The venue, which is vacant and currently up for sale with a guide price of £13m, has been taken over by a group called Camden Art Cafe, which plans to open it up for locals to use.
In a statement posted on social media entitle ‘Why we squatted Gordon Ramsay’s pub’, the group says it is occupying hotel in Camden as the collective Camden Art Cafe to become a neighbourhood hub for locals that will provide free food and drink.
“We aim to open our doors regularly to anyone and everyone, particularly the people of Camden who have been victims of gentrification and parasitic projects like HS2,” it says.
“We provide free food, drinks, and a space to display their art without the ridiculous red-tape that galleries require people to jump over. We believe all of us and our art deserve dignity.”
“Camden is a borough with one of the biggest wealth disparities in London, so it seems only fitting that £13 million properties that most locals would never be able to afford to visit should be opened up to all. The York and Albany is an iconic building in Camden since its opening in the 1820s; it has withstood wars and bombs, and despite what the media says, it will withstand the potentially short but hopefully long stay we squatters have here.
“At a time when Camden market has been bought out by a billionaire and many longstanding local businesses are being evicted from their units, it’s even more important that we all band together in all the forms of resistance that we know and can.”
The incident is latest of issues that Ramsay has faced with the property, which is owned by film director Gary Love, and which he took on in 2007. In 2015 the chef lost a high court battle to free himself from his 25-year lease term claiming he was not liable to pay the £640,000 annual rent.