Squatters' Heaven

Squatters occupying £10m property

Katalin Ursachi lives in the house with friends

A group of squatters are occupying a £10m property in an exclusive neighbourhood in north-west London.

The nine-bedroom detached house, which has a swimming pool and a large garden, is in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Local residents say a total of 16 squatters moved into the property, which has been empty for years.

A developer has planned to demolish the property and build two houses at the site but the proposal is being blocked by the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust.

'Like a dream'

Jane Blackburn, of the trust, said: "The developer is trying to take the trust to the Lands Tribunal at the moment and we welcome that as we think our case is very strong and we would like to see the matter resolved."

Until a solution is found, Katalin Ursachi, a gardener from Romania, and some of his friends are living there rent-free.

"Its like a dream... this is the most amazing squat I ever lived in, I have ever seen in my life," he said.

Jonny Sokoli, another squatter, said: "Nice to find myself in the middle of millionaires, it's a big space and has a swimming pool, which is going to be cleaned up soon. The owners could not be contacted for comment.

 

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal for them.

 

Cheeky motherfuckers is what I'm thinking...

 

Saw this on the London news yesterday. Apparently the owner wanted to build on this site but has gone for a while now or something.

 

Ditto. Squatter's actually piss me off.

 

Me too, especially after this...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=415623&in_page_id=1770


When City investment banker Nita Bowers bought a two-bedroom flat in Docklands her only problem seemed to be that it needed a spot of paint before being rented out.

So, like thousands before her, she hired some builder-decorators and tasked them with doing up the flat in a few days before putting it on the lettings market.

But the two workmen liked the look of the £215,000 apartment overlooking Canary Wharf so much, they downed tools and moved in, claiming squatters' rights.

When mother-of-four Mrs Bowers called round to check the progress of the work she found the locks had been changed. Then one of the workmen thrust a legal document in front of her saying they lived there and had no intention of moving.

Now she is facing a gruelling legal process to force the Polish builders out while they run up utility costs and her mortgage bill soars.

Mrs Bowers, who bought the buy-to-let property to give her a pension when she is older, said: "I went round with an estate agent and we found we couldn't get in.

"Then a very burly man came out and thrust a legal notice on to the agent's chest, saying they lived there now." Mrs Bowers called the police who came round but said they were not allowed to move the squatters on and suggested she take civil action against them.

She said: "The police have visited but there's nothing they can do; we have to go through the courts. I'm now having to pay two mortgages and there are bills galore. It's my first buy-to-let investment and all my property dreams have turned into a nightmare."

Attempts at dialogue with the squatters also failed. She said: "I've tried to get in and banged on the door but these two burly Polish guys have told me they are claiming squatters' rights. I said to them, 'it's not your dream home, it's mine.'"

Mrs Bowers is now waiting for her application to remove the squatters to make its way through the courts. She said: "Where is the justice in all this? I can't believe people can just come and live in someone else's home."

The squatters confirmed they were living at the flat but declined to comment further. Mrs Bowers's ordeal came to light as Polish president Lech Kaczynski claimed thousands of his "feckless" countrymen were raking in benefits back home while also working in Britain.

In a press conference with Tony Blair at Downing Street, the president said Britain had become the "destination of choiceî for jobless Poles and claimed the workers were "raising unemployment figures in Poland while they are doing very nicely in the UK." An estimated 400,000 Poles have come to live in Britain since the expansion of the EU in May 2004. The Government has defended the influx, claiming the new arrivals are hard-working. Westminster council revealed last week thatmore than half the homeless on the streets of central London originated in eastern Europe.

 

That last article just seems silly, how is that even close to legal?

 

Lmao.. bunch of cheeky bastards

 

UK law states that if a property is empty then one may inhabit it if the method of entry is not by force and nothing is damaged, changing the locks is the start of it and if anyone enters without your permission or by violence or with the threat of violence then they are liable for prosecution, not the occupiers. It can take weeks, months even for the courts to get people out which may be an inconvenience but if people are leaving empty properties just so they can sit on their little piggy banks then it's fair game in my book. I've lived in squats from small residential houses to big full on warehouses and churches, museums and factorys, with 2 people to 30 people and IMO it's perfectly justified. I've been arrested, beaten, woken up at 3.30am by heavies in balaclavas kicking the door in carrying baseball bats, kicked out on the streets and plenty more but I don't regret it or feel any remorse for pissing off some wanker landlord still operating on feudal systems.

Housing is a right not a privelige and if people are leaving their properties empty then I think it's perfectly reasonable that people move into them if no damage is done and the place is well looked after. We've even had landlords allow us to squat some places while they look for tenants so other wankers don't move in. A small minority of squatters damage the reputation of the decent, legitimate folk trying to solve the problem of homelessness. Squat the lot. If one doesn't believe in their principles then why follow them? I don't want to work 9-5 in telesales, sucking capitalist cock or some shit to pay some bastard just for a shithole to place to sleep. Been there, done that. I don't believe in what is commonly termed 'society' and as such shouldn't have to follow their rules. I decide what's right and wrong, good and bad, and on the whole I think I'm a fairly decent person, I have my own moral standards and go by them...


TBH posting a Daily Mail article doesn't do your argument any favours, take nothing they say seriously and I pray for you if you have even a gram of faith in any sensationalist, nationalistic, venomous shit they spout... Those people in the article were jammy as fuck, pretty damn cheeky but justified IMO, they didn't leave anyone homeless. And the bit at the end of that same article about how it's all Polacks causing all the problems and how they just come over here trying to rape our 'overly generous' welfare system. Bullshit. The Daily Mail is for idiots and people who need to be told what to think... It makes up a large part of our poisoned social order sadly...

I won't go on but I thought people on a so-called 'Hip' site might be a little more sympathetic to the homeless... Evidently not. Vote New Labour. Perfect for every middle class person's guilty conscience whilst still retaining the wealth for the few...

 

Important not to tar us all with the same brush, you get all sorts round here. Personally I'm very much in favour of squatters rights. That's not to say that, evan as a socialist, I don't value some private property rights. But if properties are standing empty and idle it is entirely right that they should be put to use to provide for genuine needs....

 

For sure, apologies if I'm coming across confrontational here. Went on the World Naked Bike Ride this afternoon then got drunk and slept on the beach for the rest of the day, feeling spaced...

Wasn't referring to anyone in particular, just assumed people on here might be a little more in favour of housing to people that need it and not sounding like land owning barons...

The only reason I keep coming back here is that most people on here have varied views on the world and see it their own way. It'd be boring if we all agreed on every point, it's great to put your argument across and try to understand where others are coming from whilst engaging in mature and reasoned debate... You're a good bunch hehe...

 

Sorry, perhaps I should clarify that I'm not in favour of the type of squatting from the the second article.

Plus, homeless people who squat shows a huge flaw in our system. Obviously we need more shelters if most homeless people squat.

 

Well empty housing going to good use is one thing, but having people working on your home and then having them decide to move in is completely different. I mean it sounds like you could get a house pretty easily if that's the case...

 

Actually Reverend, this news report was also on the BBC and I even believe I posted it when it first came out. I just couldn't find the BBC article again. So, you can take your arrogance somewhere else. Thankyou

 

Most homeless folk don't squat though most squatters are homeless... Besides, it's better they can feel empowered through squatting than be belittled in shelters etc. Plus it makes use of empty buildings and costs taxpayers less in the long run.

Many people also squat for political reasons; autonomy, community and not having someone on your back harrassing you for your money. Contrary to what most people's perception of a squat is they can be very friendly warm places with a rootsy sense of community... I have seen nasty derelict spaces turned into social centres for community use by the so-called 'dirty squatters' while the council who victimise these people in the first place are cutting funding to communities and knocking down local social centres to build more yuppie flats. More often than not people go out of their way to do squats up, no-one wants to live in a shithole.. I've seen more squats left in a better condition than when people had first moved in...

As I mentioned earlier take everything the Daily Mail says with a pinch of salt... If you'd read the article closely (which is what they don't want you to do) you'd notice it wasn't someone's home. Apart from making a big hooha over the fact that the people doing it happened to be Polish the article was nonsense. It also has to mention how she's a mother of four, something irrelevant to the case just to to tug at the heartstrings. And it mentions the occupiers are 'running up utility costs' which is bullshit because in that case the police would have every right to kick the door in as a crime would have taken place (theft, abstraction of electricity).


The owner of the place was a City investment banker, reason enough in itself to squat the lot. Secondly she wasn't going to live there just rent it out to other people so I see no problem with the people moving in for a couple of months while she goes to the courts to get an eviction notice served. No-one's going to hungry as a result of this and if it means two people with a roof over their heads then whatever. I'd have done it if I was in the position of those guys... Some luxury penthouse in the Docklands for a couple of months? Hell yeah.


Could Brussels give your mortgage cancer??

 

Ah, fair enough then. To be honest, I can't really make a straight decision on this. It seems like something you'd have to experience before you can make a judgment.

Saying that, I would probably squat at a property if the situation arose.

 

Ah, the BBC, another bastion of fair and reasoned journalism. I wasn't aware I had been arrogant but there you go, perhaps the Daily Mail is an esteemed organ which should be treated with more respect and I shouldn't judge so quickly... I was just stating when talking about cases such as these the Mail is probably not the best way to put your argument across, as everyone knows they're very pro-property owners etc...

Now when it comes to 'personal attacks' who wrote what might be termed an insult and who didn't?

 

Oi! What's wrong with the BBC News?!

I think the BBC is good.

 

They're not bad, I'll give them that but as with all media someone's agenda comes into it somewhere, re: what they will/won't show... There's no such thing as unbiased reporting, on any level or any side, left/right whatever...

 

Some people equate squatting with getting something for nothing and as we all know the british public don't like tha idea of that. Obviously there is the one in a million case of someone gaing an advantage but the rest are usually damp and dirty buildings that no-ones any interest in, and I'm all for the right of people to use dead buildings.