Today (Weds) was very quiet; there was no eviction attempt. We were prepared for the worst, but no cops called around, nobody claiming to be the owner, nothing. Just to recap, we are preparing ourselves to resist eviction because previously, on Friday, two people claiming to be agents acting on behalf of a company, which they claimed own two of the houses, came to illegally board them up. When we weren’t letting them do so, they called the cops. The cops decided not to do anything because they did not have the paperwork or legal authorisation to evict us[1]. However, the “owners” and the cops did say that they’d be back on Wednesday (today) with “papers”. [Read More]
North Finchley, London: The Bohemia Community Project issued with possession order hearing
Warning: News from the mainstream press
Eviction proceedings have been started against a group of squatters occupying The Bohemia pub in North Finchley.
The group was today issued a summons to appear at Barnet County Court on Monday, where the legal process of having them removed is set to begin.
Administrators for the former pub Chantrey Velacott applied for the order despite on-going talks with the pub’s owners Mitchells and Butlers and the property agent Colliers. [Read More]
Halloween in Brighton (and Hove)
So tomorrow (Thursday 31 October) the appeal against the s144 conviction continues in Hove Crown Court (today went quite well, we will be posting a full report after the trail concludes) AND also the two day trial of a man accused of calling Member of Parliament Mike Weatherley a coward begins at Brighton magistrates court (yes it does really).
[Read More]
Dublin: Political squat facing eviction in Grangegorman
“300,000 empty houses in Ireland, 5,000 people homeless”
A group of political squatters in Dublin are facing eviction from a row of empty, unused, rotting houses in Lower Grangegorman. We got a chance to speak to them and hear their side of the story. They are calling for people to come and help them resist eviction from Wednesday onwards.
After the arrival of Gardaí on Thursday and Friday (24th & 25th October) squatters in a row of occupied empty houses in Lower Grangegorman are facing eviction from their homes. They are calling for supporters to gather at the house to show solidarity and help them to resist this invasion of their home. [Read More]
Istanbul (Turkey): Don Quixote Occupies the Windmill
Yeldeğirmeni (The Windmill) Solidarity, a local group based in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, occupied a half-constructed apartment building abandoned for 15 years, calling it Don Quixote. bianet interviewed group activists who spoke up on their story.
Activists from Yeldeğirmeni (The Windmill) Solidarity occupied a half-constructed apartment building abandoned for 15 years, calling it Don Quixote.
The story broke as police forces paid a “visit” to the building for investigation. [Read More]
Southwark, London: Residential occupation in protest of council housing sell-off and Section 144
Housing activists have occupied a property owned by Southwark council which was due to be auctioned today at a starting price of £2.3 million.
They have occupied the building to stop the sell-off of yet more public housing stock when the borough faces a severe housing crisis with almost 25,000 people on the housing waiting list and increasing numbers of people forced to sleep rough on London’s streets.
The occupation is also a challenge to section 114 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) introduced last September which criminalised squatting in residential properties. This law has meant that homeless people seeking shelter in empty buildings can find themselves with a prison sentence. [Read More]
Hackney, London: Art School starting up at 195 Mare Street Social Centre next week
Hello everybody. Your social center at Mare Street is back with an art school open for all!
Born from the creative needs of our residents and our friends, we are building an art studio, a darkroom and a series of workshops where you can come, learn and share your skills with everybody.
Our art studio and darkroom are being built from scrap and every help is welcome. Today we are starting to clear the space on our basement that will give place to these. If you want to help us out just show up today with good working mood and let’s all make this happen! Also we will need some materials to start working, so if you have something around that can help it would be great. [Read More]
Brighton: Appeal coming up!
The appeal of the third squatban resister is coming up in Brighton!
In a week and a half, on the 30th and 31st of October, our friend Dirk will finally have his appeal against his conviction for Squatting a Residental building. We call on all squatters to come to this appeal and support Dirk! Fuck S144!
Down with Weatherley, up the squatters!
[Read More]
Calais (France): The Eritrean Squat has been evicted
The Eritrean squat in rue Neuve has been evicted, 70 + people newly in the street. Tents, sleeping bags, blankets are very much needed. Most of all we need activists to go to Calais and support!
Following lots of arrivals to Italy via Lampedusa there are now well over 100 Eritreans present in Calais. They are escaping a brutal dictatorship and a long war with Ethiopia. There are a record number of women from Eritrea and Ethiopia in Calais, most are in the safe space opened by No Borders. The ‘jungles’ where Eritreans and Ethiopians wait to go to England are full over the limit. Following the tragedy a shipwrecks south of Lampedusa, causing the death of over 350 people, mainly Eritreans, there have been protests in Italy and in many European cities.
After the Syrians went on hunger strike and occupied the pedestrian entrance to the ferry port, the camp of the Syrians in front of the place of food distribution was not disturbed by police for a while. About 50 people sleep there, including some minors. Today however a large number of police went around the place of food distribution. The Syrians in this camp are asking for support. [Read More]
Spain: European Court of Human Rights halts eviction of families
[Note – this story is taken from mainstream press]
The European Court of Human Rights has blocked the eviction of a group of families in northeastern Spain who have been squatting in a block of flats owned by the country’s bad bank. [Read More]
Schwarzwohnen: The spatial politics of squatting in East Berlin
East Berlin’s squatter movement erupted across the city after the fall of the wall in 1989. But what role did housing activists in the 1980s play in shaping an alternative vision for the contemporary city?
In September 1988, an anonymous report appeared in the East German underground magazine Umweltblätter describing the plight of a group of squatters who had occupied 61 Lychenerstrasse in the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg. In the squatters own words, they had “occupied the house in order to overcome the contradiction between, on the one hand, the many vacant and decaying houses [in Berlin], and on the other, a growing number of people in search of housing”. As “squatters (Instandbesetzer),” they proclaimed, “we will resist the further cultural and spiritual devastation of the country.”[i]
[Read More]
Cardiff (Wales): The Red and Black Umbrella Collective invite you to their festive Two Year Anniversary
If you’re organised enough to carry ’round a diary (I am definitely not) penciling in the
1st AND 2nd of November is highly advisable as it will see our first festival!
A two day event ending on the 2nd November to celebrate 2 YEARS of the occupied building in Cardiff. Easy enough to remember, right?
Beginning as a vague plan to host an Anarcho-Folk festival in Cardiff; the event has now evolved into a two day celebration of the ‘Brolly.
The space it has provided us has been invaluable to many, so we invite anyone and everybody who has shared the space with us to come, in particular any guests we have had to stay, musicians who’ve played and individuals who’ve led any lessons or workshops. Please come and celebrate with us! [Read More]
