Housing campaigners ‘occupied’ an empty block of flats for 24 hours in an effort to pressure a housing association to renovate and reuse the property. In a demonstration beginning in Hastings on Sunday, activists from Housing Rebellion entered Clifton Court in Holmesdale Gardens — a vacant 53-apartment building owned by housing association Orbit. Campaigners said their demonstration was intended to highlight both the town’s housing pressures and Orbit’s management of the building, which they said has been empty for more than a year.
They argue the building appears to be structurally sound and habitable, so should be brought back into use as social housing as soon as possible. For its part, Orbit says refurbishment is not “a realistic option” due to the building’s “technical challenges”. Several campaigners stayed in the building overnight, with more members of the group holding a demonstration outside of the building for much of the 24 hours they were on site.
Hastings resident Marnie Johnson was among those to take part in the demonstration. She said: “Why have a building like this empty? Fifty-three families could be housed in this and it is better to refurbish it than to knock it down and start all over again. “Environmentally it would be much better to refurbish it than to dig more cement out of the ground and create more carbon.
“The flats that I’ve been in are in really good condition. This has been empty for more than a year, yet I haven’t.
