Leyla Aslan has run Camia Café in Stoke Newington Church Street with her brother Bulent for 16 years.
The café sells Mediterranean dishes, filled baguettes and sourdough sandwiches, and hot and cold pastries popular with its customers.
But despite the bustle of life in an area one resident described as an “urban village”, the siblings are now the only people behind the counter.
Leyla said: “We can’t afford to have staff, we don’t earn that well, we manage by ourselves.
“We had staff in the past but it’s hard to justify now. The National Insurance rise has made it even more impossible.”
At the start of April, the Government increased the National Minimum Wage and National Insurance. At the same time, business rates rose, as did gas and electricity prices.
Leyla added: “It’s hard for business owners. Business rates have gone up and the competition has got tougher. The rents are high already. We feel like we’re working for councils and landlords, not for ourselves.”
In an area where three-bedroom houses sold in the 1980s for £40,000, she said the two-bedroom flat above her shop had recently sold for £800,000.
She said: “It has a terrace but ultimately it’s a two-bed flat and leasehold, not freehold.
“People like me could never buy here. We can work here, but never buy. This is for people who have money.”
Michael Naik outside his estate agent in Church Street, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in May (Image: Nathalie Raffray)
In the same street, Michael Naik will be celebrating 40 years of selling and renting properties next month.
Originally from Mauritius, he said his customers are not limited to Stoke Newington. His company manages properties for landlords in America, Canada, the West Indies – “many countries”.
Rising house prices might seem to benefit him, but he says the National Insurance rise will make it harder even for him to recruit and believes cutting interest rates might help the housing market.
He added: “At the moment people are wondering what is going to happen with the economy.
“We want to see the base rate come down just to get sales going again. It’s a bit slow at the moment.”
