Squatting

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January 10, 2008 at 2:12 am

#693344
1

spark_plug

@spark_plug

Member
can anyone give me any info? laws, dos and donts, what its really like etc etc. i wanna hear some personal stories and facts so i know what im gettin myself into before i decide up on it
January 10, 2008 at 2:40 am

#896368
1

Pike Tom Us

@pike-tom-us

Member
i squatted for 2 months before i got my house in brighton. but i went to an ‘established’ squat. the building had been squatted in for a few months previously. so i didnt have to go to all the trouble of finding and securing a property. Overall the experience was amazing.. i come to brighton looking for new ideas.. new experiences. and thats certainly what i got.

I was on my guard the entire time tho, and with good reason. I met some really kool people, but alot of dick heads aswell. Squatters are out for themselves (obviously!) and you will get fucked over if your not careful.

As for all the legal stuff i really cant help with that. As i said the squat i was in was already a squat. I made friends with a few people who were there, they were kind enough to let me stay (but i know a few of them just wanted to see what they could get out of me) I do know that if the property was broken into, ie a window was broken, or a door lock forced open, then this is classed as tresspassing and is now a criminal act. I think i remember my friend saying that for it to be legally a squat, the property needs someone ‘living’ there.. with a bed, table and chairs. But im not sure how true this is.
January 10, 2008 at 4:25 pm

#896360
1

Playground Politics

@playground-politics

Member
so i hear,

u have to find a building, get into it without causing “criminal damage”, change the locks, fasten the windows, and get ready to go to court in six months
January 10, 2008 at 5:09 pm

#896354
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
Playground Politics wrote:

so i hear,

u have to find a building, get into it without causing “criminal damage”, change the locks, fasten the windows, and get ready to go to court in six months

The time to going to court depends on the resale value of the building and its owners.

In Reading squats would last for anything from a week to half a year or more, and some buildings would get repeatedly targeted by different groups of squatters and neither the owners nor the cops cared about them as they were due to be eventually knocked down or gutted anyway.

towards the end of my time there the squatters did increasingly have to watch out for crackheads/dealers trying to take over buildings (although mostly only the ones in the “inner city” type of areas.)
January 10, 2008 at 5:46 pm

#896361
1

jack_daniels

@jack_daniels

Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et_fZ955sQ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjwyMtwwnQc

hope this helps
January 10, 2008 at 5:58 pm

#896365
1

spark_plug

@spark_plug

Member
jack_daniels wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et_fZ955sQ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjwyMtwwnQc

hope this helps

it helps alot mate! cheers!
January 10, 2008 at 11:06 pm

#896356
1

globalloon

@globalloon

Member
IME the way to go is find your own building / house (so you aren’t at the mercy of anyone else), find a way in that doesn’t involve breaking in, or leaves no trace of having done so, display your section notice subtly, but clear enough for any law enforcement to see if they come to the door and make sure someone is in the place at all times

IME that last part is the hardest part of a mellow squat as most people want to go out and work or do stuff so having enough people living there to make sure there’s someone ‘home’ all the time means you need more people knowing about it

keep it down and if you’re lucky you’ll move out when you choose to… i had a 4-storey, 3 star hotel with about 90 rooms and a massive kitchen and bar all to myself for a whole summer a few years ago
January 11, 2008 at 12:15 am

#896351
[deleted]

@[deleted]

Guest
Best place i ever lived
January 11, 2008 at 1:04 am

#896357
1

globalloon

@globalloon

Member
looks like heaven AHC raaa
January 11, 2008 at 1:19 am

#896352
[deleted]

@[deleted]

Guest
globalloon wrote:

looks like heaven AHC raaa

long gone now mate!
January 11, 2008 at 2:40 am

#896366
1

spark_plug

@spark_plug

Member
cmon on benny! i was hopin for alot of input from u man! i wanna hear some stories…youve told me some sick things before
January 11, 2008 at 10:28 am

#896362
1

SNIPERWOLF

@sniperwolf

Member
no ones mentions section 6 i think, http://www.squatter.org.uk/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=1
prob one of the first few things you shud do in a squat after securing it, chuck one of these up on the door(or any entrance) states a few of your rights, but its only valid if at least someone is in the building 24/7

just be careful when you first find a building, dont get caught getting in!

jake
January 11, 2008 at 3:52 pm

#896359
1

SD

@sd

Member
I squatted for about 3-4 years in Brighton, it was a bit easier then though I think, we used to run the anarchists Teapot, a squatted cafe, activists social center.

Loads a fun, taught me the about placing value on possesions…. Ie dont!

If u dont want your stuff to get tatted either put a big mf loock on your door or DONT SQUAT.

ANd dont be one of these whingy middle class, right on twats that does it ‘for the experience’ else u probly will get done over.

Squats have always had a lot of drugs, but varying degrees, some are clean, some are full of junkies, u cant really make sweeping statememnts.

Dont expect other people to respect youir stuff…

If you want your own place, break it yourself, live in it, people will have more respect for ya.

Tools to break a squat, – Crowbar, new set of locks, screws/screwdrivers, Torch, sumone on look out.

Find a small window thats easy to get in, you dont want to cause any visible damage if at all possible.

Chanmge the locks ASAP, when the police turn up (if they do) u need to make it quite clear you have caused no damage, you are now uccupying the property under sec 6.

(Dont think you legally need to have one on display, but its a bloody good idea)

People used to pay me and my mates £20 a time to break places in brighton, made a little business out of it for a while, hand over the key get paid lol
January 12, 2008 at 3:59 pm

#896369
1

Pike Tom Us

@pike-tom-us

Member
SD wrote:

People used to pay me and my mates £20 a time to break places in brighton, made a little business out of it for a while, hand over the key get paid lol

yes mate!!!
January 12, 2008 at 4:22 pm

#896355
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
SD wrote:

Squats have always had a lot of drugs, but varying degrees, some are clean, some are full of junkies, u cant really make sweeping statememnts.

I once knew of a group of speed freaks who had a squat so tidy you could eat your tea off the floor of it :laugh_at:

Despite all sorts of people going in and out they never got any serious trouble from the feds because they didn’t draw undue attention to themselves or rob from their immediate neighbours. They didn’t even shoplift or anything like that, made most of their money from getting tat from skips

Many of the people in there actually had a sense of integrity. I could leave my bicycle in there and no one would touch it (was safer than locking it up on the street)

(then again I did have an amount of respect amongst the local squatters as I would get their electric on without doing really dodgy stuff which could risk fires).

they would often get a load of old computer kit (I would help them value it and sort out junk from useable or saleable stuff, I think we got several computers for young families and students this way)

Much of it was obsolete stuff but there was once this entire printer server, virtually brand new (I suspect someone in the IT dept of that place had deliberately put it in “trash” with the idea of retrieving it later!). This was in the early 2000s when stuff like this was fairly expensive.

The squatters sold it to me for about £20 and refused to accept any more money for it even after I told them what it was and how much it was worth..
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