'Estate agents' offer empty homes for squat
By MILES GOSLETT
Mail on Sunday
Last updated at 01:47am on 27th April 2008
At first glance, they are the sort of glossy particulars you would find in
the window of any estate agent's.
But, on closer inspection, most of the properties on offer 'boast' some
rather unusual features - such as boarded-up windows, possession orders
and
no front-door entrance.
The homes are being offered by Squatters Estate Agents, which has set up a
'shop' in a derelict warehouse near the gleaming office buildings of the
City of London.
'Shop' front: The estate agent's premises in Shoreditch, Central London
The new service is advertised on anti-capitalist websites and prospective
'tenants' are directed to the premises - squatted, of course - in the
Shoreditch area of the capital.
A re****ter from this newspaper met James, an 'agent' in his late 20s,
wearing jeans, a T- ****rt and several days' stubble, who guided us through
the details of dozens of ' available properties' on printed sheets
produced
using a digital camera and a computer.
He explained that the service was free and designed to guide others like
him
into new digs.
On the agency's 'books' are scores of former pubs, abandoned flats and
houses, derelict council properties and empty buildings owned by
Government
departments.
One squat up for grabs is a former JobCentre in East London, owned by the
Department for Work and Pensions and described - in perfect estate
agentspeak - as a 'huge brick building of mansion-like pro****tions with
two
side wings and a covered rear extension'.
Its proximity to a canal and a Lidl supermarket are highlighted. But in a
piece of advice you would be unlikely to find in most agents' literature,
it
adds: "Access looks relatively easy... round the back."
Another hot property is Bedford House, Wheler Street, near the squatters'
office.
Pitched as a "beautiful large building", it boasts a "red brick, stone and
terracotta facade" noted as being "architecturally significant".
The blurb adds: "It's a stone's throw from Liverpool Street and close to
trendy Shoreditch and Brick Lane. It used to be an art gallery but has
been
empty for quite a while now."
"According to Land Registry records, the vast Bedford House was bought by
a
company called Islepark Limited in 2005.
Its owners could not be contacted.
James said: "There is an enormous amount of unused property in London and
other parts of the country.
"The Government keeps talking about the need to build millions of new
houses
to cope with the housing shortage - but we're proving they're wrong.
"They could turn existing empty buildings into new houses instead."
The 'agents' - Britain's first group dedicated to sidestepping the
property
ladder - are briefed in civil law so they can tell their clients that
squatting in England and Wales is, technically, not a crime, so long as
the
squatters can get into an empty building without damaging it, and are able
to secure it.
Quoting from charity the Empty Homes Agency, they claim there are 30,000
vacant dwellings in London alone.
All of the advertised properties carry the warning: "Your home is at risk
if
you do not keep up your occupancy at all times and replace any existing
locks secured on it."
Squatters Estate Agents are trained in civil law and tell their clients
that
squatting is technically not a crime, so long as the squatters can get
into
the building without damaging it, and are able to secure it
Richard West, who owns a former pub in East London being advertised by the
squatters, said he was unaware that it faces becoming a squat.
He said: "Thank you for the tip. I'll have to secure it.
"Ultimately, though, anyone who wants to squat there can do and there's
little I can do about it until we get planning permission.
"Squatters have more rights than you'd think.'
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