Plans to turn former HM Passport Office into hotel rejected due to ‘sufficient demand’ for offices

Westminster City Council has rejected plans for a 357-bedroom hotel in the former HM Passport Office in London’s Victoria due to concerns over the loss of office space.

The Globe House, 89 Eccleston Square site, which is located within the Central Activities Zone, consists of a basement, ground floor, mezzanine and eight upper floors.

The space was occupied by a succession of HM government departments until December 2022.

Developers for the hotel had applied for planning permission to change the use of the building to a hotel and commercial unit on the ground floor. No major external alterations were sought.

The proposed property was marketed as a “tourist hotel” that would specifically target a younger generation “who often have a preference for affordable accommodation”.

However, Westminster City Council’s Planning Applications Sub-committee refused the application because there was insufficient evidence to suggest Globe House was “surplus office space with no reasonable prospect of the building being used for office purposes”.

Council documents revealed the committee concluded: “The building is in a good location, could be refurbished to a sufficient quality and there is sufficient demand in the market for the building to continue to be used as offices into the future.”

Dr Jaqui Wilkinson, ward councillor of Pimlico North, strongly opposed the development and stated that a large budget hotel would be out of character and may draw more anti-social behaviour into the area.