Sadiq Khan warns ‘aggressive’ landlords hiking rents will destroy business

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has warned that “aggressive” landlords who drastically hiked rents for small business owners are “killing the goose that laid the golden egg”.

The mayor told the South London Press at a visit to Bermondsey’s Blue Market on Friday that the spate of rent hikes would “destroy livelihoods” of those in the community.

In the past three months, the South London Press has reported on rent hikes for small businesses at the Bath Factory Estate in Herne Hill and Deptford, where landlords such as Arch Company and U+I have increased rents by 30-40 per cent in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

Mr Khan said: “What the Arch Company [and others] need to be doing is recognising that small businesses are the lifeblood of our city and our economy. And if they’re not careful, they’re in danger of killing the goose that lays the golden egg. 

“Because if there aren’t people to be tenants in these arches, they’re going to be empty. This sort of aggressive raising of rents during a cost of living crisis when inflation is so high is not only going to destroy these businesses, but destroy livelihoods of people in those communities.”

Mr Khan advised those with businesses in arches or elsewhere to join representative groups for businesses such Guardians of the Arches.

The mayor visited Blue Market, which has been regenerated with £2m of funding from City Hall’s Good Growth Fund and to announce the creation of a London Markets Board, which will see a team of industry experts support London market stall holders and help them to keep costs down.

The mayor added: “What we’ve done is setup the London Markets Board and a condition of money from City Hall is for it to work in partnership with [local] councils, making sure there’s problem management of the markets. 

“What we don’t want is people being priced out. And so, with this market here, one of the oldest markets in the country, we’re trying to bring back the culture of markets.”

A spokesman for The Arch Company said: “We want the Bath Factory Estate to continue as a thriving home for small businesses.

“The mayor is right that small businesses are the lifeblood of local economies and their communities, which is why we gave 1,600 of our most vulnerable small businesses rent free periods during the Covid pandemic.

“Our financial support helped many businesses to survive and we will continue to be supportive through difficult times in future.”

U+I were approached for a comment.

Pictured top: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (Picture: PA)