The London Walthamstow Hotel, as well as the Sleeping Beauty Motel, will be converted into temporary accommodation later this year, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

The London Walthamstow Hotel on Lea Bridge Hotel, Credit: Google Streetview

Two Waltham Forest hotels that previously housed asylum seekers will now be used to shelter residents facing homelessness.

The London Walthamstow Hotel, as well as the Sleeping Beauty Motel, will be converted into temporary accommodation later this year.

Plans to repurpose the Lea Bridge Road hotels were approved at a meeting of Waltham Forest Council’s planning committee last night (3rd September).

After internal changes to both, the hotels will be able to accommodate a combined 221 households.

The proposals were put forward by London Walthamstow Ltd, a company run by hotel tycoon Guahar Nawab. His company bought the buildings for £30million in 2021, rebranding the London Walthamstow Hotel from an Ibis venue.

Through his company London Hotel Group, the hotelier owns a £325m network of hotels.

A planning officer told the committee around 3,000 Waltham Forest residents were currently in need of temporary accommodation. About one in 50 people in the capital are homeless, according to London Councils.

Converting the hotels would allow people to stay in the borough and prevent the breakup of families, which is a “significant issue,” the planning officer said.

Twelve objections were submitted to the council over the Lea Bridge Road scheme.

Neighbours were mainly concerned about a potential increase in crime, as well as the impact on community cohesion.

The council said it hoped this would be abated by 24/7 security and CCTV cameras monitoring the entrances. The operators will also need to produce a ‘facilities management plan’ within three months.

Anyone who should not be there would be “moved on” and prior permission would be required for any guests or visitors.

Councillor Jenny Gray, the former chairwoman of the committee, said it was “a tragedy” that so many people needed housing.

She said: “We all hear heartbreaking stories about families being evicted, and we can’t accommodate them.

“We started using overnight hostels, which were just totally inappropriate. At least this scheme seems to be a step up from that.”

No changes will be made to the exterior of the building.

Waltham Forest previously came under fire after housing an unspecified number of people in a Romford hotel, despite it being common practice for councils to look outside their own boroughs.

Deputy leader Ahsan Khan said councils needed to pursue a “long-term solution to the increased demand in temporary accommodation London is seeing.”

Similar to the neighbouring borough of Redbridge, Waltham Forest Council has described itself as being in the grips of a “severe housing crisis”.

In January, a protest was held outside the London Walthamstow Hotel after 400 asylum seekers were told to leave by the Home Office.

The migrants were given a week to pack their bags and leave, with some being sent as far away as Somerset.

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