Lambeth Council will invest £4.5 million into new workspaces, street improvements and street market infrastructure at Brixton’s Rec Quarter, which includes Brixton Market and the grade II listed Recreation Centre.

The Greater London Authority granted the council £2.17m to invest in the area around the Brixton Rec.

But the council had to match the GLA funding.

The council has allocated £825,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy money towards improvements to Brixton Station Road and Beehive Place, and has approved plans to borrow £700,000 to convert storage space at the Rec into workspace.

The matching also includes a further £800,000 of capital investment made in to International House, an affordable workspace, by operator 3Space and their tenants.

Brixton is an area of high deprivation where the number of out of work benefit claimants is significantly higher than the London wide figure of 11.6 per cent, including 18.4 per cent of Coldharbour residents, 16.5 per cent in Tulse Hill and 12.4 per cent in Brixton Hill.

It is hoped the investment will create more employment opportunities and attract more businesses to the area, the council report explains.

“The changes aim to benefit a large number of people who currently use the Rec and the street market, as well as attracting new activity to the area with the workspace.

“The proposals will aim to have a positive impact on Brixton’s diverse communities, by making public spaces more accessible and usable, by creating employment an education opportunities through a new workspace offer, and by supporting the street market and the local retailers and their customer base,” the report continues.

Existing agreements with 3Space, who run the affordable workspace at International House, include paying all staff a living wage, creating a diverse workplace through a tenant allocation policy as well as free space for youth entrepreneurship for young people from the local area, and jobs for 30 people out of work, according to the report.