Freelance-friendly flats from Brixton to Hackney: business clubs, cyber cafés and hot-desking hubs are part of new homes schemes for London's entrepreneurs

With nearly five million Londoners now working from home, stylish live-work neighbourhoods are springing up across the capital to cater for them...
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David Spittles22 February 2017

Self-employment is booming on the back of the digital economy, with London at the forefront of a freelancing phenomenon that is not only changing employment patterns but shaking up the property market.

Freelance-friendly neighbourhoods are catering for the self-employed generation with business clubs, cyber cafés, hot-desking hubs, shared office spaces and community networks, invigorating areas of London beyond Zone 1 — particularly inner suburbs — and hastening gentrification.

London’s freelance army spans the work spectrum, from techno nerds to management consultants; financial advisers to Pilates teachers; writers, illustrators and photographers to web designers and software engineers, and from craftworkers, architects and artists to food and beverage specialists.

Nearly five million people work for themselves in the UK, a record number, up 45 per cent since the turn of the century. Over half live in London, and female home workers are rising three times faster than men as more women juggle jobs and family life.

Live-work village: The Trampery and Peabody are collaborating in Hackney Wick

People are happy to ditch the frustrating, expensive daily commute for their home office, or a quick walk to work at a local studio, café or library. The trend coincides with a maturing live-work sector and the emergence of co-living and co-working buildings. Peabody, the housing charity, has unveiled a 580-home “village” in Hackney Wick, a collaboration with workspace innovator The Trampery, which will provide on-site offices for design and digital start-ups, freelancers and early stage entrepreneurs, creating more than 500 jobs. Homes are being built above and alongside the workspaces — not micro flats but full-size homes for rent, purchase and shared ownership. Residents will also be able to use a theatre, bar, café and 3D printing workshop.

The idea is reaching other spots including Kentish Town, Kensal Rise, White City, Brixton, Putney, Park Royal and Richmond.

Don’t be lonely: Piano House in Brixton offers workspace for freelancers, plus showers, a café, 24-hour access, break-out areas and a post room

Piano House, Brixton

This refurbished Victorian warehouse has 40,000sq ft of space including a members club for self-employed locals. There’s an on-site café and restaurant, break-out areas, 24-hour access, a managed post room and showers. Richard Nield, 40, a freelance film-maker, says people do not want to feel lonely or isolated, and such places get home workers out of their pyjamas.

“After two years of working from home I decided to save my sanity and find a co-working space at Piano House. It was the perfect solution — just a short walk from where I live and handy for meetings in London and impromptu gym sessions or lunches in Brixton. Being around other like-minded people at work has made a huge difference socially and professionally.”

The SW9 postcode is becoming a centre of creative entrepreneurialism. Architects Squire & Partners, whose projects include the Shell Centre redevelopment, recently relocated there from King’s Cross. With home workers in mind, developer Banda has launched 16 four-storey design-led terrace townhouses with private gardens in Brixton, from £1.3 million. Call 020 7937 9600.

From £575,000: warehouse flats above offices at The Maple Building, Kentish Town

Highgate Studios, another vibrant workplace “campus”, offers loft-style offices, meeting rooms, a café and nursery, and serves people living mainly in Kentish Town, which is attracting arty types priced out of Camden. The Maple Building, a handsome warehouse alongside, has been converted into 57 flats. Offices occupy the ground floor and there is a basement gym. Prices from £575,000. Call 020 3811 1304. Tim Dwelly, director of Workhubs Network, which provides buildings where home workers can network, predicts live-work communities will become much more part of the urban fabric in cities and take root in rural areas, too.

“Broadband makes it much easier to run a business from home. High property prices, commuter stress, work-life balance and, above all, global warming are pressing issues that live-work can address.” WeWork, known for its hip co-working spaces, has 12 buildings in London and is soon to launch a WeLive project, with flats above offices. For residents and workers, it will operate like a private club, with member benefits. Fitness classes, communal dinners, cleaning and laundry will be co-ordinated through a mobile app.

The Collective, a 323-home project in Park Royal, north-west London, offers compact flats above communal spaces and co-working offices. Rents start at £225 a week and include wi-fi, utility bills, council tax, concierge, 24/7 security, room cleans and linen changes. Residents can use the on-site laundrette, bike racks, gym, spa, roof terrace and cinema. Call 020 7183 5478.

Room to work: WeWork has nine buildingsin London and is soon to launch aWeLive project, with flats above offices.

Flexible Space

Dandi Living has live-work studios to rent in Hounslow. The spaces are designed to be flexible, with beds that can be raised to ceiling height and desks that fold away into walls. Rents start at £750 per month. Call 020 7266 4424.

Quality time: freelance photographer Ella Lacey and her son Harley
ellalaceyphotography.com

Ella Lacey, Ladywell

After her son Harley was born, Ella Lacey, 35, gave up a 10-year career working for a mental health charity to become a freelance photographer, using her home in Ladywell, south-east London, as a base.

“As an employee I was working 14-hour days on top of a 90-minute commute and with the usual pressures and stress when I got home — I had very little time left for Harley.”

So she retrained as a photographer, and now specialises in family portraits and events. Visit ellalaceyphotography.com. “Family life is much easier to manage and balance,” she says.

“I do all my production at home on the computer, and have client meetings on Skype, or at a local café, where there are other freelancers and the atmosphere and people are really welcoming, and there’s a local mum’s network which is really supportive.Freelancing has really stepped up a gear thanks to social media. People respond quickly and get in touch and it’s an ever-widening circle of friends and contacts.”

Life fits around the job: LindsayJessup runs myyogaagency.com from home in Soho
Alex Simpson

Lindsay Jessup, Soho

Contract working as a producer in the advertising industry, Lindsay Jessup, 32, realised there was a gap in the market for a recruitment agency specialising in yoga teachers and models. So she set up a freelance business, launching the myyogaagency.com website from her home in Soho. “This is good for me because Soho is the sort of place where you constantly meet people with overlapping interests,” she says. “I work from anywhere — at my flat, a local members club, the library — and often meet with friends and business contacts in cafés to share knowledge. “I can fit my life around the job and I find I am much more productive than when working in a traditional way in an office.”

A happy mix: Emily Jones works from home but her Zone 2 location means she can get to last-minute meetings and castings, too
Emily Jones

Emily Jones, Archway

Freelance casting director Emily Jones, 35, lives in Archway: “Mostly I work from home but I am out and about, too, and living in Zone 2 right on the Northern line makes it easy to get to castings and last-minute meetings.

“Archway is busy with a great vibe so I don’t feel isolated. A lot of film and theatre industry people and actors live in the area. It feels arty rather than corporate and there’s a brilliant café at the end of my road that keeps me connected with the world.”

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