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How to Stay in a $9.9M London Mansion for Free
November 07, 2008 11:40 AM
By AMMU KANNAMPILLY, ABC NEWS London
One of London’s most exclusive addresses is now home to an squatters’ art collective. Blocks away from Michelin-starred restaurants, Hyde Park and the U.S. Embassy, a group calling itself the Da! Collective has found an empty house with an open window and moved in.
The group has been living there since October 10 and its members claim that they have yet to hear from the property’s owner, a company called Deltaland Resources Ltd, based in the British Virgin Islands.
In the meantime, the group has made itself at home, changing the locks, hanging a black flag from the first-floor balcony and decorating the rooms with art installations.
The house's floorboards may look too worn-out to support people living there, but that doesn't faze its latest occupants, who have reconnected the utilities and plan to pay for electricity and heating.
The $9.9 million, six-floor townhouse is now filled with sleeping bags, old mattresses and rucksacks stuffed with clothes. The 30-plus rooms in the building are now home to art installations featuring tree branches, test tubes and a lot of exposed electric wiring.
Although its idea of redecorating might repel some observers, the group doesn’t believe that it has done anything wrong.
Stephanie Smith, 21, a member of the collective, told reporters, “If anything, we are improving the building by mending leaks and things like that. The building is listed so English Heritage might be interested to see how the owners have let it disintegrate.”
One of the other members, Sophie, 19, told ABC News the collective does not "want to degrade the house."
She added, "Anyone can come in here, anyone off the street, there's no money involved."
Unless the owner takes the group to court, British law allows squatters to stay put wherever they choose. And if they are able to hold on for 12 years, the place is theirs for life.
So far, the members of Da! Collective have no plans to move. As Smith told reporters, “If the owners want to kick us out they will have to apply for an eviction notice at the county court.”
If the owners take them to court, then other owners had better watch out. In the past the collective has taken over several empty houses in central London, including two in the upmarket neighborhood of Kensington.
But before the group's members move, they intend to enjoy their new premises to the hilt. They held an opening night event to promote their artwork on November 7, which attracted a steady flow of interest from people passing by.
And, as for neighbors minding the noise, that doesn't seem to be a problem. Sophie said that they had had many friendly visits from "elderly neighbors". The night of the party, a local restaurant, Corrigan's, offered them free plates of food, as a goodwill gesture.
At any rate, the Da! Collective's latest neighbors may well have to get used to their presence. In May, 70-year-old Harry Hallowes became famous when he won legal rights to a piece of land in Hampstead Heath, north London, after squatting there for more than two decades. The price of the land? A cool $3.1 million.
Read more blogs from Ammu Kannampilly.
November 7, 2008 in Ammu Kannampilly | Permalink | User Comments (3)
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Interesting story. I'd rather pay for my own home. A mention on ABC would help me do it very quickly! Call me!
Posted by: BDavis | Nov 8, 2008 11:15:37 AM
Hmmm... we have alot of empty McMansions dotting the subburbs through the country. Perhaps this is a solution. LOL
Posted by: Rick_VT | Nov 10, 2008 9:56:19 PM
This is just another form of organized theft. You go over there and take over because you know you can steal the property. I say hire some thugs and knock some heads.
Posted by: Peter | Nov 11, 2008 1:24:27 AM
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