Housing activists have occupied a property owned by Southwark council which was due to be auctioned today at a starting price of £2.3 million.
They have occupied the building to stop the sell-off of yet more public housing stock when the borough faces a severe housing crisis with almost 25,000 people on the housing waiting list and increasing numbers of people forced to sleep rough on London’s streets.
The occupation is also a challenge to section 144 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) introduced last September which criminalised squatting in residential properties. This law has meant that homeless people seeking shelter in empty buildings can find themselves with a prison sentence.
Sarah Morris, a local housing campaigner involved in the occupation said:
“We have occupied this building to stop yet more council housing being sold off to private developers. Southwark council has a waiting…
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