Strategy in Action

The Hackney Business Network is a council-run initiative to support local businesses and make the neighborhood more accessible and inclusive. Hackney’s affordable workspace policy applies to all commercial developments with 1,000 square meters or more of business floorspace, 10% of which must be offered at a discounted rent. In Shoreditch, another district in London, rents on affordable floorspace are capped at 40% of market rents. Elsewhere in the borough, rents are capped at 60%. The council has also launched a project to convert underutilized garages and buildings into affordable workspace and has implemented rent caps for workspaces in new developments in the Hackney Wick neighborhood.