Local residents appeal Charity Commission decision allowing council to sell 120-year-old hall

The Charity Commission is set to defend a legal challenge in the Charity Tribunal this month over its decision to change the deeds of a publicly owned hall in order to allow Ealing Council to sell the building.

Ealing Council, which is the second respondent in the proceedings, received permission to sell Victoria Hall in 2021, but local residents say the building should be kept as a community asset and used as a performing arts, exhibition and meeting space.

The hall was built in 1888 to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and has been used for community events for more than 120 years.

In 1893, a charitable trust named the Victoria Hall Trust was formed to take ownership of the building.

Recent disagreements over the use of the hall began in 2016 when the council approved the granting of a 250-year lease to a developer to turn Victoria Hall and most of the neighbouring Town Hall into a “luxury” hotel, with part of the building retained for municipal use.

The council planned to lease the buildings for 250 years to the developer for a payment of £2,500,551 and an annual rent of £250,000.

However, it was later discovered that provisions in the trust’s 1893 deed did not allow the council to sell the building, prompting lawyers acting on behalf of the council to apply to the Charity Commission for permission to vary the trust deed to allow the disposal of the building.

The Charity Commission instructed the council to conduct a consultation with stakeholders.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH) residents’ group, which supports the two appellants, claim the majority of the consultation responses opposed the sale, but eventually - in March 2021 - the Charity Commission published a ‘Scheme’ that allows the council to sell the property.

A month later, legal proceedings were launched against the Charity Commission’s decision by two local residents on behalf of FoVH.

FoVH has made a number of arguments on their website as to the scheme’s flaws, including a claim that the extent of that property “has not been properly identified and has been underestimated in the Scheme, thus reducing the share the Trust would receive of the rental income the council will be charging the hotel developer for the next 250 years”.

Additionally, the group claim that there is “no proper mechanism” for managing council conflict of interest among the trustees, affordable community use of the hall would be restricted to weekdays only, and there is a “very tightly drawn definition of which organisations would qualify for ‘community’ rates”.

Under the March 2021 scheme, community groups will still be able to book the hall for up to 355 days a year (with guaranteed reserved hours for such bookings per day).

Qualifying community groups will be able to book the hall at “reasonable and affordable rates (with provision for multiple booking discounts)”, the scheme notes.

The scheme adds: “These rates will be reviewed by the parties after an initial 10 year period, to ensure that they are still affordable for community groups.”

Proceedings were scheduled to take place last year but were delayed because Ealing Council applied in October 2021 to become party to the proceedings as second respondent.

The hearing is now scheduled to take place on 27 and 28 September 2022.

A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We are aware of the appeal by the Friends of Victoria Hall against a scheme made by the Commission under the Charites Act 2011. This matter will now go to the Charity Tribunal for consideration. In order not to prejudice the outcome of the tribunal, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Ealing Council has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey