Lots of my mates were squatters in the Reading area…
The decision depends on the council.
TVP will probably tip them off that you are squatting, but its a civil matter rather than a criminal one and cops have no jurisdiction over whether you can stay in the place unless it gets known for anti social behaviour or drug use.
Don’t have massive loud parties in the place or let it become known as a “good place to score” or the feds will work with the council and try and get a closure order on it. it is now very easy to evict a squat on anti-social behaviour grounds.
The people in the house will probably be subject to an amount of surveillance by the local cops as they always associate squats with drug use and dealing, so people visiting should expect the odd stop check on the way in/out and prepare accordingly…
The council can evict quite quickly if they can prove they have a tenant waiting , and your mate may have forfeited his tenancy agreement by getting banged up.
But provided someone remains in the place at all times they can live there until the council gets a civil court case and an eviction paper is posted to the building.
The squatters could be in there from anything from a week to several months; but IME the social housing landlords in the Thames Valley area often make a point of evicting squatters fairly quickly as a matter of principle to stop people bucking the system, or the place turning into a “drugs den”.
