Eviction threatens Ridley Road market once again

On a Wednesday afternoon on Ridley Road market, a man in his thirties all in leather, a self-described creative, lingers over an Afghan rug embroidered with tanks and guns, a depiction of the Soviet invasion. He asks the trader whether it's meant to be funny and whether an Afghan would hang it in his own home. The trader nods, wanting to make the sale, and the customer declares his delight. "I'll hang it in my window, its so authentic" he says.

Ridley Road has always been a place where worlds collide. Running since the late 1880s, it started as a modest fruit and vegetable market before growing into one of London's most iconic street markets. In the 1940s and 1950s it was predominantly Jewish; in the 1960s and 1970s it attracted Caribbean immigrants; later, it became a hub for Turkish and Greek communities. It has frequently been considered the non-gentrified heart of Hackney, as a place where you can still buy saltfish, plantain, a phone unlocked, cheap pans, all within a few hundred metres.

But that identity is now under serious threat. On 17 February 2026, traders in Ridley Road Shopping Village were served notices of eviction by their offshore landlord, Larochette Real Estate, again. Thirteen traders in the indoor section of the market were handed letters telling them they needed to leave by the end of March.

Larochette bought Ridley Road's indoor market in 2016. In October 2018, the landlord tried to evict the traders in order to demolish the building and make way for luxury flats and offices. That attempt was beaten back by a fierce community campaign. This time, the mood feels different. "How many times will we have to go through this?" one trader from Pakistan tells me. "We are running out of energy to keep fighting."

As in 2018, Larochette's letter to traders justified the closure with reference to orders from the Metropolitan Police. The police disputed this, stating they had not requested the closure of the indoor market space and had not issued a closure order.

The evictions also come in the face of a promise made just a few years ago. In 2022, Hackney Council committed to taking on a 15-year lease of the property. Campaigners hailed the move as a victory that would end years of uncertainty for small businesses trading in the indoor shopping village. But the refurbishment ended up taking three years, traders only moved back in last year, and the council still hasn't taken over the lease. After the partial refurbishment was completed in March 2025, all traders on the ground floor signed new 12-month leases, but these had no security of tenure and included provisions for no-fault evictions.

In an open letter, the Ridley Road Shopping Village Traders Association wrote: "No proper warning. No time to liquidate our stock. The destruction of our livelihoods. Many of us won't be able to start again or find another place to trade."

Over the last two decades, Hackney has undergone a major transformation and has become one of the most gentrified boroughs of London. Average property prices have more than tripled. Middle-class professionals and creatives have moved in, driving up housing costs and bringing with them the cafes and businesses that cater to their tastes. The market they celebrate as authentic is the same one their arrival is helping to price out.

The affected traders are mostly West African and Caribbean, and have already suffered years of economic neglect and uncertainty. Framed as regeneration and development, what is happening here looks, to them, much more like social cleansing.