A row has erupted between a London council and a community legal advice service over its peppercorn rent.

Waterloo Action Centre (WAC) has served as a community hub, offering a wide range of services including Waterloo Legal Advice Service, since 1973. The advice service was founded by prominent human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy KC.

The centre pays £8 a year in rent, a condition set by Lambeth Council in the 1970s to provide security under the 1954 Rent Act. 

WAC vice-chair Jenny Stiles said: ‘At that time, the council invited the Waterloo community to take over the derelict former library, restore it to safe use, and develop community activities. This initiative has been an enormous success, with Waterloo Legal Advice Service being one of the first projects to move in after initial restorations.

‘Over the decades, community efforts have transformed the building, adding another floor, restoring its historic frontage, and developed a wide range of services. WAC does not receive statutory funding but sustains itself through seven-day-a-week usage, allowing costs to be shared and some services to be cross-subsidised. It also benefits from volunteer contributions and mutual aid.’

Stiles said the council wants to increase the rent to £45,000.

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Due to overwhelming demand, people needing the advice service, which used to operate as a drop-in, must book an appointment online. To sustain IT support for users, which costs £6,000 a year, WAC applied to South Bank & Waterloo Neighbours for a grant. Stiles said Lambeth Council 'vetoed' the application.

Lambeth Council told the Gazette WAC's application was 'paused' and the centre is ineligible for further public cash until it signs a new lease.

The council said it approved a new asset strategy in 2022 ‘requested and supported’ by voluntary and community sector (VCS) as they want to see fair and equitable leases and rents that benefit the sector’. WAC pays £8 ‘for offices in a beautiful building in a prime, central London location’ while another organisation in the borough pays over £6,000 for a 'much smaller unit'.

‘WAC are fully aware of the strategy and policy, which apply to all VCS bodies and which have been agreed as fair and value for money for the public purse - and that they remain ineligible for further public funding until the lease is signed. The council has had multiple meetings with WAC over the last two years and we are continuing to negotiate with them,’ the council added.