Squatters reported to be staying in historic Lewes hotel

A note has appeared on the door of the Shelleys Hotel on Lewes High Street which reads: “Squatters are living here. We know the laws, until court order to leave is issued we will stay here. It’s a civic matter."

The message also states there are eight squatters and two dogs staying at the 16th-century manor house. The squatters also write that anyone who enters the building without a court order will be trespassing.

A photo of the hand-written note was posted on Facebook on New Year’s Day, generating a large number of responses in support of the squatters.

Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 states that is a crime in most circumstances for a landlord to forcibly enter a building occupied by squatters, if the squatters where physically present to object to the landlord's entry.

Since September 2012, squatting or claiming ‘squatter rights’ in a residential building, without the permission of the property owner, is in fact illegal.

The four-star accommodation contains 19 rooms and was a popular destination for tourists, as the building was once the home of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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In November 2022, residents in the East Sussex town called for a historic hotel to be listed as a ‘building at risk’ following concerns that the owners were leaving the property to decay.

Concerns were expressed about the quality of the roof and the increasing number of overgrown weeds in the hotel car park.

Sussex Police have been approached for a comment.