On Tuesday evening, the police moved in on the Occupation. Southwark Council had obtained an Interim Possession Order for 77-105 Chartridge House, the block that we first occupied on the 31^st of January. Our callout drew many hundreds to resist the evictions, both from inside the Chartridge flats and outside on the estate. Due to that resistance, it took the police hours to gain entry to the block.

Despite the massive police presence, some of us managed to occupy 69-76 Chartridge. This is the adjoining block that was smashed up by Southwark Council vandals last week in a feeble attempt to stem the spread of the protest.

We used ladders to climb into this block, just before the police came in to evict us from the block we’d originally been occupying. Thanks to all the supporters, we successfully repelled the police from taking any action against our new occupation.

Just before 10pm, the riot police declared their intention to break into our new, legal, occupation and arrest all of us. They gave us the option of leaving voluntarily but we refused to do so, and thanks to the large number of supporters, successfully resisted them. The police only managed to remove the supporters outside through a dispersal order over the estate and a number of overly-violent arrests.

We have continued our protest here ever since. The fences erected by Southwark Council last week are now festooned with banners. We are in good spirits, and thank all those who have shown solidarity and brought us breakfast etc. We encourage people to continue to come down and support the Aylesbury Estate Occupation.

Refuse, Resist, Repopulate, Refurbish.

Aylesbury Endures.

20 February: Squat the lot

*We wondered where our wages went*

*We wasted most by paying rent*

*Since, we’ve learnt to change our lot*

*So now we’re living in a squat*

Two weeks ago we occupied the Aylesbury estate. The first block we took was violently evicted and we opened a new block, one the council had smashed up to prevent us from occupying. We are doing it up and plan to stay. We are squatters, not housing activists. By moving into empty, neglected buildings, we fight to carve out a space for ourselves in this merciless money-dominated city. We aren’t here to fight on anyone’s behalf but to fight in solidarity with the residents of Aylesbury.

We are the generation who has nothing to defend: no council housing and no homes we own, no sense of belonging to any place, just endless badly paid, insecure, dead-end work. So we squat, constantly moved, our belongings taken, constantly hassled by police and bailiffs. But, as we do, we find others and together achieve some freedom from the state and landlords and some power to take control over our lives.

Squatting was criminalised at the same time as estates were being destroyed all over London. At Aylesbury we find a struggle like our own: a fight against eviction and for space in which we can not only survive but really live. Squatters and tenants unite!

Some occupiers

https:// fightfortheaylesbury. wordpress .com

pdf poster here: squat the lot