Mayor Sadiq Khan was serenaded on Thursday in an appeal for help by an east London car mechanic who is facing eviction from his garage, after falling £112,000 into debt with his landlord.
Joined by a large group of his customers and supporters, Len Maloney, who has worked at JC Motors in Haggerston for over 40 years, sang his own version of Ben E King’s ‘Stand by Me’.
The landlord of Mr Maloney’s garage is Places for London, a property company owned by Transport for London (TfL). It was hoped by those singing outside City Hall that, as chairman of TfL’s board, Mr Khan would agree to stop the company evicting him on Tuesday, November 12 due to his rent arrears.
The mechanic says that his rent has become unaffordable, as it was more than doubled in the space of only two years just prior to the pandemic.
Extraordinary protest outside City Hall as east London mechanic Len Maloney urges the mayor to “stand by him” and not allow a TfL subsidiary to evict him from his garage (as he owes £112k in rent arrears following steep rent rises some years ago).
— Noah Vickers (@noahvickers14) November 7, 2024
No sign of the mayor so far. pic.twitter.com/8b7NhzL6Hd
Up until 2017, Mr Maloney had been paying a rent of £22,000 per year, but his rent was increased to £35,000 that year. In 2018, it was raised again to £45,000 and in 2019 was increased for a third time, to £55,000, where it has remained since. The mechanic said he had been paying what he can, but his rent arrears now sit at more than £112,000.
Places for London told Mr Maloney that he could either pay the full set of arrears and remain in his arch, pay half of what is owed and move to a smaller arch with a lower rent in Mile End, or have the arrears waived and leave his arch.
But the businessman said that moving would bring a “big risk” with it, as his existing customers mostly live locally in the Haggerston area.
Places for London says that since comparable businesses on their estate are able to continue paying their rents, the company cannot give Mr Maloney a special status.
“I’ve come down to try and stop the eviction of my business, which is a business that serves the local community,” said Mr Maloney.
He argues that his garage should be recognised by Places for London as a ‘social value’ enterprise and thus enabled to pay a lower rent than other tenants. JC Motors is said by the East End Trades Guild to have “links to 12 local schools and colleges providing apprenticeships, work experience and informal mentorship to young people in need of guidance”.
Mr Maloney added: “I think businesses that serve the community should have a fair rent, to continue supporting community…
“I want the mayor to at least speak to Places for London and explain to them, or re-programme them, to understand that social value businesses are very important to the community - we are the ones that keep the community together.”
Mr Khan, who had just finished participating in a public meeting of the London Assembly, did not come out of City Hall to meet with Mr Maloney. The mayor’s office was invited by the Standard to comment in response to Mr Maloney’s protest, but they did not respond.
A Places for London spokeswoman said the company had no further comment to make in addition to what it told the Standard last month. The company said in October: “Despite paying well below market rent, JC Motors has built up significant and unsustainable rent arrears.
“Our offers of assistance, including offering an alternative location on our estate with lower rent, have not been accepted. Therefore we have reluctantly taken the decision not to renew JC Motors’ lease.
“We are committed to working in partnership with our tenants, 95 per cent of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“We understand that the closure of any business can be distressing, and we always do our best to support tenants so that we can avoid these situations.”
