Ridley Road Shopping Village traders bid for community asset status

Traders at an iconic Dalston shopping hall have made a fresh bid to safeguard the building for community use amid an ongoing defiance of their landlord’s attempt to force them out.

Vendors have occupied the Ridley Road Shopping Village, the indoor centre alongside Dalston’s street market, since their landlord, Guy Ziser, refused to renew their leases and ordered the building shut by 31 March.

The landlord claimed that the centre would reopen and that “responsible” traders could return, but many businesses feared permanent eviction – suspecting an underlying motive to sell or redevelop, though Mr Ziser denies this.

But after supporters from the London Renters Union and the Save Ridley Road campaign physically blocked the unit’s shutters from falling, traders have upheld a “peaceful occupation” of the building, even as the landlord has cut off the lights. Now, the traders have applied for the building to be formally recognised as a community asset.

The site is legally owned by Virgin Islands-based Larochette Real Estate, which is managed by the UK-based Rainbow Properties Ltd. Larochette’s director, Guy Ziser, claims the closure was for “community safety reasons” following a Metropolitan Police warning about concerns over “drug use, drug supply, a series of violent offences and antisocial behaviour”. The site was raided by police for drug and knife possession in August 2023, and several men were arrested. Some traders have since been told they will not be taken back into the building because of cautions or charges relating to that raid.

However, the Met denies that it recommended the building’s closure and says its warning over antisocial behaviour and crime was “the lowest form of enforcement”.

Demolition plans

The standoff is rooted in years of wrangling since Larochette purchased the building for £6.5 million in 2016 and subsequently made several attempts to force traders to leave, including an attempted eviction in 2018 – triggering years of grassroots campaigning against what many supporters see as gentrification.

Larochette tried unsuccessfully to demolish the building and convert it into 10 luxury flats with offices and shops on the ground floor, sparking the grassroots ‘Save Ridley Road’ campaign, which included the now mayor of Hackney, Zoë Garbett.

After a local solicitor negotiated new three-year leases for the traders in 2019, Hackney Council listed the building as an asset of community value (ACV) – meaning that council planners must consider the site’s social and community value when deciding future planning applications.

But around 60 artists were evicted from their studios on the upper floors in 2021. The landlord eventually submitted plans in late 2024 to transform the upstairs into eight new residences. The council refused.

The Save Ridley Road campaign had hailed a “huge victory” in 2022 when the council agreed to a 15-year takeover of the lease, on the proviso that a refurbishment was completed. Yet that deal has now expired, with the revamp unfinished despite Larochette’s legally binding agreement to complete the works.

Beating heart

The ACV status lapsed in 2024, but the current dispute has prompted efforts to relist the building. Meanwhile, several businesses have established the new Ridley Road Shopping Village Traders Association. Peter Dissi, record shop owner and the association’s chair, called the Shopping Village the “beating heart of Ridley Road”.

“In addition to goods that are being sold, the Village acts as a hub for people to meet. It’s a place where people come for general advice on all sorts of things related to health, well-being, and Black culture.

“In many ways, it serves as a counselling spot as well, where people come and talk about their problems and share support. We get information from the public, especially the elderly, as to the sorts of things they had seen there before that they would like us to bring back into the community,” he said.

The initiative by the businesses and the supporting Save Ridley Road campaign to restore the ACV listing has been backed by City Hall. Deputy mayor for business Howard Dawber said the Shopping Village was a “crucial piece of local economic and social infrastructure”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted Larochette’s managing agent, Rainbow Properties, for comment.