your city

When doing your research there are three main questions you need to keep
in mind.

1. Who is the owner?

Where to find this information?
Check on kadaster.nl

What are you looking for?

The document you need is the
Eigendomsinformatie. It costs 2,80
euros. You can buy it online and will
receive it online.

Why do you need this information?

It is useful to know whether the owner is
a person or a company. Maybe other
people already know about this owner,
have already squatted a house from this
owner in the past.
e on
The name of the owner and the dat
which he bought the building
 4
2. How long has it been empty?

On your laptop, you can go

on google maps, use the
street view function and
scroll back in time in order to
see how building has
changed. This can allow you
to estimate how long it has
been empty.

Here you can scroll back in time

3. Are there any plans with the building?

A building can be empty but maybe there are plans with it. Maybe the owner has
permits in order to renovate it, demolish it etc.

You can find some of this information online :

officielebekendmakingen.nl
oozo.nl
 5
C. Entering the building

1. Take a close look at the house and its surroundings

Questions to ask yourself, things to look out for

How many locks are on the door?

What type of lock is it ?

rim lock mortice lock

Push the door in order to feel it or try feeling it

Are the locks actually locked? with a door latch opening card that you slide
between the door and the door frame..

Example of a master
lockbox. Sometimes keys
Is there a lockbox? are stored inside. This is
the easiest way in.

Is there a backdoor, are there

windows accessible, is there a The front door is not always the easiest way in.
garden ?

Are there alarms or cameras In this case you might want to be more careful,
around? cover your face, or reconsider.
2. Choose one method 6
You can take pictures of the lock and all the other elements you consider as interesting
or important.

Here is an overview and explanation of some of the techniques to break into the house.
Some of them have been copied, inspired or translated from zines made by other
groups. Of course, there are many more techniques! A more complete zine about
breaking and lockpicking is in the making. Once it will be finished you will probably be
able to find it at the same place where you found this zine :)

You can also go to the KSU. They can look at the pictures with you and give you advice,
lend you tools.
Lockbox picking
 7
Crowbar

1. Check the door

What kind of door? Wood or metal? Opens to inside or outside?
Is it a strong or weak door? Push the door and feel if it moves in the base. Is
there a big enough gap to fit a crowbar?
How many locks does it have and are they locked?You can try feeling it with
a door latch opening card that you slide between the door and the door
frame.
Check for 3 point lock.
Does it have an anti crowbar strip? Lookout for a metal strip on the side of the
door, on the side where it opens.

2. Tools you need

You will need at least two people and two crowbars. Decide who uses which
crowbar, and which one puts it first.

3. The technique

1. Push against the door with your

foot to create a gap at the

B
bottom.
2. Put the first crowbar like shown
on the drawing. A is the door, B
is the door frame. Press towards
the door.
3. The gap will widen so that the

A
second person can put the
second crowbar above the first
one.
4. Repeat this action and work your
way up until you are as close as
possible to the lock.
5. Use force until the door opens.
 8
Cylinder breaking

1.Check the door

This technique can be used in the case where the lock is sticking out at least 1 or 2 cm.

2. Tools you need

or

adjustable wrench or pliers + pliers + flat headed

screwdriver
3. The technique

1.
Grab the lower part 2.
You now see a round
with the wrench or
object. This is what would
pliers and move from
usually turn when you
right to left, first
insert a key. Use the pliers
slowly to create some
to take out this part.
movement. Then, push
the tool to one side
with force. This breaks
the front part of the
lock.
If it's a rim lock
4. If it's a rim lock the last two steps
3. are different.
After breaking off
Put this round object the cylinder you
on your screwdriver. the will find a small
not
Insert it and turn it ch notch. Put a flat
around. The door headed
should open. screwdriver in the
notch and turn it
around. The door
should open.
 9
Cylinder pulling: Method 1

1.Check the door

This method works if the lock is not sticking out of the door.

2. Tools you need

The first method we are going to talk about requires a cylinder puller. This tool can
only be owned by locksmiths so it can be a bit hard to access it. Sometimes they
have it at the KSU so you can ask there. On the next page we will talk about an
alternative method that does not require a cylinder puller.

self-drilling screw
Ø 4.2, 4.8 and 5.5mm T shaped screwdriver
WD-40
Cylinder puller
3. The technique
1.First, spray some WD-40 into the lock to reduce
the amount of noise .

2. Then, insert a self drilling screw into the lock.

Use the T shaped screwdriver to insert a few
centimetres inside of the lock. The T shaped
screwdriver gives you more force to do so. During
this step you need to be careful. If you put the
screw in too deep, the screw might break. If it is Insert the screw here
not deep enough, the lock might not break when
you try pulling it.

3. Put the cylinder puller against the screw. The

head of the screw needs to be in the notch of the
cylinder puller.
Notch
4. Turn on the part that is sticking out of the
cylinder puller (the part in black on the drawing). turn this part
Turn it until you hear a cracking or until you see
the lock falling on the floor.

5. This is the same as part 2/3/4 from the previous

technique.
 10
Cylinder pulling: Method 2

1. Tools you need

WD-40 T shaped screwdriver Hammer

flat headed Screw with red tip
2 The technique screwdriver
1. First, spray WD-40 into the lock to reduce
the amount of noise.

2. Then, insert a screw into the lock. Use

either a self drilling screw or one of the
screws with a red tip. Use the T shaped
screwdriver to insert a few centimetres
inside of the lock, until the end of the red
tip. The T shaped screwdriver gives you
more force to do so. During this step you
Insert the screw here
need to be careful. If you put the screw in
too deep, the screw might break. If it is not
deep enough, the lock might not break when
put the screw here
you try pulling it.

3. Once the screw is in deep enough, put the

head of the screw in the notch on the back
of the hammer.

4. Pull out the screw while trying to keep it

as straight as possible. So do not pull down
but towards yourself. What can help is to
put a piece of wood between the door and
the hammer so that the it stays straighter.

5. The lock should eventually break. Use

methods 2/3/4 from the part "cylinder
breaking" to open the door.
3. Get your crew together 11
You can always squat alone but it is safer, less stressful and more fun to do it
together with people. Get in touch with other people who want to squat. This is
something you can already have done before, it is always nicer to do all the
research and work together with someone.

Once you got your crew together it is nice to divide the tasks for the action day. You
will need:

1 or 2 breaker(s) This is the person breaking open the door

1 or more people who check if no one is seeing the

breaking happening. Look out for neighbours in the
Lookouts
houses next door or in front, people passing in the
street, cops.

You don’t want to be found with the tools. So once

A person going away you finished opening the door it is important to have
with the tool bag someone who can walk away with the tool bag and
either put it back in a safe place or hide it.

4. Action day
A few points to keep in mind

It’s nice to go by the street at different times of

the night before the action day to check.
Maybe there is a restaurant that closes late, or
At what time do you
neighbours that never sleep. This is all
want to do the action?
important information to have in order to
adapt your action.

If you suspect that there might be an alarm you

might want to decide to enter, walk through the
Do you want to start
house once and then come back later. Or if the
occupying
breaking made a lot of noise, and you're scared
immediately?
someone saw you, you can also wait for one or
two hours, or come back the next day.
 12
D. Securing the house

1. House peace
Some important information about how the Dutch law works around squatting.
You can not just enter a building and the next day show to everyone that you
squatted it. First you need to live there secretly for 24h to 3 days (or longer). After
this period of time you get what is called “house peace”. This means that cops can
not just suddenly come and kick you out. They need to start a court case in order
to evict you.

In order to prove that you did actually live there for

a few days, you need to take pictures of you doing
“homely things”. You then post these pictures on a
twitter account every two or three hours. Create a
How do you get house
public twitter account especially for this purpose,
peace?
and use a fake name. After the three days, when you
reveal the house (see part 5 about the reveal) you
can show the twitter pictures to the cops as a proof
that you have been living in the house for a few days.

Pictures of you cooking, cleaning, sleeping, reading.

Make sure the street is visible and there are some
elements showing that you are indeed inside of this
What do I post on particular house. Take a picture where you can see
twitter? the open door and the number of the house. Don’t
forget to remove the metadata (there are apps for
that that you can download in the app store) and
don’t forget to blur faces.

2. Barricading

It is important to secure your house as soon as you enter it and start living in it. The
way you barricade will depend on what you want to achieve.

A few questions to ask yourself in order to decide on your barricading technique:

Who do I want to keep out? Cops? Angry neighbours? An angry owner?

Do I want to get away if the cops say they are going to evict? Then you just need
barricading that is strong enough to keep them away while you escape.
 13
Here we are going to talk about the quick and easy barricades you can do.

Basic tools and stuff you need to have in order to get at least some protection. You can
always do way more, by adding beams, wooden planks, metal or whatever else you find. Be
creative and have fun!

Drill

Screws

To put on the doors. This will offer you

additional strength or it can be the only
Sliding bolts barricade if there is one door you want to
be able to open, in case that only door is
your escape route!

To put diagonally between the door and

Long screws the door frame

To attach between the door and the

Metal ground or ceiling, or between the door
corners and door frame.

To change the lock. You can do that

A lock before, during, or after the action.

Glue To glue the lock you don’t want to change

To put between the door and door frame

of doors you will not want to open. Or in
the middle of double windows. Or just in
Metal bits
general it’s good to have with you in case
you discover something you did not think
of but need to barricade.
 14
E. Reveal

The day of the reveal marks the moment where you stop hiding and make public
the fact that this house has been squatted. This happens after you stayed there
for 24h to 3 days.

You could also decide not to reveal that you are a squatter. Either you find a
building where you can live without anyone noticing that you live there, or you
move in somewhere and pretend like your are renting. In this case there is no
reveal. This might allow you to stay longer if no one finds out you live there, but
you also have the constant risk that someone (owner, someone coming to check
on the house) might show up at your door.

1. What to have with you

An action bag with tools and barricading material. You can

also put the material inside of the house before the day of
the reveal.

Kadaster: one copy inside, one copy with the police

speaker outside

Police letter: one copy inside, one copy with the police
speaker outside (see model for the letter on page 20)

Printed twitter pictures: one copy inside, one copy with

the police speaker outside

Bustcards: In case of arrest. Little cards with people's

rights + name and number of the lawyer. See model on
page 18

Banner: and neighbourhood letter: you can write a slogan or

any message you want to share. This is a way to communicate
that this house has been squatted. You can also write a letter
where you introduce yourself to the neighbours/
2. People needed for the reveal 15
At least 2 people. They will be inside during the
Inside crew reveal. Their task is to barricade and drop the
banner.

1 person. Their task is to ensure the

communication with cops. They will provide
Police speaker
them with the documents (kadaster, police
letter, twitter pictures).

1 or more people. They are in touch with the

Arrest group lawyers and, in case of arrests, they keep track
of the people who got arrested.

1 person. They are in constant communication

with the people inside, the police speaker, the
Outside contact
other people outside. They distribute the
bustcards.

You can ask at the KSU if they know a lawyer

whose number you can give to cops + that is
Lawyer on standby and could assist you in case of
arrest. This lawyer could also represent you in
a later stage.

3. The different things that can happen

During the reveal different scenarios can happen. Here is an overview of
the possible outcomes:

Speed eviction: This means that cops evict you immediately, on the day itself,
without starting a court case. They can use three reasons in order to speed evict:
Heterdaad: “caught in the act”. This means that they do not recognize your
house peace and consider that they caught you in the act of breaking in
Safety reasons: This means that they consider that the house is unsafe to live
in (because of holes in the floor, walls etc.).
The house is in use: This is used if they consider that the house is not empty
but in use by someone.
Approval of the house peace: Cops approve your house peace and leave. This means
that now the owner has to start a court case in order to evict you. Careful! It has
already happened in the past that cops come back 24h after the reveal and still
speed evict.
 16
F. After the reveal

The reveal has happened, everything went well, cops left, what now ?

1.Occupying

During the first days we would advise you to have one or more people in the house by
all times for at least the first 3 days.

Why is that? During the first days a lot of things can and will happen. Cops can
come back, journalists can come by, neighbours, other squatters, people who are
curious or want to help out, etc. It is nice to have someone who can deal with the
people showing up and who is in touch with other people who are close by and
could show up in case there is an emergency.

2. After a few days

After a few days you can start moving in, fixing stuff, just start living. You can ask at
the KSU or go by at other squats to ask for help if there are some things you need to
fix. They can help you with it, lend you tools, teach you skills.

In order to find furniture you can look up online when the trash day of the
neighbourhood is. Trash day is the day where people put the bulky waste in the street,
for it to be picked up the next morning. This is a really good way to find nice furniture!

If you enter your postcode in this website you can find out about the trash day of your
neighbourhood:
https://www.amsterdam.nl/afval-en-hergebruik/afvalinformatie/afvalwijzer/

2. Communicating

After the reveal you can post a statement on indymedia.nl to let

other people know you squatted the building. Mention the date on
which you squatted the place, the address, the name of the owner
or company. This is useful for other people doing research in case
they wan to squat a building from the same owner.
 17
3. What happens legally?

Getting arrested for squatting

Squatting is a Criminal act for which you can get arrested and go to court. Usually
convictions result in fines, but the maximum sentence for squatting is one year of
imprisonment, more if violence was involved.
Read about your rights in the bustcards that you can find on page 19 or in the "know
your rights" flyer of the AFGA website (link on page 18).

The legal procedure in case you are threatened with eviction

If no speed eviction takes place, squats can get evicted either through a criminal
procedure or a civil procedure.

Civil procedure: This means that the owner starts a lawsuit. You will be informed of
the court case through a letter.

Criminal procedure: This happens after the owner pressed charges against the
squatters. If the Public Prosecutor decides that he wants to evict the squat he
needs to submit a request to a Judge Commissioner (Rechter Commissaris) who
takes the final decision.
Temporality: From the moment when the Public Prosecuter submits the
request to the Rechter Commissaris the court case can take place within three
days.
Chances of winning: Squatting court cases are only rarely won
What happens when losing the court case: Eviction can be immediate or a few
days can be given to leave the building
Appeal: Appeal is only possible after the eviction. There haven't been any cases
where the squatters can return to the building but, if the appeal is won, it can
still be helpful for future court cases.
Costs: Whether squatters win or lose the court cases there are no costs for the
procedure. You will only need to pay your lawyer.
 18
Annex

Important links

https://radar.squat.net/en
To find all about the events organized in the city.
There you can find out about the time and place
of the KSU for example

https://planet.squat.net/
Autonomous media platform
https://joesgarage.nl/
Website of the squatted social
space Joe's Garage. On their
website you can find squatting
manuals, news and events.

https://www.indymedia.nl
Autonomous media platform where everyone can
publish their statements or other news.
https://astudentstruggle.noblogs.org/fil Open publication.
es/2023/02/How-to-live-for-free-
zinemake8.pdf
A zine on how to live for little money. You
will find tips specific to Amsterdam but https://afga.noblogs.org/
also just in general. Website of Anarcha-feminist
Group Amsterdam. There you
can find, among other things,
the template of the bustcard
and flyers with your rights

https://joesgarage.nl/wp-
content/uploads/joe2/2020/11/kra
akhandleiding2015.pdf
https://joesgarage.nl/wp-
Squatting manual written in 2015.
content/uploads/joe2/2020/11/rot
In Dutch!
terdamse-kraakhandleiding-
2020.pdf
Squatting manual written by the
KSU Rotterdam. In Dutch !
Template of bustcards 19

Know your rights if you get

arrested
Always say NO COMMENT. You do not
need to answer questions.
DO NOT sign anything.
DO NOT accept a caution or fine. This is an
admission of guilt.
You have the right to:
Stay anonymous.
Medication.
Vegan/vegetarian/halal/kosher
food.
Have an interpreter present.
Be searched by a police officer
of the same sex stated in your
passport.
Talk to your own lawyer, tell the
police you want to speak to your
lawyer. We advise:

Number of your lawyer

 Template of the police letter 20
T.A.V. Politie

Met het verzoek deze brief te verstrekken naar de Officier van Justitie.

Bewoners ADRESS (STREETNAME + NUMBER)

FULL ADRESS (STREETNAME + NUMBER + POSTAL CODE + CITY)
Openbaar Ministerie
Arrondissementsparket Amsterdam
tav de (Hoofd) Officier van Justitie
IJdok 163, 1013 MM, Amsterdam

Betreft: heringebruikname FULL ADRESS

Geachte Officier van Justitie,

Door middel van deze brief willen wij u op de hoogte stellen van de heringebruikname van het
leegstaande pand op de ADRESS + CITY Het pand is ongebruikt, staat al
geruime tijd leeg, en is onderhevig aan gebrekkig onderhoud. Wij hebben huisvrede, en daarmee
huisrecht, gevestigd in het pand, door hier sinds DATE SINCE WHICH YOU OCCUPY THE BUILDING te wonen.
Deze twitter timeline met foto’s en tijdsindicaties zal dit ook bevestigen:
LINK TO THE TWITTER

Zoals u ongetwijfeld niet ontgaan zal zijn, zit Amsterdam in het heetst van de landelijke wooncrisis.
Sociale huurwoningen worden verkocht, bestaande wijken gesloopt of gerenoveerd, en de wachtlijsten
lopen alleen maar op. Tijdelijke huisvestingscomplexen worden jaren langer gebruikt dan ooit bedoeld,
met gevaarlijke situaties zoals het instorten van het dak op startblok Riekerhaven als gevolg. In deze
omstandigheden willen zien wij onszelf genoodzaakt huisrecht zelf te vestigen, als het alternatief
thuisloosheid is. Nu het pand op de ADRESS al lange tijd leeg staat, en niet binnen afzienbare tijd gebruikt zal
worden voor bewoning, hebben wij ervoor gekozen ons hier te vestigen, en zoonderdeel te zijn van de
oplossing voor het huisvestingsprobleem.
Bij het vestigen van het huisrecht in dit pand hebben wij geen schade toegebracht aan het huis en/of
toebehoren. Voorts hebben wij geen strafbare feiten gepleegd, en is ook geen gevaar ontstaan door
bewoning voor onszelf en/of derden. Het pand is brandveilig en voldoet reeds, of na minimale
inspanning, aan de geldende eisen voor brandveiligheid bij bewoning. Wij maken van dit pand ons
thuis, en zullen het dus ook als goed huisvader gebruiken en onderhouden waardoor geen
waardevermindering kan optreden voor de eigenaar. Wij nemen graag kennis van alle handelingen van
de eigenaar om langdurige leegstand tegen te gaan en zullen hier te goeder trouw aan meewerken.

Indien u, de Officier van Justitie, voornemens bent tot een strafrechtelijke ontruiming over te gaan,
delen wij u mede dat de bevoegdheid tot ontruiming naar het oordeel van de Hoge Raad (LJN:
BQ9880), in navolging van het Hof ‘s Gravenhage (LJN: B03682), met de ‘Wet Kraken en Leegstand’
van 1 oktober 2010 niet gegeven is. Wij gaan er derhalve dan ook van uit dat u, conform kenbaar gemaakt
beleid van het landelijk parket (Staatscourant 2010 nr. 19500) niet tot ontruiming over zal gaan
alvorens dit voornemen schriftelijk aan ons kenbaar te maken, en ons de mogelijkheid is geboden deze
maatregel te laten toetsen op proportionaliteit door de rechtspraak. Wij verzoeken u, tot een
eventuele uitspraak van de rechter, ons huisrecht te eerbiedigen, met inachtneming van de
toepasselijke wet- en regelgeving, waaronder het Wetboek van Strafvordering en de Algemene Wet op
Binnentreden.

In afwachting van uw spoedige reactie,

De nieuwe bewoners van ADRESS