HACKNEY COUNCIL has moved fast to dispose of the oft-squatted house at 5 St Mark’s Rise in Dalston.

It has hired North London estate agents Currell Commercial to sell the Victorian property at the corner of Colvestone Crescent.

Once one of the grandest houses of what has become the St Mark’s conservation area, the building has endured years of Hackney council ownership.

This included several occupations by squatters, who alleged there had been cistern-smashing and other council-led damage to essential features.

Hackney council sent in the bailiffs last Friday 2 March 2012. Loving Dalston has reported fears that the house could even be demolished. Currell, however, has been told to find a developer to make its three flats useable or saleable.

Council negligence has left the building a virtual shell requiring huge interior renovation, making the price of £600,000 seem low compared with the £1 million-plus of similar properties.

Council workers have been busy stripping posters from the hoardings that were erected to bar squatters. The barriers failed to have the required effect and the latest squatters filled the high temporary walls with signs and posters that set out to justify their occupancy.

David Altheer 080312

* Since the sale of the house to a private investor, it has been restored to an apparently high standard.