Council bosses have approved the award of nearly £3m in lottery cash for the project to transform Alice Billing House, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Alice Billing House (credit Newham Council)

A funding deal for the next phase of a listed building’s transformation into a community arts centre has been approved by Newham Council.

Up to £2.9milllion from the National Lottery will help pay for the refurbishment of Alice Billing House in Stratford.

Council documents say the refurbishment will help to “transform the site into affordable creative workspaces, a community café and gallery, and a public pavilion”.

Alice Billing House is a council-owned building on West Ham Lane in Stratford, and is on Historic England’s ‘at risk’ register. It was built in 1905 as firefighters’ accommodation for West Ham Fire Brigade.

Its southern block has already been refurbished and converted into artists studios which opened in June last year.

The second phase of its refurbishment – work on the north block – was granted planning permission in November 2024.

Council cabinet members then agreed in May this year to pass a £2.9m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to the Creative Land Trust charity to pay for the second phase.

The charity aims to provide affordable workspaces for artists and has been awarded the contract to administer Alice Billing House by the council.

Council leaders delegated responsibility to the town hall’s director of culture to finalise and enter into the funding agreement, who formally approved the deal on Wednesday, 9th July.

Documents say that without the refurbishment the building would remain “unused, deteriorating further”.

The funding will be matched by contributions from other organisations such as the London Legacy Development Corporation and donations from charities and foundations such as the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Community Land Trust will still need to find £63,000 from private donors before to fund the final phase.

But documents say the council will “provide support to Community Land Trust in their endeavours to secure it”.

They add that the charity will also cover any costs over an agreed £3.8m budget.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.