Squatting in London: Legacies of a Radical Movement

‘Squatting is the oldest mode of tenure in the world, and we are all descended from squatters. This is as true of the Queen with her 176,000 acres as it is of the 54 per cent of householders in Britain who are owner-occupiers. They are all the ultimate recipients of stolen land, for to regard our planet as a commodity offends every conceivable principle of natural rights.’
The Early Squatters by Colin Ward in Squatting: The Real Story (1980, 2005)

This piece of writing was published in Essays in Critical Urbanism (2020), through the University of East London MRes Reading the Neoliberal City course run by Anna Minton. The essay examines the role that squatting has played in contributing to the spatial history of London and its associated social and political movements. Through reflecting on the very specific set of circumstances that enabled such large scale squatting to re-emerge in London from the late 1960’s into the 1980’s, the legacies of these practices is discussed in relation to their long lasting effects on both the urban fabric and social dynamics of the city. Squatting has long been a response to housing need but also social injustice and is explored as a practice that directly contends with and makes visible a variety of social issues that continue to reoccur in the urban context of London. Below are excerpts from the book.