Brixton cafés face huge rent bills as landlords ‘cash in’

"Kick in the teeth": Rosie Lovell faces a big rent rise after six years in the market
Katie Linsell12 April 2012

A transformation of Brixton market with new cafés and delis is causing a massive rise in rent and service charge, traders claim.

London and Associated Properties have issued some traders in Market Row and Brixton Village with bills demanding £30,000 backdated to 2007.

LAP's accounts for 2009 revealed that the family-run business made profits of £2 million on Market Row alone.

Rosie Lovell, who has run the popular Rosie's Deli Café in Market Row for six years, is facing a 50 per cent rise.

She said: "I'm disappointed and really sad. It feels like a kick in the teeth. I've brought a huge amount of custom to the area since I've been here and I'm a pretty good tenant.

"Others like me have come to the area because I proved that you can survive here and that it's a brilliant place to have a business."

Chris Brown, chairman of the Association of Brixton Arcade and Shops, said: "It has been our concern for a long time that the landlords want to get rid of the little people so they can accommodate big name brands and maximise their income.

"I believe in the future this could mean small businesses die out and we'll lose the kind of culture that we want to keep in Brixton."

John Heller, LAP chief executive, said the rises were justified. He said: "If an area has become more popular rents can go up or rents go up because of general inflation."

Stafford Geohagen, manager of Healthy Eaters in Electric Avenue, faces an annual service charge of £28,000 for rubbish removal on top of yearly rent at £44,000. He said: "I'm struggling. I won't survive if I have to pay it."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in