European property law
Squatters' rights in Luxembourg: what the law says, and what it leaves out
Thirty years, under the Code civil, and bad faith is no answer to it. On squatting itself, the government said in May 2024 that Luxembourg has no specific legislation.
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- Statutory period
- 30 years
- What's different here
- no specific squatting law, and police cannot compel departure
- Statute
- Code civil, art. 2262
Luxembourg kept the Napoleonic Code civil, and article 2262 sets the general prescription at thirty years. The person relying on it does not have to produce a title, and the other side cannot raise their bad faith against them. For adverse possession of land this is the thirty-year rule: a possessor who has held the property as an owner for thirty years can rely on it whatever they knew at the start.
On squatting, the clearest official statement is the answer of the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Housing to parliamentary question no. 601, dated 14 May 2024. It says there is no specific legislation on squatting in Luxembourg. When the police attend and find no criminal offence, they ask the squatters to leave, but they have no means of compelling them if they refuse. Where a break-in is reported, the police go to the scene to apprehend and check the people involved.
That answer does not set out what an owner may lawfully do on their own, and nothing on this page should be read as saying an owner may remove occupants personally. What it does establish is that, absent an offence, the police are not the route to getting an occupant out.
Where Luxembourg sits against the rest of Europe, in years
Of 31 places in Europe on these pages, 27 have a shorter clock and 1 a longer one or none at all.
How it unfolds
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 30 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
Before it is ever a court case
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
How long is squatters' rights in Luxembourg?
Thirty years of adverse possession under article 2262 of the Code civil. The possessor does not need to show a title, and bad faith cannot be raised against the claim.
Is squatting a crime in Luxembourg?
There is no specific squatting offence. In its answer to parliamentary question no. 601 in May 2024, the government stated that Luxembourg has no specific legislation on squatting. A break-in or damage can still be an offence under the general criminal law.
Can the police remove squatters in Luxembourg?
Only where there is a criminal offence to act on. Otherwise, according to the same 2024 answer, the police invite the squatters to leave but have no means of compelling them if they refuse.
Elsewhere in Europe
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.
Know who is actually in your property, before it becomes a court case.
Hand over one building and see every lease checked against what is actually happening on the ground.
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