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Brixton property developers Lexadon: Gerry Knight fined £175k under Proceeds of Crime Act

"Grateful"? Were they making a loss or something and doing it out of the goodness of their hearts?
That's irrelevant.

Brixton Hill Studios had a really good deal for ten years. They felt entitled to the same deal again, and were surprised when they got a reality check.
 
That's irrelevant.

Brixton Hill Studios had a really good deal for ten years. They felt entitled to the same deal again, and were surprised when they got a reality check.
At no point has the studio ever stated that they "felt entitled to the same deal again." Stop lying.
 
...could be argued that the LPG money machine has had quite a impact driving rents up in the area over time so the new higher rent they are demanding is a premeditated outcome of their business model.
I don’t see how they are”driving rents up” surely they are responding to market conditions rather than creating them?
 
At no point has the studio ever stated that they "felt entitled to the same deal again." Stop lying.
They didn't have to. They made it obvious.

You can't seem to see past your own prejudice. You appear think Lexadon everything does is bad and everything Brixton Hill Studios do is good. You should allow for the possibility that things aren't so black and white. Landlords are always going to charge the going rate, and tenants are always going to complain about it. That's the way of the world and it's why we have leases and contracts, and a whole judicial system.

And why you think Jerry Knight should give discount rates to recording studios, when neither the Arts Council nor Lambeth Council is willing to support them, I don't know.
 
They didn't have to. They made it obvious.

You can't seem to see past your own prejudice. You appear think Lexadon everything does is bad and everything Brixton Hill Studios do is good. You should allow for the possibility that things aren't so black and white. Landlords are always going to charge the going rate, and tenants are always going to complain about it. That's the way of the world and it's why we have leases and contracts, and a whole judicial system.

And why you think Jerry Knight should give discount rates to recording studios, when neither the Arts Council nor Lambeth Council is willing to support them, I don't know.
You've been a member for 3 years and made 69 comments, all of which are on similar issues. If you're not careful, the more suspicious among us could come to the conclusion that you are a stooge for vested interests. FIY not all landlords operate like Knight in the same way that not all operated like Rackman
 
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They didn't have to. They made it obvious.

You can't seem to see past your own prejudice. You appear think Lexadon everything does is bad and everything Brixton Hill Studios do is good. You should allow for the possibility that things aren't so black and white. Landlords are always going to charge the going rate, and tenants are always going to complain about it. That's the way of the world and it's why we have leases and contracts, and a whole judicial system.

You say the Ed is seeing things in black and white terms and then you follow on with stating the relationship between landlords and rents in black and white terms.

Its just the way of the world and that's that.

Your limited imagination cant see the possibility that the world could work differently.
 
The problem with the view that Landlords are going to charge the going rate and tenants are always going to complain is that the way the world works is that the landlord is always the winner in this set up.
 
What I find obnoxious here is how some posters present themselves as neutral. Rents going up due to the "market". The hidden hand of the market that is above the political fray. You cant blame landlords as the "market" sets prices.

Those who get angry about this have prejudices/ are not realistic/ Dont understand how the world works.

It is of course the right wing way to look at it whilst appearing to be liberal minded. Unlike those who harbour "prejudices"
 
Must say if the old Nour Cash and Carry campaign had heeded these calls to be realistic Nour would have gone by now.

The point of getting angry is that the market is not neutral/ its social construct/ and can be contested.

Increasingly there is a view that those who contest it are prejudiced etc.
 
I see that the landlord bought the place in 2016 (not sure how that relates to the 10-year lease though).

Presumably the rent up to now has given the fuckers a useful profit. Have they suddenly experienced a 150% increase in their yearly costs, for example by raising wages for cleaners and others who actually do the work (rather than just the Directors) or making building improvements - building insulation for example?

Somehow I doubt it, meaning that the increase is just going to increase their profits. No benefit to the tenants, who are also presumably being hit by increased energy costs.
 
They didn't have to. They made it obvious.

You can't seem to see past your own prejudice. You appear think Lexadon everything does is bad and everything Brixton Hill Studios do is good. You should allow for the possibility that things aren't so black and white. Landlords are always going to charge the going rate, and tenants are always going to complain about it. That's the way of the world and it's why we have leases and contracts, and a whole judicial system.

And why you think Jerry Knight should give discount rates to recording studios, when neither the Arts Council nor Lambeth Council is willing to support them, I don't know.
Your capacity for lying is really shifting up some gears now.

I have never, ever even implied that "everything Brixton Hill Studios do is good." Where are you getting this utter nonsense from?

However, I do think that someone who has made absolutely immense profits out of Brixton should have some sense of social responsibility to the place that has made their fortune. Like being happy with a lesser fat profit in some circumstances rather than insisting on 'market rent' values no matter what.

But I guess you're an adherent to Thatcher's "there's no such thing as society" beliefs.
 
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It's not so easy to libel a convicted criminal landlord though given their reputation is already going to be a bit on the murky side.
He was (quite rightly) prosecuted for flouting planning regulations. The money he made was confiscated from him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Effra Social has been similarly flouting planning regulations with their large illuminated sign. I don't hear you calling for Portobello tycoon Robert Jenkins to be prosecuted.

The fact is that things aren't always black and white.
 
He was (quite rightly) prosecuted for flouting planning regulations. The money he made was confiscated from him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Effra Social has been similarly flouting planning regulations with their large illuminated sign. I don't hear you calling for Portobello tycoon Robert Jenkins to be prosecuted.

The fact is that things aren't always black and white.

So you're defending his criminal conviction for profiting from the repeated unauthorised leasing of flats on the grounds that, err, Effra Social something or another?

At sentencing, Mr Recorder K King is reported to have commented that Lexadon flagrantly pressed ahead and deliberately flouted the regulations.

He ordered Lexadon Ltd to pay £143,134 that they made from renting out the property as flats, as well as a £13,000 fine and Lambeth’s £6,812 costs. The director of Lexadon was also fined £13,000.

The Proceeds of Crime Act is increasingly being used by local authorities to confiscate the proceeds of criminal action and this case should serve as a warning to property developers and landlords who are considering proceeding without the required permissions. Heavy fines and confiscated profits could result for those who flagrantly disregard the planning system.


PS Why do you think I give a toss if Portobello are fined for their big pink sign? I'm not defending the company if they broke planning laws. Why should I?
 
So you're defending his criminal conviction for profiting from the repeated unauthorised leasing of flats on the grounds that, err, Effra Social something or another?



PS Why do you think I give a toss if Portobello are fined for their big pink sign? I'm not defending the company if they broke planning laws. Why should I?
I didn't defend him. I said that he was (quite rightly) prosecuted for flouting planning regulations.

My point is that you seem very angry about one but not the other. You seem to have a double standard.

When Portobello kicked out Antic you were quite nonchalant about the whole thing.

But when Laxadon kicked out Brixton Hill Studios you were livid. And when I tried to explain that there might have been some justification for their actions, you got angry and called me a rampant Toryboy. I don't even know what that means!
 
I didn't defend him. I said that he was (quite rightly) prosecuted for flouting planning regulations.

My point is that you seem very angry about one but not the other. You seem to have a double standard.

When Portobello kicked out Antic you were quite nonchalant about the whole thing.

But when Laxadon kicked out Brixton Hill Studios you were livid. And when I tried to explain that there might have been some justification for their actions, you got angry and called me a rampant Toryboy. I don't even know what that means!
So you expect me to be equally 'livid' about a multi-multi millionaire evicting a studio that has been a real asset to the community for over a decade and people quite likely losing their livelihoods - and a pink neon sign going up?

In your desperation to defend greedy, predatory landlords, you've lost the plot. And what have Antic got to do with anything?
 
So you expect me to be equally 'livid' about a multi-multi millionaire evicting a studio that has been a real asset to the community for over a decade and people quite likely losing their livelihoods - and a pink neon sign going up?

In your desperation to defend greedy, predatory landlords, you've lost the plot. And what have Antic got to do with anything?
No. Read my post again, but more slowly this time.

Lexadon broke planning law, and so did Portobello.

Lexadon kicked out a popular tenant, and so did Portobello.

My point is that Lexadon aren't very different from most other companies, and that your anger towards them is unreasonable.
 
Lexadon kicked out a popular tenant, and so did Portobello.
Your desperately off-topic and irrelevant attempts to score points by trawling through my personal work record really is the fucking pits.

And the piss-poor analogy doesn't even make sense anyway: no rents were hiked, no facilities were lost and no one lost their jobs. And it wasn't Portobello who kicked out Antic - it was the investors.
And as far as I know, the head of Portobello hasn't got a criminal record, not that I give much of a toss.
 
No. Read my post again, but more slowly this time.

Lexadon broke planning law, and so did Portobello.

Lexadon kicked out a popular tenant, and so did Portobello.

My point is that Lexadon aren't very different from most other companies, and that your anger towards them is unreasonable.
Looks like Portabello have been acquired by a private equity firm


But they are a "values driven firm" - so thats all right then!

Zetland Capital, based in London is a private equity firm investing in mid-market European special situations across a wide range of sectors with a focus on tangible assets. Zetland Capital is a values driven firm.
 
Most property developers have to be accountable to their investors - Portobello, Antic, Lexadon - that's how it works.

The point I'm making is that when Laxadon offered Brixton Hill Studios a ten-year-lease at a higher rate than their previous ten-year-lease, they were acting reasonably. It's how the system works, and it's the same system which allowed Brixton Hill Studios to lease the space in the first place. Lexadon's behaviour is unremarkable to all but the most biased observer.

It would be a scary world to live in if every tenant had to rely on the generosity of landlords to lease a space. I like the system we have where landlords are landlords and arts funders are arts funders.
 
Most property developers have to be accountable to their investors - Portobello, Antic, Lexadon - that's how it works.

The point I'm making is that when Laxadon offered Brixton Hill Studios a ten-year-lease at a higher rate than their previous ten-year-lease, they were acting reasonably. It's how the system works, and it's the same system which allowed Brixton Hill Studios to lease the space in the first place. Lexadon's behaviour is unremarkable to all but the most biased observer.

It would be a scary world to live in if every tenant had to rely on the generosity of landlords to lease a space. I like the system we have where landlords are landlords and arts funders are arts funders.

I agree this is how landlords act. So landlordism is the problem.

One way to stop the pushing out of small business from local areas is rent controls.

In capitalist society so called market sets rent.

The relationship between those who rent and those who own assets is not an equal one. The cards are stacked in favour of landlords.

So the market needs to be controlled to stop the loss of useful business.

Are you for intervention to control the market?
 
I've been very polite to you, and I've explained that it seems likely that you've got the maths wrong. You seem to have been cynicaly exploited by this recording studio business to their own ends. They've given you part of the story, but without the other part the "extortionate rent increase" claim is meaningless. I see that their change.org petition doesn't give a figure for the increase. There's probably a good reason for that.

Telling me to do your fact checking for you is unreasonable.

I think journalistic integrity matters. I think you should try to be more than a GBNews for left-wing people.
Usually the very evil villains are also very polite.
 
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