Inside London’s secret slums taken over by squatters

‘Tom’ has lived in various squats for ten years. Homeless since he was 17, he hasn’t known a permanent safe place to call home at any point in his adult life. 

Now 28, Tom’s lost count of the different types of property he’s lived in, but, so far, he has managed to find somewhere to sleep in abandoned warehouses, vacant offices, empty schools, a police station, fire station, post office and even a leisure centre.

‘It’s a just a way of life,’ Tom tells Metro. He’s part of the Reclaim Croydon collective, a squatters’ group, which has taken over disused commercial premises to provide beds for the homeless as a community-based solution to a broken housing market. The group has refurbished around 30 empty buildings since it was formed last year, providing homes for over 100 people.

After arriving in the UK from Eastern Europe a decade ago, Tom explains that he was unable to find a property to rent and ended up sleeping on the streets. Eventually some squatters offered him a roof over his head and he felt ‘safe for the first time’. He’s been living rent-free ever since. 

‘I live with a crew – a collective of people who have to live together,’ he says. ‘For legal reasons, someone always has to be at the squat as it is a form of occupation. But people have jobs and lives – they are all people I trust and love. They have become like a family now.’ 

He is using a pseudonym, Tom adds, as he wants to protect his identity. While squatting is legal in commercial buildings, he has come up against the police who have tried to illegally evict him in the past and doesn’t want to draw the attention of the authorities. 

The Croydon squat he currently lives in looks like a home; it is cosy, comfortable and taken care of. Until squatters moved in, it was a private block of flats that had been left empty and neglected.

‘We refurbished it, got rid of the mold and repainted it,’ Tom explains. ‘When people walk by they probably wouldn’t know it is a squat. There is a regular front door with a doorbell and everyone has their own key.’

Tom works as a builder and used his skills to help his housemates fix up the plumbing, toilets, lighting and installed new flooring in the crumbling building. They overhauled the overgrown yard that had been taken over by brambles, planting flower beds and clearing pathways, and extended their efforts to the churchyard next door.

‘We are not a burden. We take care of the buildings,’ Tom adds. ‘Of course there are bad squatters that give us a bad name, but we are contributing to society.’

But it’s a less than perfect solution for Tom who lives with the contestant threat of eviction over his head. As does 28-year-old Leaf, who comes from Reading.

Invisible and on the increase

Leaf, who is non-binary, currently sleeps in an abandoned youth centre, and has spent years living on the streets and in squats because rising rents had outstripped government welfare and housing benefits.

‘If the people in charge actually gave a damn about anyone who was struggling, they would make those [empty] houses habitable. Homelessness is a direct political choice’, Leaf recently told Reuters. ‘The government is failing homeless people.’ 

One in every 25 homes in England is currently sitting vacant, according to Action on Empty Homes. There are nearly 700,000 in England that are unfurnished and standing empty, while at least 309,000 people are living homeless, according to the most recent figures from the charity Shelter.

However, homelessness is notoriously difficult to quantify and figures are likely to be much higher, say activists and campaigners. 

The British Landlords Association estimates squatting in commercial buildings is up by almost 300% since December 2021, a problem its head, Sajjad Ahmad, blames on government policies rather than squatters.

‘A lot of these people that you see on the street or squatting in buildings are not drug addicts. You speak to them, and you realise that some of them are qualified individuals who still hold down jobs,’ he says.

Tom’s current home, which used to be home to the Met police and then later private tenancies, was falling into disrepair when he moved in. When its last owner disappeared – a landlord who went bankrupt – Tom’s crew fixed it up and now every member of the 20-strong crew has their own room.

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How it works

Having a bedroom is one of the group’s minimum standards. They argue that anyone who comes into the squat from the street should expect their own space, their own mattress, a heater and some bedding.

The squat is ruled by democracy; when they need to sort something out, like how to get rid of waste, they get together, have a beer and come to a decision; in this case – club together and pay for a skip. 

‘Decisions are taken very easily in the group. It is like a meeting but not. Everyone contributes as much as they can, but no one is forced,’ Tom explains. The inhabitants use unlimited internet from phone contracts and the electricity and water bills are sorted out between them. 

Like Tom, Youness Elaissaoui, 49, lives in a squat in Croydon. He’s grateful for the roof over his head and says being given a room in a former school ‘was the first time I felt like a human being after I came to the UK’. 

Youness, a Moroccan immigrant, explains: ‘I have been squatting for more than two years. The UK is the place I feel most safe. When I reached London in 2017, I slept for my first three nights in Victoria Station. Then for five months I was sleeping on the bus. Home for me has a lot of meaning; relaxing, sleeping, safety and protection.’ 

A community in danger

However, squats are not always places of safety. Hayley Knight, of charity Flow Aid which provides vulnerable and homeless women with free menstrual products, explains that we do not know how many women are squatting or sleeping rough because so many of them hide from the authorities, abusive relationships and abusive homes, becoming ‘invisible women’. 

She tells Metro: ‘20% of homeless women that are accounted for are squatting. Many have significant welfare needs; including those of mental and physical health.

‘Evidence shows that homeless people who squat have higher levels of needs than those on the street and 34% of homeless people who squat have been in care, 42% are disabled and 41% have mental health issues. They are an incredibly vulnerable group.’

It is a problem that disproportionately affects ethnic minorities too with a 2022 report showing that black people are more than three times as likely to experience homelessness as white people in England and twice as likely in Scotland. Like Oumnia, who lives with her young children in a small, sparsely furnished former girl’s school that has been empty for four years. 

Oumnia lives in an outbuilding with its own small kitchen and bathroom, which she says is preferable to the small room she was offered in a hostel. ‘It was not enough for us, and it’s not healthy,’ she told Reuters. 

Like Tom, Oumnia doesn’t know how long she will be able to stay in the school. And while Tom’s home is comfortable for now, it’s not a permanent solution. 

‘All of us wish for our own place. Yes – squatting is a lifestyle; a community. But this is just a response to the housing crisis,’ he says. ‘It would be much easier to have a simple flat with a bed and a bathroom and not live with the constant fear of being evicted hanging over your head.

‘Last week we had three attempts of illegal eviction in different squats in Croydon. We resisted. You have violence from the landlords or bailiffs to deal with. And people aren’t always used to living in a community like ours. Sometimes it can be intense. People have traumas, they end up in our community for a reason. And you have to learn how to deal with that.

‘If buildings are sitting empty, it is morally wrong that people can’t use them to stay warm and dry. Those buildings will fall apart and be taken down if they remain empty.

‘We are a happy community, but we’d be a lot happier if there wasn’t the constant threat of eviction from all around.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Kirsten.Robertson@metro.co.uk 

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