Mayor backs plans for financing affordable creative workspaces

A consortium of entrepreneurs and philanthropists is joining Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to explore plans for a Creative Land Trust that will develop affordable creative workspaces to tackle the problem of rising rents in the capital.

The Trust will combine public funds, philanthropy and social impact investment to provide faster access to finance for studio providers wanting to secure the ownership of their buildings. It will also hold property itself for use as permanent studios for artists.

The consortium, known as Studiomakers, is led by Outset Contemporary Art Fund, an independent philanthropic organisation that raises both private and corporate funds to support new art for the public arena.

The group was established earlier this year to find entrepreneurial solutions to the challenges associated with artist workspaces in London. The Artists’ Workspace Study, commissioned by the Mayor of London in 2014, predicted the loss of up to 3,500 artists’ workspaces in the capital by 2019.

In partnership with organisations in the property industry, Studiomakers has been working with studio providers to oversee the tenancy and operation of workspaces, but will also be looking to secure its own studio buildings across the capital in future.

Somerset House Studios, launched this month, is seen as a model of how affordable workspaces can create communities of creative entrepreneurs in the capital.

Sadiq Khan said: “As property prices rise and new areas of the city grow, artists are finding themselves unable to put down roots here. I am committed to improving access to dedicated, affordable workspace so that the next generation of creatives are given the extra support they require to flourish.”

The Mayor’s office will shortly be announcing further ways in which it will be supporting London’s creative community, including a new ‘Night Czar’ and a Creative Enterprise Zone.