A treasured Bermondsey cinema could permanently draw its curtains amid tense rent negotiations.
Bermondsey Square landlord Oval Real Estate has increased Kino Cinema’s rent in line with inflation – believed to be fourteen per cent.
Oval Real Estate and Kino are holding eleventh-hour negotiations on Thursday, January 26. If unsuccessful, the cinema could close the same day.
As well as the rent hike, Kino has said on Twitter that the service charge has been increased “substantially”.
Employees say they have been left scrambling after being given just eight days’ notice of the imminent closure.
On Twitter, some users raged against what they believed were “unsustainable rent increases”. But Oval Real Estate told the News that Kino’s lease was signed back in 2014 with fixed inflation-tied uplifts on rent.
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Oval Real Estate bought Bermondsey Square in May 2022 so did not preside over that lease agreement.
It would not say how much service charge had been increased by but described it as “marginal”.
Oval Real Estate also said that Kino has benefited from two rental concession periods during the pandemic and remedial cladding works, but obviously the cinema had lost revenue throughout that period.
First opened in 2009 under the name Shortwave Cinema, the 48-seat venue and bar is regarded a bastion of independent arts culture by many.
A clause in the cinema’s original planning permission means the property should be retained as a cinema.
If Oval Real Estate wants to change it, it would have to submit a change of use application to Southwark Council.
Former local MP Sir Simon Hughes, who has helped bring the two parties to the negotiating table, believes “it would be difficult for them to change it” because of the protections afforded to community assets.
Oval Real Estate said it hoped to retain Kino as a tenant, but when pushed by the News would not say whether it would pursue a change-of-use application if they left.
A Kino employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It just really upsets me that we’re running out of spaces that show good art and culturally enriching films… without an alternative.
“We have regulars who come in five to six days a week. You don’t find many places like this and when we’ve told people [we’re closing] so many have been completely devastated.”
“I’m not happy with the amount of notice we’ve been given. I think it’s unfair and unprofessional,” they added.
Asked whether Thursday’s negotiations will be successful, Sir Simon Hughes said: “We’ve had some good conversations and lots more parts of the jigsaw are in place.
“We’ve moved in the right direction and we know what the issues are better. Quite a lot people are being helpful… and the fact there has been widespread community support has been helpful.”
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A spokesperson for Oval Real Estate said on Tuesday, January 24: “We’re definitely open to engaging” but said they were yet to have a direct conversation with Kino’s ownership.
Kino Cinema was approached for comment.