The block of 28 flats near Pentonville Prison

FLATS which have been left empty for more than a decade have been sold – but the activists who have been campaigning for them to be brought back into use say they are angry about being left in the dark.

The flats, just next to Pentonville prison, were originally used as officers’ accommodation. But for the past 10 years the smashed windows, bricked-up doors, and birds flying in and out of the abandoned buildings became a point of outrage as the social housing list grew and more and more people found themselves in desperate need of accommodation.

The block of 28 on Wellington Mews – mostly desperately needed three and four-bed homes – was owned by the Ministry of Justice but the department refused to say who they had been sold to or under what conditions.

Islington Homes for All have staged dozens of protests outside Wellington Mews, written letters to the MoJ, and campaigned alongside Islington South MP Emily Thornberry for them to be handed over to the council and let at 100 per cent social rent.

Morag Gillie, an IHA organiser, said she was promised by the MoJ that they would inform her of any plans to sell the flats.

She said: “I think it is highly suspicious that they’re not being transparent. It’s all very bizarre. I’m really pissed off. They said we would be contacted immediately. The real worry is that nothing will happen, they’ll put in a planning application, and then just do nothing for years and flip it. We’ve seen that happening a lot, companies which have no intention of building because it keeps the rent up.”

In 2021 private developers tried to purchase the flats but the sale fell through after they refused the council’s demand that 50 per cent of the homes be leased at a “genuinely affordable” rent.

Activists who have been campaigning for the flats to be brought back into use

Councillors told the Tribune this week that the block was now owned by a “portfolio holder” – but were unclear what type of company this was.

The Tribune examined Land Registry records for the flats, but they have not yet been updated, still stating that the flats are owned by the MoJ.

Ward councillors said they did not know who the buyer was, or what agreement the MoJ had come to.

Councillor Nurullah Turan, who represents Laycock ward where the homes are, said the sale was “disappointing”, given that the Town Hall had wanted the flats to come into council ownership.

He added: “Despite all that campaigning, our voice doesn’t seem to be heard. I don’t know what’s happened there, what’s gone wrong. It’s possible that they haven’t considered all the facts. We know the demands, the need for housing, and we don’t want these large flats lost to another developer. It’s just not right.”

Islington South MP Emily Thornberry, who had previously told the Tribune that the “best outcome would be for the MoJ to allow the council to use them to accommodate people in Islington”, said: “It is a travesty that these three and four-bed family properties have been left empty for so long by the MoJ and an absolute scandal innumerable Conservative prisons ministers were happy to watch these homes rot. Now we have a Labour prisons minister, in less than a year, action has been taken bring these family homes back into use.”

She added: “I have repeatedly impressed upon more ministers than I care to count that Islington Council’s rules state that given this is formerly public land any homes built need to be 50 per cent genuinely affordable housing. Now that the sale has gone through, the council and I will continue the fight to see genuinely affordable housing on Wellington Mews.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “We are pleased to confirm the sale of Wellington Mews. Securing the best value for taxpayers has been our priority throughout this process and every penny from this sale will be reinvested into the justice system.”

Smashed windows at Wellington Mews

The Tribune asked Islington Council if they knew who the flats had been sold to and contacted John Woolf, the Town Hall’s housing chief directly. Neither respon­ded to our questions about whether they knew the identity of the buyer or the terms of the sale.
Last September Una O’Halloran, at the time in charge of housing and now council leader, said:

“It is scandalous that homes that are desperately needed to tackle the borough’s housing crisis were left vacant for so long under the previous government.

“We have been told that the Ministry of Justice is in the process of selling the site and is in advanced negotiations with a potential purchaser.

“The council has strongly and consistently reminded the MoJ, their property advisors, and the potential purchaser that any future use of the site must fully comply with the council’s planning policies. These policies require that at least half the homes delivered on ex-public sector land must be genuinely affordable.”