I can’t understand this housing crisis. Nobody needs to be homeless. We have 200,000 empty homes in England, with 4,297 in Birmingham alone. And that’s only the houses. There are countless empty cinemas, theatres, hospitals and stations that have been derelict for decades, and probably a few bunkers if you’re worried about nuclear holocaust. What a waste. Within 30 minutes’ walk of my home, there is a huge theatre (empty since 1989), a hospital (empty for decades) and a nursing home (empty since 2003), all sitting rotting while dithering owners make up their minds what to do with them. Imagine what perfect flats, hostels, community centres and shelters they could have made in the meantime.
I dream that squatting will return. Not just the odd squat, but a gigantic, coordinated, nationwide flash squat of multiple empty sites all at once, which might give the squatters more of a chance to settle in while the opposing forces flap around trying to decide which enormous phalanx to evict first.
I imagine tremendous opposition. For some odd reason, squatting enrages the you-can’t-have-something-for-nothing brigade. But squatting isn’t something for nothing. It’s not usually a few ravers descending on an oligarch’s empty mansion. Done properly, it’s very hard work, often restoring and saving buildings from terminal decline. Decades ago, I met a group of squatters who occupied some large houses in Haverstock Hill, north London, and slaved away keeping the roofs repaired and the houses standing.
Now, down in Brighton, the Argus reports that “several leftwing organisations have been at work in a derelict university building, rehanging doors, sanding floors and reconnecting the building’s plumbing”, turning it into homes and a community centre. “Peace, love and wash your dishes,” says a notice on the wall. Sounds like my dream could come true.
So, I’ll take it further, and dream of a law that says all councils, large companies and organisations must get their fingers out and sell or use their premises within a year. Otherwise, they will be compulsorily purchased by a concerned government and turned into reasonably priced council housing that cannot ever be resold, allowing stock to finally build up. Why not?
