Inside London’s first community-owned pub

When Enterprise Inns closed the Ivy House in April 2012 – with plans to sell it to a property developer – things looked bleak for the south London pub. Its well-established status as a community and live music venue, which has hosted artists like Joe Strummer, Elvis Costello, and Ian Dury, was under threat. What followed is a story of civic triumph.

Nestled in the residential backstreets of Peckham Rye, The Ivy House has the proud title of being London’s first cooperatively-owned pub. When its existence was threatened, members of the local community stepped forward, campaigning successfully for a Grade II listing and raising £1 million to buy the freehold and refurbish the building.

‘Me and my other half both bought shares, we spent quite a bit of money because we love the pub and we wanted to keep it open’

So what exactly does it mean to be a community pub? On a lively Friday evening, I grabbed a pint of Brick Brewery’s Peckham Pale and set up camp in a cosy corner of London’s first coop pub to find out.