Maida Vale Labour councillors are calling on Westminster Council to use the vacant Peebles House on Carlton Vale for temporary accommodation. This block of nine flats has been empty for over two years and is attracting graffiti and fly tipping. The former lodge house of Paddington Recreation Ground opposite Peebles House also sits empty.

Tenants were moved out of Peebles House in 2019 because the Council plans to demolish the block to make way for the redevelopment of the Carlton Dene care home next door as a new Extra Care facility. The Carlton Dene project has been delayed indefinitely because Westminster Council has been unable to find a contractor to build and operate the scheme.

Councillor Geoff Barraclough, councillor for Maida Vale said:

“Residents must be wondering why the Council insisted that they move out in such a hurry in 2019. The site is overgrown and covered with graffiti. Why not re-open Peebles House for temporary accommodation until the Carlton Dene project finally begins?”

Councillor Liza Begum, shadow cabinet Member for housing said:

“With Westminster residents often being offered temporary accommodation out of the borough, it is pretty obvious that Peebles House should be brought back into residential use as temporary accommodation. Some families have been living outside of the borough for up to 10 years in temporary accommodation hoping to one day move back into Westminster, where they have lived their whole lives.”