A Charity Tribunal ruling has said that Labour-run Ealing Council cannot proceed with its agreed sale of the Victoria Hall to hotel developer Mastcraft as part of the redevelopment of Ealing Town Hall.
The ruling, handed down last week (25 November 2025), dismissed the appeal but added two conditions that stop the 2019 deal going ahead. The tribunal said the boundaries of the Victoria Hall Trust must be properly defined and the 2019 Agreement for Lease with Mastcraft has to be renegotiated.
Roger Green, chair of the Friends of the Victoria Hall, said: “Although our broader appeal has been rejected, the Tribunal decision contains two important new safeguards for the future of the Hall.”
He added: “The Advisory Committee must recognise the verdict of the court that it is not bound by agreements that the council has made and it must renegotiate the 2019 lease, especially the very limited access that the community would have to the Victoria Hall if it were to become part of a luxury hotel.”
The Victoria Hall Trust Advisory Committee, set up in 2021 to replace a group of councillors overseeing the charity, will meet on 11 December. Mr Green has called on the committee to explain how it intends to apply the ruling and protect community use.
Campaigners argue that the hall, built in the 1890s through public subscription and accounting for more than 20 per cent of the Town Hall complex, is held in trust for the benefit of local residents. They say its inclusion in a private hotel scheme undermines its charitable purpose and would restrict access to one of the borough’s largest public venues.
FoVH claims the council has acted in its own interests by absorbing the hall into the redevelopment plan and citing years of under investment as justification for transferring the trust’s assets. The group argues that the hall was endowed for public benefit and should not be treated as a commercial asset.
Ealing Liberal Democrats Councillor Jon Ball told EALING.NEWS: “I gave a witness statement to the tribunal because I was concerned that the council is still not allowing the Victoria Hall Trust to operate as a fully independent charity representing the interests of the people of Ealing. The resulting judgement specifically mentioned me as having a role to remind the Victoria Hall Trust Advisory Committee of its independence from the council.
“The Liberal Democrats opposed the Labour administration entering into the Mastcraft hotel scheme way back in 2016. This is a sorry saga that has dragged on for almost a decade, with the Labour-controlled council spending millions upon millions of pounds fighting against its own residents.
“The elephant in the room is that once all legal avenues are exhausted, nobody knows whether Mastcraft still want to go ahead with the scheme in the current economic climate, or what will happen to the Town Hall if they pull out. Ealing residents should be able to use the Victoria Hall that their ancestors funded, which is currently closed on bogus health and safety grounds along with the whole Town Hall.”
Ealing Conservatives Councillor Anthony Young told EALING.NEWS: “Although the appeal against an earlier tribunal decision was lost, the conditions imposed on the council were sufficient to safeguard the interests of the community. We shall monitor the situation as it develops to ensure that the community does not lose out.”
Ealing Council included the hall in its redevelopment proposals in 2014 and later agreed a 250-year lease under which Mastcraft planned to convert the Town Hall complex into a luxury hotel. Parts of the hall would be demolished and public access reduced. The council has said community use would be protected through a Community Use Protocol written into the lease.
Speaking to EALING.NEWS, an Ealing Council spokesperson said: “To be clear the appeal against the Charity Commission’s scheme was dismissed, in full, confirming the council has taken the right decision as sole trustee with its management of the Victoria Hall Trust to support the Trust being able to do its work again.
“In addition, the tribunal imposed no new conditions: it simply reinforced obligations already in the approved scheme, including clarifying boundaries and the need for certain terms of the Mastcraft deal to be renegotiated – matters the council had accepted. The Friends of Victoria Hall’s appeal has not added any new requirements.
“The appeal has been wholly unsuccessful and the tribunal endorsed the redevelopment of Ealing Town Hall as being in the trust’s best interests, paving the way for the project.
“We welcome the Friends’ further acknowledgement that the hotel proposal is the only viable option and their support for its success.
“We remain focused on delivering the scheme and ensuring Victoria Hall continues serving the borough’s residents.”
