Heaven nightclub, an iconic London venue for the LGBTQIA+ community, is facing a potential rent increase of £320,000. It has been reported that the landlord, The Arch Company, has requested an additional £240,000 per year increase, in addition to the £80,000 rise that was requested in September 2020. The club’s founder, Jeremy Joseph, owner of G-A-Y, has confirmed the details of the dispute and stated it had already cost “nearly £10k in legal fees.”
Joseph has taken to social media to plead with the public to put pressure on landlords, stating that the rise in rent will ultimately affect other businesses. “If our rent goes up, it will increase the rent of other venues because in arbitration, they use other comparable rents to value yours,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post. Heaven has entered into a legally binding arbitration process to resolve the dispute without having to go to court.
The decision to raise the rent has been criticised as the closure of Heaven would be another significant loss to the LGBTQIA+ community in London. There has been a significant decline in London’s LGBTQIA+ venues, with more than half closing between 2006 and 2022. Three weeks ago, BBC reported on data from the Greater London Authority stating the closures have been a “profound loss for the LGBTQ community in the capital.”
In a statement, The Arch Company acknowledged the importance of Heaven as a long-term and valued customer and that they are “working closely with them to reach an agreement on the market rent for their premises.” However, the statement confirms that the independent third party arbitrator has been engaged to help resolve the dispute.
The future of Heaven remains unknown. Nonetheless, this situation highlights the potential fragility of businesses that are an essential part of the fabric of communities and the struggle to survive in the current economic climate
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