A ‘meandering’ London council has now spent six months considering whether to impose a massive rent rise on a legal advice centre - and there is no end to the saga in sight.
Lambeth Council wants to increase the rent Waterloo Action Centre (WAC) pays on a former library building next to the railway station from a peppercorn £9 a year to £45,000. WAC has served as a community hub offering a wide range of services, including Waterloo Legal Advice Service, since 1973. The advice service was founded by prominent human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy KC.
The service's peppercorn rent was a condition set by Lambeth in the 1970s to provide security under the 1954 Rent Act.
WAC vice-chair Jenny Stiles, 82, told the Gazette last week that the council is ‘meandering’, calling the prospective hike ‘absolutely disgraceful’. She said the rent increase is ‘only the beginning’, adding: ‘It starts at £45,000 and it will be escalating and they want more controls on things.
‘I was told we are in a very nice building and that is why we should pay more..but we regenerated it’. Stiles pointing out the council had moved the library service out in 1967 and allowed the building to become derelict. She added: ‘They had a meeting with us a couple of months ago and we have got a lawyer preparing our side. They have not come back to us, the ball is in their court.’
In March, Lambeth told the Gazette WAC’s application was ‘paused’ and the centre is ineligible for further public cash until it signs a new lease. The council said it approved a new asset strategy in 2022 ‘requested and supported’ by voluntary and community sector (VCS) bodies as they want to see fair and equitable leases and rents that benefit the sector’. WAC pays £8 a year ‘for offices in a beautiful building in a prime, central London location’ while another organisation in the borough pays over £6,000 a year for a ‘much smaller unit’.
‘WAC are fully aware of the strategy and policy, which apply to all VCS bodies and which have been agreed as fair and value for money for the public purse - and that they remain ineligible for further public funding until the lease is signed. The council has had multiple meetings with WAC over the last two years and we are continuing to negotiate with them,’ the council added.
The local authority said: 'We have consistently made clear our commitment to protecting all our voluntary and community sector (VCS) bodies, including those – like the Waterloo Legal Advice Service - helping to provide access to justice for all.
'At a time when the council’s finances are under unprecedented pressure, it is vital that our policy of setting rents in our public buildings is fair and provides value for money for Lambeth’s council taxpayers. Our new asset strategy, agreed in 2022, was requested and supported by the VCS, as they wanted to see fair and equitable leases and rents that benefit the sector.
'We have been in negotiations with the Waterloo Action Centre (WAC) for more than two years over reviewing their rent, which currently sees them paying just £8 a year for offices in a beautiful building in a prime, central London location. We are extremely disappointed that we have as yet been able to reach an agreement on a fair rent for these premises.
'The council’s preference remains to move onto new lease terms with a negotiated solution. We will continue with dialogue at this time but we recognise that in due course we may need to reconsider our approach.'
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