Squatting

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January 25, 2009 at 9:05 pm

#694937
1

fishpaste

@fishpaste

Member
im interested in squating a shop thats been closed for years. i went to a party last night in a huge mansion which was squated in lestier square. well it wasnt exactly a mansion but it was MASSIVE!!!!!! four storey house. dj was phat. but i dont know the first thing about squating. anyone can tell me how? xx:weee:
January 25, 2009 at 9:11 pm

#916681
1

GLENN

@glenn

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a bit out of date but some invaluable info can be found here
Advisory Service for Squatters – Home
good luck
January 25, 2009 at 9:16 pm

#916673
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
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there’s loads of info on squatting dotted around this site too (my post was submitted after GLENN posted the ASS link (which is still valid)

I’d tread carefully though, you need a fair few people to keep a building and not sketchy people what do too much drugs, and even then you may only be able to keep the building for as little as 2-3 weeks (depending on who owns it).

if you are going to squat a shop premises (which by definition will be near the middle of a urban area) then you need people who are going to use it for something positive what won’t piss off the neighbours too much. If you can find “eco-friendly hippy types” thats a good thing, but don’t overdo the “struggling artist” malarkey because that can cause a backlash too if normal working class people think you are getting “something for nothing”.

You need the locals on your side…

Also the local gangs and junkie scum may give you and your mates a certain amount of hassle which you will have to be ready for. They can be more trouble than the feds or landlords!
January 25, 2009 at 9:40 pm

#916685
1

fishpaste

@fishpaste

Member
thanks guys! well the shop next to it was squated. why do you need a lot of people though? i was planning to do it myself…
January 25, 2009 at 9:46 pm

#916674
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
security mostly… if you leave the place unattended the owners can take it back (and its not unknown for other more desparate people such as drug dealers / injectable drug users to try and take it over!)

and presumably you are going to want to go out to a party at least one weekend, so you will need others to guard the place whilst you are away… one squat my mates had (a big house in Reading) was like a proper frontline, between all of us we had to actually guard it 24/7…..
January 25, 2009 at 9:50 pm

#916686
1

fishpaste

@fishpaste

Member
how long do you have to squat something before it becomes yours by law?
January 25, 2009 at 9:58 pm

#916675
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
fishpaste;305874 wrote:

how long do you have to squat something before it becomes yours by law?

10-12 years. The law is complicated and has been amended recently.

Property Law UK

in reality most squats last about a month to 3 months before they get evicted. It is best not to hang around on the day of actual eviction (unless you are trying to prove some sort of political point) as the cops tend to be there as well to back up the bailiffs.

In Stowmarket (a small town near where I live) some squatters have limited the bad publicity by usually leaving a relatively clean and tidy building before the baillifs have turned up!
January 25, 2009 at 11:11 pm

#916688
1

GrassChopper

@grasschopper

Member
General Lighting;305875 wrote:

In Stowmarket (a small town near where I live) some squatters have limited the bad publicity by usually leaving a relatively clean and tidy building before the baillifs have turned up!

Cleaver ‘Uns :crazy_dru
January 26, 2009 at 12:09 am

#916682
1

spark_plug

@spark_plug

Member
if you dont know about it dont do it. spend ages reading about it and deciding about it, then still dont do it. i used to really want to do it all the time and thought it would be really liberating and stuff and now i spend most of my time at my friends squatted house and i wouldnt ever do it unless it was completely necessary. it isnt an ideal situation for anyone. without sounding too preachy lol, its just proper not a nice situation to be in if you can help it:bounce_fl:bounce_fl
January 26, 2009 at 12:28 am

#916677
1

globalloon

@globalloon

Member
if you want to do something along the lines of the “freak ohm unity centre” and the place you have your eye on has been empty for a long time try contacting the owner direct. if you occupy and use the place for the benefit fo the wider community you may be able to get the business rates dropped, so you will be saving the owner money by being there. i think pro-cathedral in bristol use this model
January 26, 2009 at 12:40 am

#916678
1

globalloon

@globalloon

Member
@spark_plug 305888 wrote:

if you dont know about it dont do it. spend ages reading about it and deciding about it, then still dont do it. i used to really want to do it all the time and thought it would be really liberating and stuff and now i spend most of my time at my friends squatted house and i wouldnt ever do it unless it was completely necessary. it isnt an ideal situation for anyone. without sounding too preachy lol, its just proper not a nice situation to be in if you can help it:bounce_fl:bounce_fl

depends though.

your mate might live in a shitty squat but not everyone has to

i had a former 4 star hotel entirely to myself for a summer with no bother whatsoever… just clean sheets every night and a sea view in the morning
January 26, 2009 at 12:54 am

#916676
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
globalloon;305889 wrote:

if you want to do something along the lines of the “freak ohm unity centre” and the place you have your eye on has been empty for a long time try contacting the owner direct. if you occupy and use the place for the benefit fo the wider community you may be able to get the business rates dropped, so you will be saving the owner money by being there. i think pro-cathedral in bristol use this model

Also 56a centre in South London may have done this (they appear to be keeping it fairly quiet, other than a “response to a critique on rented (as opposed to squatted) social centres” (but it definitely was a squat for a fair few years)

http://www.56a.org.uk/
January 26, 2009 at 1:00 am

#916680
1

Tank Girl

@tank-girl

Member
globalloon;305890 wrote:

depends though.

your mate might live in a shitty squat but not everyone has to

i had a former 4 star hotel entirely to myself for a summer with no bother whatsoever… just clean sheets every night and a sea view in the morning

It’s a good idea if you can do it propperly, and even nicer if it can be a community project / cafe type thing

but I would strongly advise against a girl doing it alone just due to the saftey aspect, (unless you really know what your up against, what your doing and have propper security.) I was looking into it around 17 yrs ago on my own, and this aspect put me off.

mates of mine had it sorted for years and years, lecky, water, did it up nicley,
unfortunatley the property was sold to some dodgey building contractors,
whom we are ‘presuming’ tried and failed once to burn them out and succeeded the second time and the whole lot went up, nasty nasty as they were asleep in it both times, luckily no one was hurt :hopeless:
other friends had a hotel (with sea view!) but unfortunatley despite lecky and water the girl got propper poorly with phenumonia (?sp) and returned to her parents and he moved out eventually – :laugh_at: however half the roof was missing and they could only live in 3 -4 of the rooms.

been to a few parties (again years ago) where they were squatting a listed building and the owners initially didnt seem to mind but then hated it – as they were wanting to leave the house to rack and ruin so it was ‘beyond repair for the listing purposes’ and then knock it down and build flats,
as the squatters did it up real nice and began renovating it 😉
January 27, 2009 at 2:40 am

#916684
1

JonnyQuest

@jonnyquest

Member
u want to squat because u think it would be a laugh its not the best idea, i know people who used to squat and its a difficult lifestyle. in london you will get crack heads trying to come in and people will rob all your stuff.
January 27, 2009 at 5:11 pm

#916683
1

GiantMidget

@giantmidget

Member
globalloon;305890 wrote:

i had a former 4 star hotel entirely to myself for a summer with no bother whatsoever… just clean sheets every night and a sea view in the morning

Did you? That’s awesome mate. was it like proper abandoned but with everything left intact, I love stuff like that! 😉
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