FAQ’s

Yes, please fill out your details on our waiting list. Please provide information about your practice and your preference of studio size and location. Once you have registered for the waiting list and you have been approved you will receive emails about future availabilities and studio viewing details. All you need to do is confirm you are attending the viewing and come along.

If you haven’t already, join the waiting list. You will then be sent email updates of available studios and viewing details. You must attend the viewing of the studio you are interested and confirm your interest by email to be eligible for allocation of the space.

Following the viewing if there is more than one person interested in the same studio it will be allocated to the artist registered on the waiting list the longest. In some cases we will prioritise artists in most need or whose practice is compatible with other artists in the building. Priority will also be given to any existing ASC artists who attend the viewing and wish to relocate from another studio.

Current ASC artists may be looking for someone to share their studio. Studio shares will be advertised via the waiting list and viewings organised with the artist. ASC must be informed of any artists planning to share a studio and a new contract signed with all sharers before moving into the studio. In this case studio allocation is decided by the tenant and length of time registered does not apply.

Yes, if you’d like to share or sublet your studio just get in touch with ASC. If you’d like help finding someone we will require a short advert from you with the details of what is available and any requirements from the artist you may expect, such as not messy or desk based. You are responsible for carrying out viewings and selecting an appropriate artist. Once you have found someone, please contact the office to arrange to come and sign a new contract. Sharers are not permitted to use your studio until they have signed a new contract, the sharer’s practice must also fit ASC requirements and be working as an artist in a non-commercial manner.

Artists must give two month’s notice if they want to vacate their studio. If notice is given within the first 3 months, a £100 administration fee will be charged.

Rent includes cleaning of communal areas, water rates, business rates, building insurance, refuse disposal (external bins or bags), all building maintenance (with the exception of light bulbs directly servicing your studio) and parking (where available). Shared broadband and wi-fi are provided (where possible) as a free service, and are not included in your rental payment.

Electricity and heating (where available) is included in studio rents at Bond House, Stockwell Road, Brixton Village Market, Empson Street and The Chaplin Centre.

Electricity is not included in studio rents at Streatham Hill, Kingston, 195-205 Union Street and Worlsey Bridge Road. Studios at these sites are individually metered on socket usage and electricity invoiced twice a year.

We currently offer project spaces in several of our studio sites which are available for artists in these locations to book and use for exhibitions and events at no extra cost. Events are listed on the website, promoted through our social media platforms and sent out to our mailing lists. Please refer to the list of buildings to see which studios have a project space. ASC also encourages opens studios and will do all we can to help tenants wishing to organise an event.

Unless otherwise stated, all our studios have 24/7 access.

Over a third of our sites have some studios with disabled access and adapted toilets. When studios with these facilities become available, an artist with disabilities requiring these provisions will always be given priority.

If you have special access requirements please get in touch to check if available studios are suitable.

Some buildings have central heating, but if you want to use your own heaters please note that gas bottles are not allowed in any building for fire safety reasons.

ASC do not currently provide live/work spaces.

Contact the ASC main office to arrange to come in to sign your contract. The process will take at least 40 minutes to allow enough time to go to a solicitor to have a ‘Declaration Form’ signed (£5 fee). You will need to provide one proof of address document and a form of photo ID (passport or drivers licence).

Once you have been allocated a studio you will need to pay a 2 month deposit and one month rent in advance. You will also need to pay a deposit of £15 – £25 for an electronic fob to access the building. You will be asked to set up a standing order for rent to be paid on 1st of each month.

All of our buildings are covered for Public Liability. We cannot insure your contents against damage or theft. You are strongly advised to take out cover for your personal property.

Yes, you can move from one studio to another available studio either in the same site, or to another ASC site. You are allowed to swap studios. We require two month’s notice in writing. You would normally be allowed to move as soon as is possible. All moves are subject to ASC approval and rents and deposits will either increase or decrease depending on the studio size and site. If you need to find someone to share your space we can help you do this.

You will need to notify ASC via email with two months’ notice if you’d like to vacate your studio. On vacating your studio, it must be clear of all belongings and rubbish and left in the same state as you moved in. Excessive amounts of paint and other residues must be removed and painted over.

ASC is an arts charity providing lower than market rents and is primarily dedicated to helping visual artists which term is used to mean, fine artists, painters, sculptors, printmakers, installation artists, etc.

We do not accept practices that are purely commercial i.e. printing T-shirts or manufacturing an already designed product; we also do not accept office-based practices that may require heavy use of the telephone, loud meetings and conversations or frequent visitors if the studio is in a building where sound travels easily as this is disturbing to other artists and a security risk.

Studios are not soundproofed and therefore we can only accept artists working in sound installations and video if they use headphones.  We do provide workspace to applied artists in a limited number of our buildings.

If you have a practice better suited to desk-based working, we offer coworking and desk spaces to those in the creative and cultural industries at The Handbag Factory, including graphic designers, photographers, filmmakers, writers and more.

Equipment using gas bottles are not permitted and we also do not allow resin in any of our buildings.