Artists in studios converted from ‘uninhabitable’ council flats have been told to vacate by January, prompting warnings that it could end careers
Hundreds of artists using affordable studios in a dilapidated Camden housing block are being turfed out by their council, sparking a campaign to find them new workspaces.
Roughly 230 artists and creatives occupying “lifeline” studios based in high-rises on the Regent’s Park Estate must leave their studio spaces by January 2027, after the council raised risks stemming from changes to building safety legislation.
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 “virtually uninhabitable” flats inside into affordable studios for the local artist community for temporary use.
However, the mixed-use blocks now fall into a fire safety “grey area” 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.
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’s book author Andy Stanton said the studios had been “life-changing”, and lamented the dearth of affordable studio spaces in North London, “especially in Camden”.
Mr Stanton is best known for the ‘Mr Gum’ series, for which he won the first Roald Dahl Funny Prize. He moved into Langdale in March last year, where he found “a whole community of people, at many different stages of life, all needing a place to get something out of themselves for whatever reason”.
‘People are devastated’
He added: “We all knew it was going to be temporary, but suddenly the accelerator has been put down. It’s a real shame, and we’re imploring the council to look at making spaces available.”
Painter Jennifer Louise Martin said her studio in Cartmel was the first affordable space she’d found in the borough. “I’ve had studios across London for the last ten years, and they’re usually offices that are disused or about to be knocked down, but hardly any have been near where I live. Because I’ve got young kids, I was really chuffed to find somewhere in Camden,” she said.
Numerous arts charities and organisations have highlighted the financial struggles affecting artists across the capital in recent years. A 2022 King’s 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’s Affordable Artists Studio Network (LAASN) found studio rents had risen above £20 per sq ft of space for the first time.
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has warned that artists were being “priced out of neighbourhoods they helped to regenerate”. In January, City Hall committed £2.2m to reverse the decline in studios, claiming this would support artists to put down roots locally.
Ms Martin added: “A 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’t have invested so much money into the studio.”
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. “Have they thought about where they will recruit us from if we lose our spaces to work in the borough?” she said.
Marcel Baettig, CEO of Bow Arts Trust, told the LDRS the charity was “devastated” the studio initiative was coming to a “premature” end, and would seek to work with Camden Council to find alternative spaces.
“These spaces are vitally important—a lifeline for emerging creative people who contribute so much to the cultural life of Camden and Greater London,” he said. “The loss of an affordable studio is about much more than losing a place to work. For many artists, it can mean the end of their career and the loss of their ability to remain part of London’s creative community.”
Cllr James Slater, Cabinet Member for Planning and a Sustainable Camden, said the “innovative” use of the blocks as studios was “always temporary”.
“We recognise that this is disappointing for the studio occupiers affected and we are in the early stages of investigating possible accommodation elsewhere in the borough,” he told the LDRS.
Got a story? Email josef.steen@reachplc or @jslondonldr on X.
Stay in the loop with the latest North London news. Sign up to our MyNorthLondon newsletter HERE for daily updates and more.
