Lambeth Council has approved plans to transform a vacant office building in Vauxhall into a new hotel, despite concerns about the loss of potential office space.
The Planning Applications Committee greenlit the proposal for Phoenix House, located at 10 Wandsworth Road, during a meeting on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. The decision comes after the committee reviewed evidence suggesting a lack of demand for office space in the area, alongside the London Plan's support for hotels in central activity zones.
Whitbread PLC, the applicant, plans to convert the 11-storey building into a hotel with an ancillary restaurant. The development will feature 180 hotel rooms, including 18 wheelchair-accessible rooms, as well as 13 cycle parking spaces and refuse and recycling facilities.
According to the meeting minutes and the Public reports pack, the building has been vacant for six years. Whitbread PLC submitted a viability assessment demonstrating the challenges of refurbishing the space to meet modern office standards. This included sufficient marketing evidence to support the claim of no demand for office use and that it would be unviable to rebuild or refurbish the space to modern standards.
Blythe Dunk, planning agent at Jones Angus South, spoke on behalf of Whitbread PLC, stating that the company had been searching for a suitable location in Vauxhall for years. The applicant secured the location as it fits the plan for Premier Inn in central London,
Dunk said, highlighting the building's accessibility and its alignment with Whitbread's sustainability goals.
Councillor Martin Bailey, ward councillor for Vauxhall, expressed support for the application but raised concerns about Whitbread's commitment to the London Living Wage. While acknowledging the council's lack of policy levers to enforce a living wage requirement, Bailey urged the committee to include an informative in the approval, encouraging the operator to work towards living wage accreditation.
During the meeting, Councillor Jaffa raised questions about accessibility and traffic management during construction. Officers confirmed that the development would include wheelchair-accessible hotel rooms and that a construction logistics plan would be required to minimise traffic impacts.
Councillor Costa inquired about the evidence of demand for hotel use in the area. Officers clarified that the London Plan supports hotel proposals within the central activity zone and opportunity areas, assuming demand in such locations. They also detailed the verification process for the marketing evidence related to the office space. According to officers, the London Plan policy directs local plan authorities to support hotel proposals within the central activity zone and within opportunity areas, which is reflected in Lambeth's local plan policy. As the accommodation is within an opportunity area, demand is assumed, and no specific data is required from the applicant.
The committee ultimately voted to approve the application, with an amendment to condition 38 regarding visitor management and an informative encouraging the applicant to aspire to become a London Living Wage employer. The amendment to condition 38 on the visitor management plan adds a specific reference to visitor drop off and pickups, and taxi and private hire vehicles specifically.
