A group of squatters have defied developers by hosting a party in the listed building they occupy, just days after builders began renovating the property.
One resident estimated that up to 200 people attended the party last Friday, where there was live music and fire juggling.
The building, 195 Mare Street, lay empty from 2003 until August of this year when squatters moved in to the Grade II* listed building.
Living in non-residential sites is currently legal.
Police were called to the 300-year-old property last week following reports that builders were demolishing parts of the house without permission.
The squatters saw builders entering the site last Monday: “Two of us were returning from scavenging for fruit and vegetables [when] a group of about a dozen builders forced entry.”
One female squatter said contractors had “destroyed the staircase with spades” before wrecking the toilets and external doors.
She added: “It’s a calm house, nobody is violent here. They want to build but they don’t have planning permission.”
No arrests were made and police negotiated with both parties before the contractors left the site.
However, Jim Casey, of the building’s developer CS Solutions, said the squatters were occupying the building “illegally” and posed a “major fire risk”.
He continued: “They’re not drunks or down-and-outs, they’re intelligent people. They should get jobs.”
Mr Casey declined to reveal the name of his client but plans to build 32 flats at the back of the property, with offices inside the protected Georgian structure, if an application is approved by Hackney Council.
He hopes full-scale building work will begin in less than four months, with a projected date for completion of October 2014.
Following the popularity of last week’s event a second party is planned for next week.
