A hotel whose “Dickensian squalor” was exposed in a Daily Record campaign will finally be shut down.
The closure of the Bellgrove Hotel in Glasgow’s east end will make way for modern flats as part of a regeneration programme.
And 50 men, mostly battling alcoholism, will be given decent, modern homes as they try to get their lives back on track, as part of the deal to buy the property.
A partnership between Glasgow City Council and Wheatley Group, which owns Lowther Homes, combined to buy the site in the city’s Gallowgate for a reported £1.5 million.
The Daily Record investigated conditions at the Bellgrove, where resident’s benefits were used to buy booze as they lived in tiny cell-like rooms.
Conditions were often compared to Dickensian poorhouses, with little care improvements given to up to 140 men at a time who lived there.
Labour party prospective candidate Paul Sweeney, who has campaigned for the rights of drug users and better housing, was among those top welcome the end of a toxic era.
Sweeney said: “The Bellgrove Hotel has been a source of misery for its vulnerable residents over many years, symbolic of our city’s failure to properly assist vulnerable Glaswegian men who face complex issues that gave them little other choice than to end up there.
“I look forward to a new model of more appropriate residential support being created for them, but the resources needed to tackle the city’s homelessness and addiction crises are still woefully inadequate, just as it is doing little to support those leaving prison.”
Although some would like to see the building demolished completely, planners are weighing up the options, which include giving weight to the considerable architectural value of the art deco building.
Sweeney said: “The building itself, despite its notorious reputation, is actually a rare example of art deco architecture in Glasgow, and as it is listed I will be seeking assurances that Lowther Homes will bring forward plans for its renovation as high quality affordable flats, as part of the planned improvements to the Gallowgate area.”
Glasgow MSP John Mason has also campaigned for the closure of the Bellgrove, which raked in £1.5 million in annual fees for its owners from taxpayers.
In 2016, MSP John Mason raised a motion signed by 21 members from across the political divide calling for urgent, better regulation of the hostel.
He was responding to a probe by the Daily Record, which found tiny rooms with barred windows that looked on to a rat-infested courtyard.
Mason said: “I am delighted to see that this terrible chapter is coming to an end.
“There are fewer worse examples of Dickensian squalor and the Bellgrove Hotel was tolerated for far too long.
“I also welcome the fact there will be social housing arising for people who lived there and I trust there will be better access to social services for those people who require that.”
The Bellgrove site will form part of the Gallowgate Transformational Regeneration Area (TRA), with 50 residents supported into Glasgow Housing Association homes.
The hotel was put on the market in October 2020 and the deal finalised yesterday.
The B-listed hotel was originally built in the 1930s to provide accommodation for working men but it became a hostel and became regarded as a doss-house and a blight on the city.
Patrick Flynn, Director of City Development at Glasgow City Council, said: “The acquisition of the Bellgrove Hotel by the council and our Transforming Communities: Glasgow partners will both allow the regeneration of the Gallowgate and pave the way for the hostel’s residents to move to their own homes and receive the support they need.
“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.”
Bernadette Hewitt, GHA Chair and TC:G Board Member, 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.
“Wheatley Care will now provide care and support to the residents while helping them move into a new home that fully meets their needs. We’ll work closely with the residents, Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership, and other partners.
“GHA has already built over 200 fantastic new homes in Gallowgate and demolished the old Whitevale and Bluevale multi-storey blocks. The Bellgrove unlocks the potential for us not only to improve the lives of the people currently living in the hostel but also to continue the transformation of the community with a further phase of new affordable housing for local people.”
Pat Togher, Assistant Chief Officer, Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership, said: “This is an excellent opportunity to improve the lives of those residing in the Bellgrove and we look forward to working with everyone involved.”
Wheatley Group has now provided 200 homes to Housing First, the multi-agency partnership set up to give homeless people a tenancy and support to rebuild their lives.
Ron Barr and Kenneth Gray, who reportedly bought he hotel for £65,000 in 1988. They collected around £1.5m a year in housing benefit while men lived in shocking squalor.
More than £800 a month was being paid to the owners for each of the men to live there, despite the conditions.
