URGENT CALLOUT

In the Royal London intensive care unit there is a squatter who is in critical condition. In the early hours of Saturday morning he jumped from the roof of his squat to escape a raging fire, falling 8 metres. The fire ripped through the disused salvation army building and tragically took the life of one of the inhabitants. In total there were 3 admitted to hospital, a man and woman were discharged on Saturday after receiving treatment for smoke inhalation.

We have been doing all we can to verify the identity of the squatter in intensive care so the nurses can contact his family and friends. Sadly, we have still not been able to do so. We visited intensive care yesterday and can give the following information:

*Possibly called 'Luca'?
*Tall, slim build, medium length brown dreadlocks, tanned skin. Tattoos on both left and right arms. The one on his left fore arm is the outline of a star. On his right upper arm some sort of machine style tat, quite small. He's also got large tribal tattoos on both of his upper thighs.
*Our guess would be that he's Italian/Brazilian/Spanish? 

Please ask around to see if anyone knows who this person is and get in touch asap if you can help. 

To read more, see the link below. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19140350

**UPDATE: 07/08 The squatter has now been identified and his family informed. Many thanks to those who showed support   **

HOUSING BENEFIT CUTS = HOMELESSNESS



Benefit cuts demonstrators on hunger strike

Yet another story of people being made homeless due to the coalitions housing benefit caps.

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2012/jul/exclusive-benefits-cut-demonstrators-set-hunger-strike-protest-outside-town-hall

Housing benefit caps were introduced nationally in January 2012. They set a limit for the amount of money people can recieve from the government to help them pay their rent, restricting the maximum payment to between £250 and £400 a week depending on the number of bedrooms. Research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Housing for the Guardian newspaper has analysed the impact of caps to the local housing allowance on homes across the UK.It found 720,000 homes will become unaffordable to those on low incomes in England, 60,000 in Scotland, and 30,000 in Wales. London and the south east will be hit hardest, where a quarter of a million homes will become unaffordable.

Those who are struggling to pay their rent will inevitably find themselves and their families served with eviction notices. More and more landlords are refusing to let properties to those recieving benefit while average rents in the private housing sector continue to rise. These factors make finding a new home extremely difficult and thus homelessness is increasingly becoming a reality for many cash strapped families.

The Eviction Resistance Network strongly condemn evictions of those who are struggling to pay rent in times of austerity. We urge communities to network, be open about financial struggles and injustices and, most importantly, get out on the streets and support eachother. See our useful contacts page to find more information about local support groups.

HACKNEY RESISTANCE

The forces of darkness stalled by a peaceful demonstration outside the squatted property. On talking to the occupants we learnt that the building had been empty for 13 years and it had now been put back into use as a home for fourteen individuals. A hearty cooked breakfast was enjoyed by the 50 strong turn out and there was much celebration when the bailiffs decided not to go ahead with the eviction. This resistance was back in May, to our knowledge the property still remains squatted to this day.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

BANNER OF THE WEEK!

Say no more...

NEWS OF EVICTIONS AND A PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Once again the corporate 0lympics have outdone themselves in the exclusion of local people;both the BBC and Al Jazeera  have taken over a number of the upper floors in  two residential tower blocks overlooking the olympic site. The residents being temporarily moved. In the spirit of exclusion ER believes the council have turned a blind eye to this.

Private security now control entry to the tower blocks for all residents.This control is so total that residents  have been denied access to their homes because of an apparent security breach at the BBC  suite or residents home as ER would like to call it.When police were called to the scene you will not be surprised to find they sided with the private security, further denying access to legitimate residents.There was no security breach, but ER fully expect the residents  to be further excluded during the corporate games.

A source has told ER there are plans to further gentrify  the Stratford area with the demolition of the two tower blocks, with the land being made available for yet more corporate development and greed at the expense of local people. Watch this space for further updates.

'But I just popped out to get some milk!!!'

SQUATTING - STILL LEGAL?

Yes. Yes it is. But for how much longer we are unsure. As many of you are aware, section 144 of the LASPO act 2012 states that squatting in residential buildings is now a criminal offence. However, when this will come into force we are not yet sure, with some sources saying September at the earliest. The Advisory Service for Squatters has produced a very comprehensive leaflet titled 'Squatting Made Less Simple' which explains how they expect the law to be understood. It's definately worth a read if you are unsure about the upcoming legislation and how it might affect the squatting community. You can find the leaflet here:

http://www.squatter.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=275&Itemid=70

This leglislation is a direct attack on our peaceful communities. It will overnight make innocent people into criminals. The time for lobbying and campaigning is over. It's time to take action. Get involved, join the resistance. 

WHATEVER THEY SAY, SQUATTING WILL STAY!!

WAIT?! WAS THAT A BULLDOZER?!

Over the past few weeks we've been out to support several groups of squatters who have been threatened by owners claiming the right to demolish their buildings. These threats can be made despite a possession order not being issued to the owner.  So, when the bulldozers in town what's to do?

Well the good news is property owners can't have a property demolished with people inside. Obviously, that could be murder. So, they have to get you out before work can commence, i.e, take you to court. Remind them of this and then firmly state that you will not be leaving the property until ordered to do so by court. If they continue to threaten then let them call the builders in. No demolition company would even consider knocking down a building when there are people inside, much as the owners may want them to. Getting done for manslaughter is really not top of demolition companies to do lists.

So, there really is very little possibility of any work starting on the property without your consent/a possession order granted and executed. If you're still not feeling comfortable, give us a call and we'd be more than happy to talk to that owner for you.

Aside from demolition, what about if there is building work allegedly due to start on the property? Your very irate owner comes banging on the door screaming about how the builders *gasp* were supposed to start today and because of YOU *gasp* they can't! Well, this is a trickier situation. In they eyes of the law, you still have the right to remain in your home until a court says otherwise. Section 6 still applies, whether its
residential or commercial premises. However, you may want to consider moving on. For many, squatting is about sheltering in abandoned, disused buildings and putting them back to use. If there is genuine building work about to start then the building is obviously going to be used and thus won't be your home for much longer. You are still perfectly entitled to go through the court process though.

Irrespective of your views on the right thing to do in such situations, it's always a good idea to check that there really is building work about to commence. One way of doing this is by searching online for planning applications for your building. Type the relevant council followed by .gov.uk to get to the main website. The planning application search is normally in the section called 'environment'. When you 've found it, type your address into the search box. If results come up look at them closely, how old is the application and what is it's status? If
the status is 'granted' then it means the owner has permission to do building work. If then status is 'pending' then the council are still deciding whether to accept or reject the application. If the status says 'denied' then it's not happening.

So, all in all, don't let the threat of demolition/building work worry you. Chances are it's likely to be an empty threat. Do check it out though and get in touch if you need any advice.