Ealing Council is planning to continue using a former Ruislip hotel as temporary accommodation for homeless families for another two years, at an annual lease cost of almost £2 million.
The council’s cabinet will be asked next Wednesday (7 October 2026) to approve a new lease for The Barn Hotel in West End Road, Ruislip, running from 9 December 2026 until 8 December 2028.
The hotel, which is in neighbouring Hillingdon, has been used by Ealing Council as temporary accommodation since March 2024.
Last year, EALING.NEWS reported that more than 70 families were living at The Barn after the council extended its use of the hotel for another year. The cost for 2025/26 was just over £2 million.
The former hotel, which had previously operated as a restaurant and wedding venue, closed to the public in October 2023 before being used for temporary accommodation.
The site, owned by Chase New Homes, has large rooms with beds and ensuite bathrooms. Residents also have access to a communal kitchen and dining space, laundry room, gardens with play equipment, communal study areas and a dedicated games room.
Cabinet papers show the annual lease cost under the proposed new arrangement is £1.998 million. After Housing Benefit income, subsidy losses and the cost of empty rooms are taken into account, the council estimates the net annual cost will be £1.463 million.
The council currently leases 73 rooms at The Barn, but this will fall to 59 as part of changes to the accommodation.
Sixteen existing rooms are being combined to create eight larger family rooms, each with a small kitchenette suitable for a microwave and air fryer. Families will also continue to have access to a larger shared kitchen, laundry facilities and on-site management.
Explaining why it wants to continue using The Barn, the council’s report says: “Bed and breakfast accommodation remains the least suitable option, particularly for families with children.”
It adds: “The Barn Hotel provides dedicated-use accommodation and offers facilities that are not generally available in traditional B&B accommodation, including shared cooking and laundry facilities and on-site management. The arrangement supports continuity for households and reduces the need for repeated moves between nightly paid placements.”
The council looked at three options for the future use of The Barn, including ending the arrangement altogether or continuing with a series of shorter-term extensions.
According to the council, ending its use would remove 59 rooms from its temporary accommodation supply and increase the likelihood of households having to be placed in nightly paid accommodation.
It also considered continuing with shorter-term extensions, but opted for a two-year lease to give families and the council greater certainty while still having a fixed end date.
The council estimates the two-year deal will also save around £58,000 a year compared with the current arrangement.
Although the number of rooms will fall, the council says several larger families currently occupy more than one room and expects the new larger rooms will allow it to maintain the number of households accommodated at The Barn.
In 2025, EALING.NEWS reported on the experience of one family living at The Barn.
Jacquelina, who had sought help from the council after she and her 10-year-old child were evicted from their rented home in Acton, said at the time: “It was hard in the previous hotel. 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 council says it has significantly reduced its reliance on B&B accommodation for families. The cabinet report says: “The number of families placed in bed and breakfast accommodation has fallen from a peak of almost 500 in April 2024 to fewer than two at the beginning of September 2026.”
Despite that reduction, the council continues to face financial pressure from demand for temporary accommodation.
It reported a £2.216 million budget pressure on housing demand placements during the first quarter of 2026/27, which it says is partly due to B&B costs and high numbers of empty rooms in block-booked hotels.
The council is already handing back two other block-booked hotels, with their leases due to end shortly.
