London-Wide Web of Community Asset Developers
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= directory produced with the assistance of z.ai, prompted by Michel Bauwens, inspired by the work of the Dark Matter Lab on the Mutual Lease.
Directory
London Community Asset Developers: Directory
Organisations from "Hope: Building a London-Wide Web of Community Asset Developers" (23 September 2026, hosted at REinsTate, Newham, by ReSpace), named in Dark Matter Labs' Mutual Lease article "Rent reproduces the economy we have. So let's rewrite the lease." (Provocations, 9 Nov 2026).
| Organisation | URL | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ReSpace (ReSpace Projects) | https://respaceprojects.org | Grassroots not-for-profit repurposing London's empty buildings into community hubs (studios, social centres, workspaces). Currently converting the derelict Tate Institute, Silvertown, into a net-zero community hub; convenes the ReSpace Alliance. Host of the event. |
| REinsTate | http://reinstate.info | ReSpace's project breathing new life into the 1887 Tate Institute in Silvertown, Newham — a volunteer-rebuilt "human enterprise zone" with studios, workshops, event space and a materials lending hub. Venue of the event. |
| Tipping Point East | https://www.tippingpointeast.com | The UK's first circular construction hub: a charity running a 7,000+ sqm site in Silvertown for construction-material reuse, fabrication and green-skills training. Founded by Yes Make, RESOLVE Collective and Material Cultures. |
| Material Cultures | https://materialcultures.org | London-based design, research and education organisation working across architecture, bio-based and natural materials and ecological land thinking, developing circular construction systems. |
| YesMake | https://www.yesmake.co.uk | Regenerative design-and-build practice that rescues high-quality materials from waste and builds public and community spaces with local people in London. |
| RESOLVE Collective | https://www.resolvecollective.com | Interdisciplinary design collective combining architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges and work toward just, equitable change in the built environment. |
| Footwork (Footwork Trust) | https://www.footwork.org.uk | Charity that identifies, funds and supports local social innovators (People and Place programme) and connects councils, community leaders and property owners for locally-led neighbourhood change. Now joining forces with Platform Places. |
| Platform Places | https://www.platformplaces.com | Helps community groups build "community property portfolios" — acquiring and stewarding buildings and land for community benefit — and runs peer networks for community asset developers. Will host the Mutual Lease community of learning and practice. |
| Stour Trust | https://www.stourtrust.com | Social enterprise (CIC) innovating community-led regeneration through affordable community, work and cultural spaces; works to grow the number of buildings and assets owned by Black and minoritised communities. |
| Wandsworth Town Property Partnership | https://www.platformplaces.com/news/wandsworth-town-property-partnership-sign-social-value-lease-community-cafe | Community-benefit property partnership transforming local buildings in Wandsworth Town to tackle the cost-of-living and climate crises; recently signed a ten-year social value lease with a local developer. (No standalone site yet — link via Platform Places.) |
| Meanwhile Space | https://meanwhilespace.com | CIC that unlocks underused buildings and land as places to work, create, connect and play, using temporary "meanwhile" leases, development, management and capacity building. |
Also named in the article (Mutual Lease context)
| Organisation | URL | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Matter Labs | https://darkmatterlabs.org | Research and design practice building institutional support frameworks for collaborative system change; co-author of the Mutual Lease provocation. Contact: propertybeyond@darkmatterlabs.org |
| House of Annetta | https://houseofannetta.org | A "resource centre for spatial justice" in an 18th-century house at 25 Princelet Street, Spitalfields — exhibitions, assemblies, ESOL, community technical aid. Its negotiation with freeholder Stiftung Edith Maryon will be the first live Mutual Lease test case. |
Relationship notes
- Tipping Point East is the charity founded by Yes Make, RESOLVE Collective and Material Cultures.
- REinsTate is a ReSpace Projects project (same team, ReSpace Alliance).
- Footwork Trust and Platform Places have integrated into one partnership; with Dark Matter Labs they are carrying the Mutual Lease work forward.
- The source article proposes a "Mutual Lease": a lease rewritten around a shared mission, non-financial rent and mutual accountability between community occupiers and mission-aligned landlords.