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JB: Ah, so as you were somewhat tied to the Occupy Movement, that was a means of getting your foot in the door?

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JP: “Yeah, I think that helped, they wanted to help us more so because of our ties to the movement, although we were actually trying to distance ourselves from the Occupy demonstrations so we didn’t give the movement a bad name.

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JB: How did you enter the building?

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JP: So we broke into the building around February of 2012 and we did it with tools to enter the gates and entered through the kitchen. When we got there everything was there, the gate codes, keys, alarm codes. It was all there. The mansion at the time was for sale for £4.25 million pounds. We got a bunch of people to join us and stay with us, but neighbors obviously noticed and saw us entering.

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JB: What is the process of getting people to join you?

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JP: We had about fifteen people in there at its peak but obviously we couldn’t let anyone in.

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JB: Was there a leader in the group of people you were squatting with who would decide who would approve or deny people entry?

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JP: It was pretty much self-governing and it got tricky at times as we were all quite young. We all took on different roles. A few other guys and I would be the ones to find other empty places so I guess that gave us a bit more authority than other people. There was one guy that we all agreed we didn’t want there but no one would speak up and I was the only one who said he couldn’t stay here, and he just ended up punching me and breaking my front teeth, he then punched me a second time when I told him to stop selling drugs to young girls and broke both sides of my jaw so things sometimes got quite intense.

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JB: So, after the neighbours saw you did they call the police?

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JP: Yeah, so they called the police but as there were no visible signs of forced entry, the police couldn’t do anything and we hadn’t stolen anything so the police couldn’t do us for burglary. The laws were different then too so we were allowed to squat in residential buildings but now you can only squat in commercial properties.

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JB: You mentioned the mansion was for sale, were you not asked to leave by the real estate agents?

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JP: We were offered 10 grand to leave because it is easier to pay someone to leave than go through the court process but we were living in a mansion so we weren’t going to give that up.

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JB: So, you have this mansion, what are you doing there? Are some of you working jobs?

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JP: So, when squatting someone has to always be in the property at any given time but also our egos did probably get a bit big, like we were a bunch of 20-year-olds living in a mansion so we felt like we had a lot to show off. One time we held a rave there and put earplugs through the neighbour’s letterboxes.  After the rave, the place was obviously messy, but we got traders in to come around and fix smashed windows and any property damage. We all helped keep the place clean and tidy to keep the place in good condition, you wouldn’t have thought there had been a party there.

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JB: So, these rave parties were a regular occurrence?

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JP: Yeah, the following weekend, we had another rave and the police ended up showing up in riot gear. Though there were no hard drug users in our group, people did use recreational drugs and you should never try and stop a rave at 4 in the morning with everyone on drugs, that’s just gonna be bad for everyone involved. The police just tore the whole place apart and turned the place upside down, slashed the mattresses open, throwing the furniture around, and just made the place look awful and then let the media in, and those photos are the photos you see on articles that were published about us.

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JB: I would imagine that squatting in a mansion is rare or is it quite common for large properties like that to be used by squatters?

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JP: Well, there was a probation office building but I never lived there. Every floor was pretty much occupied by a different group of people and stuff got pretty dark there. That was a dangerous place. It just got stupidly dark and as a result of being there, a lot of people got into hard drugs. I had only been to the property a few times, I never stayed there.

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JB: How would you have labeled yourself?

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JP:  I see being homeless more as someone sleeping on the street, not in a derogatory way, but yeah I would say I identified more as a squatter. Like no one should be on the streets, anyone can break into a property

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JB: That makes sense, but surely there are reasons why people on the streets don’t break into properties?

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JP: Yeah, an individual can’t hold the property on their own as there has to be at least one person in the property at all times so squatting in a group is easier.

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JB: Do you think connotations of the word ‘squatter’ affect the way people view those who are part of the squatting/homeless population?

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JP: The connotations are quite negative. When you think of squatters you think of a group of Romanian people who don’t speak English who move into a property when a family goes on holiday but this is something I have never seen in real life. I am sure it does happen on the rare occasion but I have never heard of that happening.  Also, when you think of squatters you think of people who have not been paying rent but we would be paying energy bills whilst at properties with energy and water meters so we did what we could.

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JB: How do you think people typically view people on the streets?

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JP: The public definitely looks down on the squatters because they hear of people going on holidays and coming back to a house of squatters but as someone who has been in the squatting community, I have never heard of that happening, that is just something you read in the Daily Mail.

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JB: Did/do you feel supported by our current or previous governments?

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JP: I never received any sort of government support or knew how to access it. I definitely didn’t feel supported at all.

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JB: How do you feel about homeless deterrent schemes such as pigeon spikes?

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JP: That’s just pure evil, that. This is all done by people who have no idea what it is like for those in it. I guess it’s something people who aren’t in it don’t understand. Giving homeless people charges and penalties and you can get your stuff confiscated if you are sleeping in the wrong place. Yeah, it’s just pure evil, basically.

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JB: Is it fair to say you feel ‘let down’ by the system?

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JP: I think massively, there were times I felt so depressed. I didn’t know the means, I didn’t know how to get a house, I had no idea of how to get a job, save for money. I ended up selling drugs to get enough money to buy a house.

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JB: Lots of charities are working to help those who are sleeping rough and facing the housing crisis, do you think their work reaches or helps those in need?

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JP: I’m not a fan of big charities, most money goes to the running of the charity and paying employers but those large charities that have executives obviously have to pay those people. But the Salvation Army has done great work and the YMCA offers great support too. It’s so hard to reach these people.

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JB: How can everyday people help those they see on the streets?

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JP: Apart from giving access to services, telling them where they can get food, clothes, and water and make sure they know where food banks are.

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JB: For those who have no idea how homelessness feels, could you describe it in a few sentences?

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JP: It really is just about your survival instinct; you are living day by day. You are only thinking about where you’re next gonna eat and sleep. You not really thinking about what you will be doing next week.

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JB: How did you keep going whilst sleeping rough?

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JP: You just did. Sometimes you would be so exhausted but you just did. The most stressful times would be when there would be unexpected evictions so if you didn’t have a plan on where to move next you would be scrambling to find some kind of option and that would be when we would be sleeping on the streets.

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JB: Why do you think those who are homeless, turn to drugs and alcohol?

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JP: Especially when you’re on the streets, it is a way to cope. It really irritates me when people say oh don’t give people money, they will spend it on drugs but I can guarantee if they were sleeping on the streets and everyone is looking down on them, they might wanna spend some fucking money on heroin

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JB: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, is there anything you wish the public knew about the homeless/squatting community?

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JP: Not everyone is awful. You never hear about squatters leaving an evicted place early and cleaning before they go. There is already a painted picture that the media reinforce. Those who squat and leave the place a state go against the point of squatting and just gives us a really bad name. We would be paying energy bills on these places too so we did our bit while in the property.