Greenwich’s historic Borough Hall could become a hotel under plans being discussed by the developer that bought the building earlier this year.

The Grade II-listed building was sold to Lita Homes in January for £2.475 million after having sat empty for five years. Now the company is in talks with the council about its plans for a hotel.

The Borough Hall, on Royal Hill, west Greenwich, opened in 1939 as part of the old Greenwich borough’s town hall. Most of the building was sold off in 1973 – and now has permission for 80 flats – but Greenwich Council held onto the Borough Hall as an entertainment venue.

It was later used by Greenwich Dance, but that group was told to leave in 2018 as part of plans to turn the hall into a theatre. It was occupied by squatters shortly afterwards.

The theatre plans fell through in 2020 and Greenwich Council put the building on the market. The building was placed on an “at risk” register by the Theatres Trust in October 2022, but it was sold to Lita in January without a public announcement.

In the meantime, the building is now being hired out for events.

Muhammad Shahid, Lita Homes’ land and planning director, said: “We don’t want to build flats there. Our intention is to get a hotel there. It’s a beautiful building – we want to retain the building and do some additional work, and get some income for the borough as well as us.”

He said Lita was already in discussions with Greenwich about the plan, before submitting a full planning proposal.

Shahid said that the building was being used by Eden Group for hires while it was going through the planning process. “We don’t want to leave it empty,” he said.

The building’s two halls are available for hire on several websites, with the main hall – where bands such as Squeeze, Sweet and Soft Machine played in the 1970s – available for £4,000 per day.

Vans parked in road having items loaded into them
One resident sent The Greenwich Wire photos of vans unloading at 2.20am in the early hours of September 1. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Shahid said the hall had not yet been used for hires, but a neighbour contacted The Greenwich Wire to say they had seen chairs, props and event seating being removed from the hall in the small hours of Sunday morning two weeks ago, causing “a huge amount of noise”.

Eden Group’s Instagram account shows work on repairing the Borough Hall and a child’s first birthday party in the building last month. The company has been contacted for comment.

Greenwich’s licensing register shows no current premises licence in place for the Borough Hall, although Shahid said a licence was not needed for the hall’s previous use. He said that neighbours were welcome to contact the company with any concerns.

A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: “After thorough consideration the council agreed to sell the Borough Halls in October 2020. We explored various uses for the Grade II-listed property, but due to the scale of the building condition issues, selling it was the most viable way to ensure its future. 

“Greenwich Borough Hall is now owned by Greenwich Investments London Ltd. There is no premises licence in place, but not all activities require a licence.”

Lita Homes is also behind plans to build housing at Welling United football ground, with a new planning application expected to be submitted to Bexley Council soon.

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