I recently had the pleasure of visiting Brixton Hill Studios to meet Stephen Gilchrist and the team. Over the last decade, Stephen and the team running the studio have turned this space into a real hub for local musicians, providing them with affordable recording and rehearsal spaces. So I was saddened to hear that their landlord is proposing an 136% rental increase when their lease expires in September. By the look of things so are a lot of people living in our area, who wrote to me to express their concern over the announcement of its closure this week.

I’ve now written to the Studios’ landlord, Lexadon Property Group urging them to rethink the rent rise, or, failing that, to extend the lease and give them time to find new premises. After a decade of giving so much to our local music community, this is the least they deserve. I am worried about the broader picture this situation paints for the performing arts locallly. If creative industries cannot afford to occupy commercial spaces in Brixton that’s going to be really damaging for the local creative scene, which is one of the things that draws people to our area in the first place. I hope that we can work together to save Brixton Hill Studios.

We should be really proud of the creative scene in our constituency and do all we can to protect it. I will continue to work closely with local venues, artists, and creatives to push for the support our live performing arts scenes needs to survive and thrive.

Find out more about the campaign to Save Brixton Hill Studios.