Ealing Council has extended its lease on a former hotel in neighbouring Hillingdon to provide emergency housing for dozens of families from Ealing at risk of homelessness.
The Barn Hotel in Ruislip, once a fine-dining restaurant and wedding venue, will continue to house more than 70 families for another year. It closed to the public in October 2023 after struggling with the fallout of the pandemic and Brexit, and has since been repurposed and used by Ealing Council for temporary accommodation.
According to the council, the cost of using The Barn Hotel for 2025/26 is just over £2 million.
The site, owned by Chase New Homes, offers better facilities than those of standard hotels used in emergency housing. Rooms are larger, with proper beds and ensuite bathrooms, while residents share a communal kitchen and dining space. Families also have access to a laundry room, gardens with play equipment, communal study areas and even a dedicated games room.
Catherine Virdee, who has overseen the hotel’s transformation, said: “The Barn is a stepping stone to a better life for the people who have moved in. It’s a safe, secure platform for them to rebuild their lives and get themselves into a longer-term home. Many of the guests are so happy to be here.”
One resident, Jacquelina, turned to the council for help after she and her 10-year-old were evicted from their rented home in Acton. Before moving to the Barn, she had spent a week in a commercial hotel. “It was hard in the previous hotel,” she said. “There was nowhere for children to play. We were confined to the room, and there was no kitchen, so we had to have takeaways all the time. This place is like heaven.”
The extension comes as the borough grapples with record levels of housing need. More than 7,000 families are on the council house waiting list, while around 2,500 households are in temporary accommodation.
Cllr Louise Brett, deputy leader and cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, said: “Offering these families somewhere safe to stay with suitable facilities, in their greatest moment of need is not just our legal duty – it is our moral responsibility.”
