Vice.com - Meeting Brighton's 'King Of The Squatters'

Thu Oct 23 22:19:13 BST 2014

Meeting Brighton's 'King Of The Squatters'

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/meet-brightons-king-of-the-squatters-773

By Tom Barlow-Brown, Photos: Milo Belgrove Oct 15 2014
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The "King of Squatters" competition is basically 
exactly the same thing as the X Factor, only 
you're judged on your ability to live in 
buildings that don't belong to you rather than 
your voice, teeth and capacity to gesticulate to 
music. This year was the competition's first, 
starting sometime in mid-August and finishing at 
the end of September. Essentially a race to see 
who could squat the most buildings, the aim was 
to highlight how empty commercial property can be used to house rough sleepers.

The race was conceived last year, but Dave Adams 
 founder of the competition and self-proclaimed 
"King of Squatters"  had a bit of trouble 
getting it started. This year, everything fell 
into place; groups from Bristol, Cardiff, London, 
Brighton and Manchester got together and decided to put the plan into action.

Dave managed to squat seven buildings before the 
competition was up, though eventually lost to the 
Bristol team. However, defeat hasn't put him off; 
he plans to hold the "King of Squatters" 
challenge again next year, and for now is 
focusing on helping others find a home.

I recently visited Dave at his latest squat, a 
comfortable set-up in the centre of Brighton that 
used to be an art gallery before it was abandoned.

There was emulsion smeared on the windows to stop 
people from peering in, and a section 144 notice 
 telling whoever read it that the law against 
squatting residential buildings doesn't apply to 
commercial property  was stuck to the front 
doors. The residents were staying in the basement 
because the windows above them could be seen into from the library upstairs.

I think we spooked a few of the people in the 
library when we first moved in, said Dave. 
"Because the windows are blacked out, they 
havent got a clue about the numbers down here.

When police or bailiffs turned up, Dave would 
tell them that there were 25 people living 
inside. I say half the people are ex-forces, he 
admitted. Theyre more sympathetic when they hear that.

Despite his nifty tactics, legal action was 
looming when I visited, as the council want to 
take back possession of the building. Luckily, 
Dave had a backup plan  a four-floor office 
block close by. He couldnt tell me exactly 
where, but he said there was one person already 
there, holding the fort in case someone else 
tried to take the building  likely, considering 
Brighton has high levels of homelessness, with 
demand for affordable homes far exceeding supply.

It's this exact point that the contest is trying 
to highlight. According to one council report, 
the number of people in the city registering as 
homeless on a yearly basis is "higher than both 
the national and regional average", and amid 
funding cuts to shelters and public services, the 
city is floundering in its response.

The sheer number of homeless people in Brighton 
is down to several factors. According to a 
council spokesperson I talked to, the seaside 
city has a bright lights, big city appeal that 
people often end up falling victim to. "We 
attract a lot of people that either don't find a 
place or can't afford somewhere to live because 
housing is hugely expensive," he said.

It's also a city known for its liberal views, so 
many believe residents will be nicer to rough 
sleepers than others throughout the UK. And in a 
practical sense, it's relatively warm compared to 
other British towns and cities. Mind you, it is 
still a British city, meaning it's also still 
horribly cold for those sleeping on the streets.

On the 3rd of October, Dave and 20 of his 
homeless friends held a protest outside Brighton 
town hall. They were demanding better care for 
the homeless and ended up having a conversation 
with the mayor. Chris, a homeless guy who I spoke 
to at the protest, was happy that someone was 
trying to raise awareness of their situation. 
The council needs to put things into place so 
that people have somewhere to stay. They need to 
stop wasting time, he told me.

When I asked the council if it had considered 
working with squatters, a spokesperson told me: 
Historically, some squatters have done 
considerable damage to council property, which 
means that more money has to be spent to bring 
them up to a state where you can actually rent them.

Dave maintains that he doesnt damage property. 
We usually leave a place cleaner than when we moved in, he told me.

While Dave might have support for his 
competition, not everyone's happy about the way 
he's raising awareness. An ex-squatter named 
Toby, who worked on a squat project in 2012 
called the autonomous homeless shelter, told me 
that his friends thought the scheme was a bit 
stupid, because buildings can really only be 
squatted once. There's a limited stock of empty 
commercial property, and even less that's in a 
liveable state. Toby said his friends were 
annoyed Dave was promoting the idea that you 
should squat as many buildings as possible.

Youre simply using up the stock, he said.

There are no real politics behind the King of 
Squatters competition, other than Daves desire 
to house rough sleepers in squats. That said, 
Dave identifies as an anarchist  something 
that's pissed off some of Brighton's 
anarcho-squats, who reckon that having a 
self-proclaimed "King" is anathema to their 
egalitarian politics. Two squatters who didnt 
want to be named told me that they thought the 
whole thing was a publicity stunt with no 
political basis. And they made a fair point, no 
matter how misguided: demanding that the council 
get involved kind of clashes with the entire philosophy of squatting.

When I mentioned this to Toby, he eased up on his 
criticism. I think its commendable that hes at 
least trying to do something, because, for fuck's 
sake, something has to be done, he said. The 
situation in Brighton is at crisis level. I cant 
stress that enough. People are dying, quite 
regularly, of very preventable things.

<http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/https://twitter.com/Tom_BBrown>@Tom_BBrown 
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<http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/https://twitter.com/milobelgrove>@milobelgrove

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