Wheatley Group completes acquisition of Bellgrove Hotel

More than 50 vulnerable men are to be offered new homes after a partnership enabled Lowther Homes, a subsidiary of Wheatley Group, to buy the Bellgrove Hotel, a private hostel in Glasgow’s East End.The site of the hotel will be developed as part of the ongoing work of the Gallowgate Transformational Regeneration Area (TRA) with the 50 residents supported into a better future and offered the chance to move into Glasgow Housing Association homes. The work at the Gallowgate TRA has been under way for several years, with new homes already built at the eastern end of the area.The hotel was put on the market in October 2020, and the deal for its purchase has been completed with effect from April 1.The acquisition was funded by Glasgow City Council partly with funding from Transfer of the Management of Development Funding (TMDF), which the council manages on behalf of the Scottish Government, and Transforming Communities: Glasgow (TC:G). A partnership between Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Housing Association and the Scottish Government, TC:G is delivering community and housing-led regeneration at eight locations across the city.Staff from Wheatley Care – a Wheatley Group subsidiary – will work with Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership to help the residents move on from the hostel into modern homes with tailored care and support in place for those who need it. Alternative accommodation with care will be offered to those who need it.The site will then form part of the next phase of regeneration of the Gallowgate, driven by TC:G and by local people through a delivery group, with Lowther developing plans for mid-market rent homes as part of that.The B-listed Bellgrove Hotel was originally built in the 1930s to provide accommodation for working men. In more recent years it became a hostel.Wheatley Group is already working extensively with the Scottish Government, local authority partners and other agencies to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. The group has now provided 200 homes to Housing First, the multi-agency partnership set up to give homeless people a tenancy and support to rebuild their lives.