A Glasgow hostel, nestled in the Gallowgate area, made headlines for its ‘Dickensian’ conditions before its eventual closure last year.
Built in the 1930s as a working men's hotel, the Bellgrove closed its doors for good after several years of controversy. After the demand for working men’s accommodation decreased, the establishment served a different purpose.
It became a ‘halfway house’ of sorts, allowing only men in, most of whom were suffering with addictions or mental illness. With claims of ‘grim’ conditions at the ‘rat-infested’ accommodation, it was only a matter of time before the Bellgrove would close its doors.
It was reported in 2000 that the Government paid the Bellgrove £500,000 so it could run as a homeless hostel.
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Liz Nicholson, director of Shelter Scotland, at the time, slammed it as a 'dumping ground'
She said: “Public money is going in to fund this and what are people getting for their money, you know, they are literally getting a roof over their head and that’s it. I can understand why people sometimes say it’s better in the streets than in The Bellgrove.
"It’s a dumping ground for people who have been really abandoned by the statutory services, health, housing and they’re left there totally, totally excluded from society day after day.”
One former resident told the BBC at the time: “I’ve been in every hostel. I’ve been in Cheapside Street, I’ve been in Bell Street, I’ve been in Auldhouse, Great Eastern. The worst hostel I’ll tell you, without a doubt, was The Bellgrove.”
A BBC Frontline Scotland investigation revealed serious concerns about the welfare of residents, though hotel management denied the allegations.
Thirteen years later, the Bellgrove was listed on Tripadvisor’s top 100 UK hotels - but this was due to a string of prank reviews. The fictional critiques noted facilities that did not exist, such as marble floors and crystal chandeliers.
In 2014, conditions at the hostel were still a concern and the Daily Record, Daily Mirror and trade union GMB teamed up for an undercover investigation. The Record described conditions as ‘prison-like’, ‘rat-infested’ and ‘squalid’.
Hostel chiefs were criticised after it was revealed they purchased the building for $65,000 in 1988 and were pocketing over £1.5million of taxpayers' money in housing benefit payments each year.
Following the investigation, the Scottish Government announced that they would look into the matter. While the Care Inspectorate planned to visit the premises. Glasgow City Council warned that the hostel’s multiple occupancy licence would be scrapped if significant improvements were not made.
By December 2014, the topic of stronger regulations for housing was debated in the Scottish Parliament. It was led by Shettleston MSP John Mason, who described the hostel in vivid detail, likening it to 'a Soviet gulag'.
He said: “[It] had conditions that, generously, could be considered unsuitable, and less generously, grim, Dickensian, like a Soviet gulag or similar such descriptions.”
The Bellgrove closed its doors in 2021. Those who were still living in the building, 50 men, were helped into other accommodation, while the hostel was set to be redeveloped into a housing site.
The men were offered support from the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), for issues such as alcohol addiction and mental health problems.
Bernadette Hewitt, chair of the GHA said at the time: “All of the residents at Bellgrove will be offered the chance of a GHA or alternative accommodation to meet their needs with support in place to help them settle.”
This article was originally published in June 2022.
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