Some of Britain’s most prominent learned societies say they could be forced to leave their premises in London because the government has imposed rent increases of more than 3000% in recent years.
Last week, the Geological Society and the Linnean Society announced that they had joined forces with the Society of Antiquaries in a campaign to try to stop the government from praising their prices from their premises in Burlington House, Piccadilly, where they have been since 1854. .
“In 2012, our annual rent was £ 4,000,” said Sandra Knapp, president of the Linnean Society. “By last year it had risen to £ 130,000 – an increase of more than 3000%. If increases continue at this rate, we will have to relocate. ”
The Linnean Society is the world’s oldest society dedicated to natural history. The building was the decade for the first reading of papers by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858, which set out the theory of evolution through natural selection – a set of ideas that shape our understanding of the natural world and humanity’s place in It.
The learned societies – which also include the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry – are housed in three buildings around the main courtyard of Burlington House, home of the Royal Academy of Arts (which is not affected by the current lease).
“These buildings were built specifically for the use of the learned societies by Queen Victoria’s government to create a cultural center in central London,” Knapp added. “Now that intellectual center is under threat.”
The warning was supported by Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and a fellow of the Geological Society, which is home to a world-famous library and map collection and regularly hosts climate discussions. change and the future of the fossil fuel industries.
“The price of these learned societies from their homes indicates that Boris Johnson’s government does not respect Britain’s extraordinary scientific heritage, not even because it is trying to portray an image of global Britain after Brexit,” Ward said. said. “But it’s acting as if it’s just another ruthless landlord trying to maximize rental income from a central London location.”
The Society of Antiquaries of London, founded in 1707, also houses a variety of treasures. Among the 40,000 objects and 130,000 rare books it has collected are three of the earliest copies of the Magna Carta, a series of Neolithic stone tools from Stonehenge, Tudor portraits and other precious historical articles.
However, the association has warned that if it is forced to relocate, it will have to pay significant sums to ensure the safe transfer of its fragile collection – and that the cost of the move could force some of its treasures around the occupy relocation account. The president of the society, Paul Drury, said that the prospect filled him with ‘absolute horror’.
The large increases in Burlington House’s rents are due to a change in the government’s accounting policy in 2014, when it decided that the building should be treated as an investment property. Shortly after this decision was made, the market value of property in the West End – with which rents are calculated – soared. As a result, annual rents increased rapidly from several thousand pounds a year to hundreds of thousands.
The government argues that the associations housed in Burlington still pay rent which falls well below the market rates for central London. However, it also insisted it was sympathetic to their position, claiming that the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government is now exploring solutions that can still deliver value to taxpayers while helping communities stay in Burlington House.
However, Knapp said the associations saw very few signs of such activities. “We need the ministry, our landlords, to sit down with us and come up with an affordable and sustainable solution,” she said.
This point was supported by Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who is leading a group of MPs supporting the Burlington House campaign. The ministry urgently needs to reach a long-term agreement for the societies or it could lose forever, he warned last week.
‘The communities in Burlington House are an asset to the country. Together, their expertise and networks support our climate efforts and important engineering projects that are essential for better reconstruction, ”he said.
“It is home to irreplaceable artifacts of great scientific and historical importance and is responsible for inspiring the next generation of scientists.”
Knapp adds that the most important point was that all these societies play important roles in the advancement of science – from natural history to geology and from chemistry to astronomy – in schools and in society.
“Our co-location in central London is a real force,” she said, “and also an indication that this country takes its science very seriously and acknowledges that it is something Britain is proud to support.”