‘The work starts now’: Evicted Haggerston mechanic vows to keep fighting for fairer rents

Len Maloney outside City Hall last week. Photograph: Sarah Ainslie

A car mechanic in Haggertson has vowed to keep fighting for fairer rents for small businesses after being evicted from his garage on Tuesday.

Len Maloney has worked as a mechanic under the railway arches near Haggerston Station for 40 years.

Places for London, the commercial property arm of the publicly owned Transport for London, doubled the rent on Maloney’s arch from £22,000 to £55,000 between 2017 and 2019, forcing him into arrears totalling £112,000 by the time he handed back the keys.

Maloney had been fighting to save his business, JC Motors, with support from other members of the East End Trades Guild, an alliance of 400 independent businesses and self-employed people in East London.

Guild members, customers and supporters held a demonstration outside JC Motors during the eviction on Tuesday. They brought banners from an earlier protest at City Hall, during which they urged London mayor Sadiq Khan to “Stand with Len”.

At the earlier protest on 7 November, Maloney and his supporters sang the Ben E. King classic ‘Stand by Me’ outside the mayor’s office in a bid to secure a last-minute meeting with Khan and stop the eviction.

Maloney was first threatened with eviction in April 2023.

Places for London then told him that he must pay his arrears in order to stay in his arch.

He was given two other options: pay half and move to a smaller arch with a lower rent in Mile End, or have the arrears waived and leave his arch.

That summer, more than 2,500 people signed a letter to Khan in support of Maloney, calling for Places for London to establish an affordable workspace policy. Such a policy would set rent at an affordable level for essential local businesses like JC Motors, which Maloney kept open to serve key workers during the pandemic.

Maloney also has links to 12 local schools and has provided apprenticeships, work experience and mentorship to young people and those with special educational needs in the area.

Last year, Maloney met with Khan’s deputy mayor for transport, Seb Dance, to discuss the idea for affordable leases for community-minded businesses, also known as social value leases.

Dance said a meeting should be scheduled to work on a business model for a social value lease for JC Motors. However, no meeting was forthcoming.

In a final blow, the deadline for payment or eviction was moved forward to 12 November.

Alongside campaigning for affordable leases for its members, the East End Trades Guild is working towards community ownership of three premises in Places for London-owned railway arches.

If successful, the properties will be owned by stakeholders in a community land trust, where tenants will be protected from the pressures of constantly rising rent.

Maloney has temporarily moved his garage to Leyton.

He vowed to continue fighting on behalf of other community businesses in Hackney: “The journey has just begun. We have got to secure a site now for community ownership. It’s the only way for small businesses like mine that provide social value.

“Our community is much stronger and more determined because of my eviction. The work starts now!”

He is calling for contributions to a crowdfunding campaign to pay his workers and address outstanding costs relating to his eviction. Any excess funding will go towards the work of establishing the community land trust.

A spokesperson for Places for London told the Citizen: “We have been in contact with Mr Maloney several times in recent years in the hope that a solution could be found and that he could continue trading.

“However, given the substantial arrears and the refused offers of assistance, we unfortunately were left with no option but to bring the tenancy to an end.”