Abandoned Buildings

There are more empties these days, in some parts of the city at least.
Nothing I'd want to squat. Little I'd be able to get into.

The ones that aren't burned out are blocked with steel shutters or breeze blocks or crime scene tape, or some combination of the three. A lot of them have serious alarms and notices from security firms that I know all too well to be on the ball.

Some of them have notices from... what's the company? Kingdom, Excalibur... something like that. Basically, they take money from people who own properties in order to ensure that those properties stay occupied, and they charge rent to people (who generally can't afford to live anywhere better) who want to live there.

Seems a fair enough deal, except for the fact that the tenancy agreements are a joke (virtually no notice), and that many of the buildings really aren't suitable for habitation, let alone leasing. It also takes a few properties out of the squatting system, which rather sucks from my point of view.
But I suppose it's people like me they're trying to put off here.

I'm seeing a lot of empty shops, too.
I'm informed that this is down to the recently passed bill ensuring an indefinite right to vacant possession. Essentially it's often in a company's best interests to keep a property vacant and claim a tax rebate or write-off on the maintenance costs.

Still, some streets are starting to seem a little too empty, even taking that into account.