‘STAIN ON CITY’ TO BE WIPED OUT AS SQUALID HOTEL SHUTS
Residents set for ‘new start’ as deal agreed to purchase building as part of regeneration plan
AHOTEL described as a “stain on the city of Glasgow” is to be shut down and the residents offered homes. The Bellgrove Hotel in Gallowgate has caused concern for many years for the welfare of the dozens of men who live there at any one time.
The hotel in the East End was privately owned and not subject to the same regulations that council-run hostels have had to abide by.
Around 50 men are currently living in the building owned by
Ron Barr and Kenneth Gray, who reportedly bought the hotel for £65,000 in 1988.
The owners are estimated to have earned around £1.5m a year in housing benefit while leaving men to live in appalling conditions.
David Linden, Glasgow East SNP MP, said: “For many years now the Bellgrove Hotel has been an absolute stain on not just the city of Glasgow but particularly the east end.
“The owners of the Bellgrove hotel have a lot to answer for they have clearly failed some of the most vulnerable men in our city.”
Previous reports found more than £800 a month is being paid to the owners for each of the men to live there but they shared shower facilities and conditions have been described a squalid and Dickensian and most of the men have long-term serious drink and drug problems but have not been provided with proper support.
They will now be helped into other accommodation and the hotel taken over and redeveloped into a housing site.
The deal has been struck by Wheatley Group, the parent company of the city’s biggest social landlord GHA.
The site will be used to build mid-market rented homes by Lowther Homes, part of Wheatley Group.
The men will be offered homes by GHA and provided with support for issues they are dealing with, such as alcohol addiction and mental health problems.
Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “This has been a long time coming. “Glasgow City Council has been working behind the scenes over many months now to deliver this outcome. I’m relieved and very pleased Glasgow will finally see the back of this place and a new start for the residents.”
John Mason, SNP candidate for Glasgow Shettleston, which includes the hotel, has previously highlighted issues with the Bellgrove and argued for something to be done about it while an MSP and previously an MP for the area.
He said he was “delighted to hear that Bellgrove will be closing”. He added: “The residents deserve a lot better.”
The site of the hotel will be developed as part of the ongoing work of the Gallowgate Transformational Regeneration which includes new homes already built in the area.
A deal to buy the hotel has been agreed upon and completed after it was put up for sale last October.
It has been funded by Glasgow City Council, with money from a Scottish Government development fund to deliver community and housing-led regeneration at eight locations across the city.
Staff from Wheatley Care will work with Glasgow‘s Health and Social Care Partnership to help the residents move on from the hostel into modern homes with tailored care and support in place for those who need it. Alternative accommodation with care will be offered to those who need it. The hotel site will be part of the next phase of regeneration of the Gallowgate, with Lowther developing plans for mid-market rent homes as part of that.
Bernadette Hewitt, GHA chairwoman, said: “All of the residents at Bellgrove will be offered the chance of a GHA home or alternative accommodation to meet their needs with support in place to help them settle.”
Patrick Flynn, director of City Development at Glasgow City Council, said: “This is a major step forward in the transformation of an East End neighbourhood, and we can look forward to the local community continuing to play a key role of the development of the area in which they live.”
Pat Togher, assistant chief officer, Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership, said: “We do not use the
For many years now the Bellgrove Hotel has been an absolute stain