Neighbours in the Collingwood street where squatters were forcibly removed say while they were initially supportive of the vulnerable being housed, they now feel unsafe.

The empty homes in Bendigo Street were compulsorily acquired by the then-State Government for the proposed East West Link project, which was later scrapped by Labor.

The homes were then handed over by the Labor government to the Salvation Army to house victims fleeing family violence, but several of the homes were instead taken over by around 50 homeless people.

The group agreed to move out of the homes in August.

“Originally when these houses were occupied, we were supportive of the movement. We know there’s a shortage of public housing in Victoria,” resident Annabel Darbyshire said.

Ms Darbyshire said after several weeks, some of the people occupying the homes became violent.

Annabel Darbyshire says residents are now in fear after violent behaviour by squatters. (9NEWS)

“We’ve been subject to witnessing domestic violence, we’ve had threats of sexual assault, we’ve had property stolen from our cars and been exposed to a lot,” she said.

“We care about these people, and we want an answer for them, but this has just descended into chaos.”

Meg Taylor said she too feels unsafe, and that “no one has been advocating for our side of the story”.

“We have a very close network of neighbours and especially for our elderly neighbours, and we feel strongly to advocate for them,” she said.

The homes were initially purchased for the proposed East West Link. (9NEWS)

Yesterday, about 50 Victoria Police officers swarmed to the street about 4pm after being ordered by the government to take control of the homes.

Several squatters broke into 13 Bendigo Street on Tuesday night, and more followed yesterday morning, with minister for housing Martin Foley labelling them as “thugs”.

“They are intimidating neighbours, acting in sexually predatory ways to some of the neighbours, annoying and making life intolerable through noise, theft and sewerage problems – it’s time they left,” Mr Foley said.

Yesterday, about 50 police officers moved in to evict people from the homes. (9NEWS)

A 25-year-old man was arrested for hindering and resisting police, but has since been released on summons.

Dozens were evicted last week from the houses, and police arrested two women for stealing property and a man was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant.

Several squatters remain in one of the properties today, and have vowed to either stay on and fight, or leave peacefully if police return.

“We’re thinking [we will be evicted] today, and we will leave peacefully… We’re here because we’re homeless,” Tanya Day said.

Salvation Army commanding officer Brendan Nottle welcomed the police action, and said something has to be done to solve the situation.

“It’s incredibly hard to find homes for the homeless. When the state government made this accommodation available, we were keen to get people off the streets,” Mr Nottle said.

“The squatters were originally making a valuable political point – that there’s 32,000 people on the public housing waiting list – but the problem is they have moved from that to violent behaviour.

“We put a mother and her four children in one of those homes… she had people banging on her front and back door at night, and she was terrified, and so were the children,” he said.