Moth Club, the music and comedy venue in a former ex-servicemen’s hall in Hackney, says it is no longer under threat after Hackney Council refused a second application to build flats next door.
The council turned down the plan for seven flats and a commercial unit at 6 Morning Lane, which backs directly onto the venue, on Thursday 29 October, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported. It was the second scheme from the same applicant to be refused this year. The first, for six private flats on Morning Lane overlooking the club, was rejected on 25 March.
“We got some great news this morning! WE’VE DONE IT! The second planning application next to the venue has been refused now too,” the club said on Instagram on 30 October. “Back in March, we said we weren’t out of the woods yet. This is the news we’ve all been waiting for.”
Why the council said no
Planners refused the 6 Morning Lane scheme on four grounds: noise, affordable housing, parking and traffic, and environmental sustainability. The applicant had “failed to demonstrate that the proposed development would not give rise to undue noise and disturbance to future occupiers”, the refusal said, according to the LDRS. Because the scheme included no affordable homes, planners also found it would “fail to adequately contribute towards the provision of mixed and balanced communities and housing needs in the local area”.
The venue had argued that new homes built against its walls without proper sound design would bring noise complaints, and that complaints lead to licence conditions. “Complaints lead to conditions on the licence, and conditions on the licence are how grassroots venues close,” its petition said. The petition passed 36,000 signatures, and the council received more than 27,000 emails of objection by December 2025. The Music Venue Trust also objected to the second scheme.
The principle at stake is known as Agent of Change: responsibility for managing sound sits with whoever builds new homes next to an existing venue.
A party to come
The club thanked the council’s planning department, the Mayor of Hackney, Zoë Garbett, and the campaign groups Hackney Nights, Save Our Scene, the Night Time Industries Association and the Music Venue Trust. “To the 35,000 of you who signed our petition, thank you!” it said.
It has promised what it calls “the greatest party Moth has ever witnessed”, with no date yet. “We meant it. Watch this space,” the statement said. “We got there, and we plan to stay here.”
From veterans’ club to venue
Moth Club opened in 1972 as a club for war veterans run under the Memorable Order of Tin Hats, which gives the venue its name. The events company LNZRT took it over in 2015 and turned it into a music and comedy room, known for the gold curtain behind the stage and its glittering ceiling. Lady Gaga, Dave Grohl and Rick Astley have all played there, and the club says ex-servicemen still come through its doors.
The venue has stayed open and trading throughout the campaign.
The essentials
- Where: Moth Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette Street, London E9 6NU
- Nearest station: Hackney Central
- What was refused: seven flats and 55 sq m of commercial space at 6 Morning Lane, refused 29 October 2026; six flats on Morning Lane, refused 25 March 2026
- What’s on: mothclub.co.uk