[matilda] [Fwd: [diggers350] Hampstead squatters allowed to stay in mansion]
Dan
dan at aktivix.org
Mon Oct 2 20:36:14 BST 2006
Interesting... I wonder how much YF paid / are paying for the security
services and additions to MATILDA?
love to y'all
Dan
(defected to Leeds)
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [diggers350] Hampstead squatters allowed to stay in mansion
Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2006 19:15:44 -0000
From: Gerrard Winstanley <office at evnuk.org.uk>
To: diggers350 at yahoogroups.com
Hampstead squatters allowed to stay in mansion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1884400,00.html
· Housing trust agrees caretaker deal
· Repairs carried out and neighbours are happy
Diane Taylor
Saturday September 30, 2006
The Guardian
Five-storey houses in the middle of Hampstead do not come cheap,
particularly with parking spaces for four cars and a back garden as
big as a football pitch. Properties of that size sell for around £6m.
However, the current occupants of one such home are not part of London
NW3's literati, nor are they millionaire businessmen - instead they
are squatters who are living in the mansion legally, thanks to a
ground-breaking agreement with the trust that owns it.
The property, earmarked for social housing and owned by Circle 33
Housing Trust, had been empty since December 2005 when it was vacated
by the United Women's Homes Association which provides housing for
women on low and moderate incomes. It had been used for that purpose
since 1927. A group of veteran squatters forced their way in almost
three months ago. After just 24 hours they received a letter from
Circle 33 telling them that they had no legal right to stay and would
have to vacate the premises sooner rather than later. But instead of
court hearings, bailiffs and dawn raids Circle 33 decided on a novel
approach.
The squatters reasoned that they were fulfilling a caretaker role
while the property was empty, were carrying out repairs, were not
troubling neighbours and should be allowed to stay until Circle 33
began to redevelop the house and brought it up to current health and
safety standards. To their amazement Circle 33 agreed and a licence-
to-occupy agreement was drawn up and signed by the trust and the 13
squatters who were living in the property last Wednesday. Circle 33
says the squatters will save them £6,000 a week in otherwise providing
security for the site along with the cost of taking the squatters to
court and getting them evicted. While estate agents say that houses of
that size in Fitzjohn's Avenue go for around £6m, Circle 33 says its
house is worth £1.11m, with its use restricted to social housing. The
squatters have been told that they can probably remain until March
2007. David Ireland, policy adviser of the Empty Homes agency, a
campaigning charity, welcomed the agreement. "We want to see more use
of short-life housing. There are 290,862 long term empty homes in the
UK and 121,179 homeless households."
The squatters, who are part of an organisation known as Circle
Community - no connection with Circle 33 - focus on providing
environmental projects for local communities. Many of the occupants
are working or studying, with jobs ranging from fashion designer and
translator to juice bar manager and engineer. Some are English, others
come from countries including France, Japan and New Zealand.
They say their paid work subsidises creative interests and that if
they had to pay London rents on top of food and bills they would have
no quality of life.
"Everyone in London is running after money and that's not nice for
your soul," said Nadia, a French fashion designer who teaches children
juggling skills on a voluntary basis.
Circle 33 Housing Trust is working with Camden council to redevelop 57
Fitzjohn's Avenue to provide affordable housing. Kim Parkins, managing
director of Circle 33, said: "This agreement is a creative and
pragmatic response in the circumstances ... it allows the building to
be secured and maintained while planning for its future is still under
way."
Phoenix, who has been squatting for 14 years, welcomed the agreement.
"We have had informal verbal agreements with developers before who
have allowed us to stay in a property for a while but never a licence
agreement like this.
"It's nice to know that we've got a place where we can stay and rest
for a while. I've been evicted five times in the last 11 months and
it's very, very tiring."
Diggers350 - an e-mail discussion/information-share list for campaigners involved with THE LAND IS OURS landrights network (based in the UK ..web ref. www.thelandisours.org). The list was originally concerned with the 350th anniversary of The Diggers (& still is concerned with their history). The Diggers appeared at the end of the English Civil war with a mission to make the earth 'a common treasury for all'. In the spring of 1999 there were celebrations to remember the Diggers vision and their contribution. Find out more about the Diggers and see illustrations at: http://www.bilderberg.org/diggers.htm
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