Squatters

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I’m at the house that Mr. Lockbaud and which has been occupied by squatters. I’m going to see if they will talk to me. Hello? Hello?

Is anyone there? Who is it? My name’s James Connolly. I’m from Radio Bath, the local radio station. I was wondering if someone would give me an interview.

Hi. This isn’t on live radio, is it? No, it isn’t. But I’m recording it. Is that OK?

Sure. What would you like to know? Why are you squatting in this house? It isn’t yours, is it? No, of course it isn’t.

But it was empty. We all need a place to live. Why don’t you just rent a flat or house? You’re joking. The rents around here are extortionate.

I wouldn’t have enough to live on after paying the rent. Don’t you think it’s wrong to live in a property which doesn’t belong to you without getting permission? No, not if it’s empty. There’s a shortage of houses in this country, but there are loads of empty properties, and most of them are owned by greedy property developers who’ve bought them as an investment and are leaving them empty for years and then selling them when property prices go up. What’s wrong with buying and selling property to make a profit?

What’s wrong with that? There are thousands of people who have become homeless. People with mental health and addiction problems who need somewhere to live. Everybody’s got the right to a roof over their head. Why did you choose this place?

We noticed that it looked empty. We came back a few times to make sure. Then one of us climbed in through a window that had been left open. Nobody is using the place, so we decided to take possession of it. What do you say to people who say that squatters are just lazy for everything for free and contribute nothing to society?

That’s rubbish. We’re just normal people. We live like normal people. We contribute to society, yeah? We’re not damaging stuff, and in fact, we’ve done a lot of maintenance and even made some improvements.

We’ve tidied the garden and repaired the roof. It’s the people like Mr Lock who own empty properties that are antisocial. They’re only motivated by greed. They’re the ones that contribute nothing to society. Mr Lock has applied for a court order.

What will you do when you get evicted? We’ll leave. We’ll find another empty property and squat there. My baby’s woken up. I have to go now.

OK. Thank you for your time. Bye.