A London Church Paid £4 Million for a 2,800-Seat Theatre. Now Campaigners Want It Back

• Ruach City Church has applied to make Streatham Hill Theatre a permanent place of worship
• Brixton Buzz reported in 2022 that the church bought the building for £4m
• The Grade II listed theatre opened in 1929 and seats 2,800
• Campaigners and famous patrons want it restored as a working theatre

A large church in South London is fighting to make a historic theatre its permanent home, and meeting organised opposition. Southwark News reported in May 2025 that Ruach City Church had submitted a change-of-use application to Lambeth Council to turn Streatham Hill Theatre into a place of worship.

The building has had several lives. The Grade II listed theatre opened in 1929 with room for 2,800 people, closed as a theatre in 1962 and then ran as a bingo hall until 2017. According to a July 2022 report by Brixton Buzz, the property changed hands twice that year: Hold Land South East Ltd bought it for £2.67m and then sold it on to Ruach City Church for £4m. Brixton Buzz reported that the church intended to relocate there from its premises on Brixton Hill. Campaigners’ response at the time was blunt: “Obviously this will affect the campaign!”

The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre, chaired by David Harvey, want the building restored as a performance venue and have lined up support from a commercial operator led by Thom Southerland, artistic director of MAST and the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. Their patrons include Simon Callow, Sir Mark Rylance, Akram Khan and Baroness Floella Benjamin. “It would be a tragedy if the opportunity to return this beautiful building to its intended use were lost,” the campaigners said.

Public comments on the application closed on 22 May 2025, leaving the final decision to Lambeth’s planners.

The case matters well beyond Streatham. Growing congregations, including the Black-majority churches that have shaped South London’s Christian life since the Windrush era, often struggle to find buildings big enough for their congregations in London’s crowded property market. Buying outright gives a church security that renting halls never can, but a large historic building also brings heritage rules, planning battles and local politics. For diaspora congregations, and for Jamaican churches weighing a big purchase, the lesson is to settle the planning position before the money changes hands.

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