Saturday 20 June 2009

Chopped Potato : What is this quit?

Not exactly court papers, but today we (and every other squatter here) received a "notice to quit" letter from the local "authority"/owner.

Addressed to the previous tenants of our flat, the housing officer of the letter states: I know there are trespassers in there -- so vacate the premises soonest please -- and hand over your keys too. Not written as gently as that, but pretty much the gist of it. With a threat attached of course, "Failure to do so"...

And also a date: Monday 27th July. Where our "period of tenancy", according to the owner, is due to expire. Whatever that means. The Advisory Service for Squatters agrees that this letter is nothing but nonsense, don't worry about it they say. So we won't.

But in all honesty -- all of nine months for the local "authority" to figure out there are squatters in this block of flats? Uh huh. Either this time lag is an indication of the complexity of their bureaucracy in getting such matters sorted out or just cause for plain bad eyesight.