A former hotel is to act as emergency housing for local families for another year.
Ealing Council has extended its lease on the entire Barn Hotel in West End Road, in Ruislip (in neighbouring Hillingdon borough), to provide a temporary home to more than 70 families who were at immediate risk of becoming homeless.
The Barn – a former fine-dining restaurant and wedding venue – closed its doors to customers in October 2023, after struggling with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit. It is now a safe, comfortable place to temporarily call home while the council works with the families to help them find longer-term solutions.
The bedrooms at the Barn are much larger than in most commercial hotels, with a proper bed for each person, and all have ensuite bathrooms. The hotel’s kitchen is open for all residents to use, along with the dining room, where families eat their meals. There is a laundry room, extensive gardens with play equipment, and communal areas to relax or study. There is even a dedicated games room for children, complete with games consoles.
Catherine Virdee is the manager of the site. She has overseen the hotel’s transition from wedding venue to temporary accommodation. She 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.”
Preventing homelessness
From late 2022, the cost of living crisis caused an unprecedented spike in the number of families needing help with housing from the council. There is a genuine housing crisis, with all kinds of market pressures.
And, although council rents are on average just a quarter of equivalent private rents, there are nowhere near enough council homes for everyone who needs one, and there are now more than 7,000 families on the council house waiting list.
The council is now supporting around 2,500 households in temporary accommodation, at huge cost. At one point, the rate of requests for help was so overwhelming that the local hostels and B&Bs were full. In May 2024, the use of temporary accommodation peaked with more than 700 homeless families in commercial accommodation, which is not an ideal living situation.
‘Like heaven’
In March 2024 the council took an initial 1-year lease on The Barn and moved families there from hotels. It had an immediate, positive impact on those households’ lives, giving them a more secure and functional place to live, with vastly superior facilities. Jacquelina turned to the council for help after she and her 10-year-old child 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,” Jaquelina 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. My favourite thing is the play equipment and outside space. The kids are all great and play together all the time. You can easily cook from scratch and I can do my washing whenever I want.”
Stability for families
Councillor Louise Brett, deputy leader and cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, said: “The borough’s affordable housing crisis means that many ordinary, hardworking families have found themselves priced out of their own neighbourhoods.
“Approaching us for emergency help means that they have no other option, and 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.”
