Camden has registered plans to turn the BT Tower into a hotel, with a bar, a pool and a public floor at the top. Comments close on 11 October.

Camden Council has registered the planning applications that would turn the BT Tower into a hotel. They are numbered 2026/3799/P and 2026/3802/L, they were made valid on 2 September and registered on 7 September 2026, and the applicant is MCR London Holdings Limited.

The Mayor of London’s planning register gives 11 October 2026 as the last date for consultation comments, and 28 October as the council’s target date for a decision.

The proposal covers the tower and the buildings around its foot, on the land bounded by Maple Street, Cleveland Mews, Howland Street and Cleveland Street. The council’s record describes a change of use from telecommunications to a hotel, arranged like this:

  • basement, lower ground and ground floors: flexible retail, restaurant and food and drink uses, a bar, and exhibition, events and entertainment space
  • levels 1 to 4: flexible hotel or exhibition, events and entertainment space
  • level 6: terraces and a swimming pool
  • the top of the tower: a visitor, events and entertainment experience
  • outside: a new external square, public realm and landscaping, cycle parking and waste storage

The base of the building would be partly demolished, remodelled and extended. That means the podium, the Howland Building and the bottom of the tower itself.

Why there are two applications

The BT Tower is a listed building, so the works need listed building consent as well as planning permission. That is what the second application, 2026/3802/L, is for.

It covers the outside: replacing the facade and the glazed units, a new stair core, a second staircase inserted into the tower, and upgraded lifts.

The tower was listed at Grade II on 26 March 2003, as list entry 1350342, under the statutory address 60 Cleveland Street. Historic England most recently amended the entry on 18 June 2026, less than three months before these applications were lodged.

Two parts of the site are not listed, and the list entry says so plainly:

  • the Podium Building, known as the West Block, which was remodelled in the 1980s, the 1990s and the early 2000s
  • the former Museum Telephone Exchange, designed by Frederick Allen Llewellyn and built in 1936, also remodelled after the tower went up

Those exclusions matter. The partial demolition in the application is concentrated on the base of the site, and the base is largely the part that carries no listed status.

The tower has been shut to the public since 1980

This is the detail most likely to decide how people in Fitzrovia feel about the scheme.

The tower opened in October 1965. It had a glazed public viewing platform at 460ft, or 140m, and a restaurant with a revolving floor above it. Harold Wilson and the Postmaster General, Anthony Wedgwood Benn, opened it together.

Then the upper floors were damaged by a bomb in 1971. The observation floors closed to the public afterwards, and the restaurant closed in 1980. Historic England’s list entry records both.

So the “top of the Tower visitor experience” in the application would be the first public access to the top of the tower in 46 years.

The building itself is 582ft, or 177m, to the top of the shaft, with a 40ft mast above that, giving a total of around 620ft or 190m. It was raised to that height during construction specifically so that it would be taller than the office blocks then going up in London.

How the tower came to be sold

BT Group announced the sale on 21 February 2024, for £275m. Payment is being made over several years, as BT equipment comes out of the building.

Brent Mathews, BT Group’s property director, said at the time that the company had been “immensely proud to be the owners of this important landmark since 1984”, and that the deal “will enable BT Tower to take on a new purpose”.

Tyler Morse, the chief executive and owner of MCR Hotels, said the company was “proud to preserve this beloved building” and would “work to develop proposals to tell its story as an iconic hotel”. MCR’s own page on the tower says BT “will take a number of years to vacate the premises”, and promised “significant time for design development and engagement with local communities before proposals are revealed”.

That engagement period has now produced an application. MCR’s website still carries no detail of what has been submitted.

Key dates

Timeline of the BT Tower from construction starting in 1961 to the comment deadline of 11 October 2026
The BT Tower, from construction to the current planning applications. Sources: Historic England list entry 1350342, BT Group, Camden Council's planning register and the Mayor of London's planning datahub. Graphic by Camden Today.
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What it means for you

If you want to comment, the date is 11 October 2026. That is the last date for consultation comments recorded on the Mayor of London’s planning datahub, which takes its data from Camden. Comments go in through the council’s planning portal, on the comments page for application 2026/3799/P.

Camden’s own record adds two things worth knowing. The statutory minimum consultation period is 21 days, and the online form closes when that period ends. But the council also states that it takes account of all representations received “right up until an application is determined”, and that comments can still be emailed to planning@camden.gov.uk after the form closes.

Your comment and your name and address become public. Your telephone number and email address do not.

The site sits in Bloomsbury ward, and the case officer is David Fowler, of the council’s Planning Solutions Team. The agent acting for MCR is Newmark.

There is no committee date. Camden’s register leaves the committee field blank, and the Mayor’s datahub records the decision process as delegated, meaning a decision by officers rather than by councillors. That can change: schemes are routinely referred up to a planning committee, and a large volume of objections is one of the things that triggers it. As of 22 September, nothing on the record says this one will go to committee.

Nothing has been decided. The applications are registered, which means the council has accepted them as valid and started the clock. A registered application is not a permission.

You can follow the case yourself on the council’s register. Every new Camden application, with its ward and its reference, appears in the council’s open planning data, and we track the weekly list on our Camden planning page. If you are coming to the area, the roadworks and travel page has the current closures around Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury, including the pipe subway works on Cleveland Street.

Frequently asked questions

When is the deadline to comment on the BT Tower hotel plans?

11 October 2026. That is the last date for consultation comments recorded on the Mayor of London’s planning datahub for application 2026/3799/P. After the online form closes, Camden says comments can still be emailed to planning@camden.gov.uk, and that it takes account of all representations received until the application is determined.

What is the planning reference for the BT Tower?

Two references. 2026/3799/P is the full planning application, and 2026/3802/L is the listed building consent for the external work. Both were registered by Camden on 7 September 2026, and both name MCR London Holdings Limited as the applicant.

Would the public be able to go up the BT Tower again?

That is what the application proposes. It describes a visitor, events and entertainment experience at the top of the tower. The observation floors closed to the public after the tower was bomb damaged in 1971, and the revolving restaurant closed in 1980, so no permission has yet been given and no date has been set.

Is the BT Tower a listed building?

Yes, Grade II, listed on 26 March 2003 as list entry 1350342. The Podium Building, now known as the West Block, and the former Museum Telephone Exchange next to it are both excluded from the listing.

Who owns the BT Tower?

MCR Hotels. BT Group announced the sale on 21 February 2024 for £275m, with payment made over several years as BT equipment is removed from the building.

When will Camden decide?

The council’s target date is 28 October 2026, according to the Mayor of London’s planning datahub. Target dates on large applications are routinely extended by agreement, and nothing on the register indicates a committee date.

Sources