Squatters move into Holloway pub in rents protest | Islington Tribune

Squatters move into Holloway pub in rents protest | Islington Tribune

Squatters move into Holloway pub in rents protest

With London so expensive, it’s the only alternative to living on streets, they claim

18 August, 2017 — By Emily Finch

Squatters Adam and Jamie at the pub

SQUATTERS this week took over an empty pub in Holloway Road in protest against high rents in the capital.

The five squatters, who say they offer housing and food to the less fortunate, moved into the former Liquor Works pub on Sunday.

“We respect the building. We don’t trash it. We don’t rip out the copper wiring,” said squatter Jamie, 26, who did not wish to give his surname.

“Nine out of ten times, we manage to contact the owners to see if we can look after the building and give it back when they ask. We’re squatting to have somewhere to stay. Rent is too expensive in London.”

A courier originally from Margate, Jamie has been squatting for more than five years. He was living in an abandoned drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Finsbury Park before moving into the pub.

The three-storey Irish theme pub had been empty for more than three weeks before they moved in, he said.

The former Liquor Works pub in Holloway Road

Another squatter, Adam, said that, with rents in London so high, squatting was the only alternative to living on the streets.