Villa Road

In the Victorian era, terraced houses were built on both sides of Villa Road in Angell Town, in the Borough of Lambeth in south London. In 1967, Lambeth Council obtained a compulsory purchase order enabling them to acquire 400 houses in Angell Town, including 21 in Villa Road. New tower blocks were to be built to for the residents and, under the 1969 Brixton Plan, Brixton Road, which runs perpendicular to the west end of Villa Road, would have been converted to a six-lane highway for traffic entering and leaving London. Local people opposed the plans and community groups, such as the Villa Road Street Group, were formed.

Documentary film-maker Vanessa Engle made "Property is Theft" as part of the BBC series Lefties in 2006. She interviewed former inhabitants of the squats such as Cooper and activist Piers Corbyn. In the 1980 gangster film The Long Good Friday, three criminals go to 33 Villa Road to accost a grass.