Ealing Council is set to consider renewing its use of The Barn Hotel in Ruislip as temporary accommodation for homeless families, with a proposal for a new two‑year lease due to go before cabinet on 7 October 2026. The proposed term would run from 9 December 2026 to 8 December 2028 and would reshape the site’s layout to provide more family‑sized rooms while reducing the overall number of units.
Proposed two-year lease and room changes
Under the plans, the number of rooms leased at The Barn Hotel would reduce from 73 to 59. Sixteen existing rooms would be combined to create eight larger family rooms, each designed to include a small kitchenette suitable for basic cooking appliances. The council indicates that shared facilities, including a larger communal kitchen, laundry spaces and on‑site management, would remain in place.
The Barn Hotel, on West End Road in Ruislip, Hillingdon, has been used by Ealing Council for temporary accommodation since March 2024 after closing to the public in October 2023. The site offers ensuite rooms and communal amenities including dining areas, gardens with play equipment, study spaces and a games room. While the overall room count would fall under the new lease, the council expects the conversion to support larger households that currently occupy more than one room, helping to maintain the number of families that can be accommodated on site.
Costs, savings and the council’s rationale
Cabinet documents set out an annual lease cost under the proposed arrangement of £1.998 million. After taking account of Housing Benefit income, subsidy losses and empty‑room costs, the council estimates a net annual cost of £1.463 million. It also estimates that moving to the two‑year lease would save around £58,000 a year compared with the current arrangement. These are proposal figures subject to decision.
The council’s rationale presented to cabinet highlights a preference to avoid bed and breakfast placements for families, describing dedicated‑use accommodation with cooking and laundry facilities as more suitable. The papers also set out options that were considered, including ending the arrangement or continuing with shorter‑term extensions. Ending use of the hotel, the council says, would remove 59 rooms from its temporary accommodation supply and increase reliance on nightly paid placements. Opting for a two‑year term is presented as offering greater certainty for households and operational planning while retaining a fixed end date.
Context on temporary accommodation pressures
The council reports a marked drop in the use of bed and breakfast for families, stating that placements fell from a peak of almost 500 in April 2024 to fewer than two at the beginning of September 2026. Despite this progress, it sets out ongoing financial pressure linked to temporary accommodation demand, reporting a £2.216 million pressure on housing demand placements in the first quarter of 2026/27. The council attributes part of this to bed and breakfast costs and higher levels of empty rooms in block‑booked hotels. It also indicates that leases on two other block‑booked hotels are due to end as they are handed back.
The Barn Hotel proposal positions the Ruislip site as a comparatively stable option within that broader picture, with on‑site management and shared cooking and laundry spaces intended to reduce the need for repeated moves between nightly paid placements. The reconfiguration to larger family rooms aims to better match household sizes seen in recent placements, while the reduction in total rooms is presented as compatible with maintaining the number of households supported.
Next steps
The cabinet is scheduled to consider the proposal on 7 October 2026. If approved, the new lease would commence on 9 December 2026 and run until 8 December 2028. All costs and operational changes outlined remain proposals pending the cabinet’s decision. The council remains the decision‑maker and provider for the accommodation, while the hotel itself is located in neighbouring Hillingdon.
