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Hundreds of artists using affordable studios<\/a> in a dilapidated Camden housing block are being turfed out by their council<\/a>, sparking a campaign to find them new workspaces.<\/p>\n Roughly 230 artists and creatives occupying \u201clifeline\u201d studios based in high-rises on the Regent\u2019s Park Estate must leave their studio spaces by January 2027, after the council raised risks stemming from changes to building safety legislation.<\/p>\n In 2022, the council moved residents living at Cartmel, Langdale and Coniston housing blocks due to the disruption of HS2 construction nearby, which will eventually see the buildings redeveloped. Together with Bow Arts Trust, the council then transformed the \u201cvirtually uninhabitable\u201d flats inside into affordable studios for the local artist community for temporary use.<\/p>\n However, the mixed-use blocks now fall into a fire safety \u201cgrey area\u201d due to their height, meaning they are unlikely to meet inspection standards. The council says any temporary improvements would not be financially viable because the buildings are slated for eventual demolition.<\/p>\n Writer Andy Stanton in his studio<\/p>\n Andy Stanton<\/p>\n The occupants are now scrambling to find new studios, prompting supporters to petition the council to rehouse them. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), children\u2019s book author Andy Stanton said the studios had been \u201clife-changing\u201d, and lamented the dearth of affordable studio spaces in North London, \u201cespecially in Camden\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Stanton is best known for the \u201cMr Gum\u201d series, for which he won the first Roald Dahl Funny Prize. <\/p>\n He moved into Langdale in March last year, where he found \u201ca whole community of people, at many different stages of life, all needing a place to get something out of themselves for whatever reason\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018People are devastated\u2019<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe all knew it was going to be temporary, but suddenly the accelerator has been put down. It\u2019s a real shame, and we\u2019re imploring the council to look at making spaces available.\u201d<\/p>\n Painter Jennifer Louise Martin said her studio in Cartmel was the first affordable space she\u2019d found in the borough. \u201cI\u2019ve had studios across London for the last ten years, and they\u2019re usually offices that are disused or about to be knocked down, but hardly any have been near where I live. Because I\u2019ve got young kids, I was really chuffed to find somewhere in Camden,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Numerous arts charities and organisations have highlighted the financial struggles affecting artists across the capital in recent years. A 2022 King\u2019s College London study stated that 13,780 creatives were on a waiting list for spaces deemed affordable. Since that year, studio rents have risen faster than inflation, and in 2025, a survey by London\u2019s Affordable Artists Studio Network (LAASN) found studio rents had risen above \u00a320 per sq ft of space for the first time.<\/p>\n Mayor of London Sir\u00a0Sadiq Khan<\/a> has warned that artists were being \u201cpriced out of neighbourhoods they helped to regenerate\u201d. In January, City Hall committed \u00a32.2m to reverse the decline in studios, claiming this would support artists to put down roots locally.<\/p>\n Jennifer Louise Martin pictured in her studio<\/p>\n Deborah Burnstone<\/p>\n Ms Martin added: \u201cA lot of people are devastated. We were told it was going to be a rolling contract, but I never thought it would be this soon. If I had, I probably wouldn\u2019t have invested so much money into the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n The painter also argued that the council could also lose out as a result of the local artists leaving the building, since the local authority regularly commissioned work from them for its cultural programme. \u201cHave they thought about where they will recruit us from if we lose our spaces to work in the borough?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Marcel Baettig, CEO of Bow Arts Trust, told the LDRS the charity was \u201cdevastated\u201d the studio initiative was coming to a \u201cpremature\u201d end, and would seek to work with Camden Council<\/a> to find alternative spaces.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andy_studio20260812_130537.jpg\")
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