King’s Cross Road Police Station

WHILE a four-storey former police station sits empty, the homeless sleep outside its perimeter.
King’s Cross Road Police Station was closed to the public in 1992, and decommissioned and earmarked for disposal by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in 2022 as part of a wider programme of selling off buildings in order to raise capital for policing in London.

The building in Clerkenwell, just 10 minutes’ walk from King’s Cross station, is still yet to be sold and has stood unused for four years. It is secured by the Metropolitan Police, and signs indicate dogs are patrolling the deteriorating site.

Bedding used by rough sleepers

The front garden is overgrown and covered in rubbish, the panes of the blue lamp outside the front door have been smashed, and in the wells outside the basement windows are filled with duvets, blankets and other personal belongings. A nearby business told us the site is used often by rough sleepers.

MOPAC did not answer our question about what buyers or types of development it is prioritising for the sale.