The long-running battle over the future of Ealing’s Victoria Hall will return to court on Wednesday (19 November 2025) when a judge hears an appeal against plans by Labour-run Ealing Council to sell off the historic community venue as part of its redevelopment plans for Ealing Town Hall.
The online hearing will consider a challenge brought by two local residents on behalf of the Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH). The group is appealing against the Charity Commission’s decision to allow Ealing Council to include the hall – legally owned by a charitable trust – in a 250-year lease to Mastcraft, a private developer.
The Friends group has raised over £125,000 to fund its legal battle and insists that the hall must remain a fully accessible, affordable space for the community.
FoVH chair Roger Green said: “We believe we have a very strong case against the Charity Commission and Ealing Council that could pave the way for the Victoria Hall to be returned to public use.
“Ealing Council closed down the Victoria Hall more than two years ago. The resulting dire shortage of community meeting space in the centre of Ealing was underlined just last week, ironically by one of the council’s own events.
He added: “It was obliged to refuse entry to people wanting to attend a workshop to develop a community-led regeneration charter because it didn’t have a large enough room. In years gone by the council held meetings of this kind in the Victoria Hall, which could accommodate everyone.
“It is a sorry state of affairs when a borough the size of a small country has no central meeting place big enough to accommodate important meetings of more than 40 people.”
The Friends argue that the body overseeing the Victoria Hall Trust – which includes councillors from the ruling administration – has repeatedly failed to act in the interests of the charity’s beneficiaries, as required by law.
Built in the 1890s through public donations, the Victoria Hall has long served as a civic hub, hosting everything from community meetings and support groups to concerts and religious festivals. Campaigners say its loss would deprive the borough, one of London’s largest by population, of its only large and affordable public hall.
Ealing Council first proposed redeveloping the adjoining Town Hall in 2014, later agreeing a deal with developer Mastcraft to turn the site into a luxury hotel. Under the plans, parts of the hall would be demolished or repurposed as facilities for a spa.
The Friends won a significant victory in 2023 when the High Court quashed the first Charity Commission scheme approving the sale, ruling that it failed to protect the trust’s interests. However, a revised version published last year remains under dispute.
FoVH continues to raise funds to cover its legal costs at savethevictoriahall.weebly.com
