A squatter settlement is a home or multi-resident facility established illegally or without explicit permission on land or some other site. The actual structure may or may not be owned by the occupant(s), but is often of very low-grade materials and construction.

The settlement is established without the necessary permission or on an unlawful basis. Occupants can own the shelter itself while lacking permission to place or occupy it on the site.

A homeless park settlement is established with permission on land reserved for that purpose. Makeshift construction alone does not establish whether a settlement is unauthorized.