A historic west London pub could be given a new lease of life as a bingo hall under fresh plans now being considered by the council.
The Hammersmith Ram on King Street is the subject of a planning application seeking permission to convert the former pub into a bingo hall. The application, reference P/2026/02286/FUL, is currently open for public consultation.
The proposals follow a controversial chapter for the building, which drew public attention in recent weeks after it was pictured operating as a discount shop.
Key facts: the Hammersmith Ram bingo hall plans
- Building: The Hammersmith Ram, King Street, Hammersmith
- Proposal: convert the former pub into a bingo hall
- Application: P/2026/02286/FUL
- Consultation: open now, comments close on October 14
- Current position: the building’s legal planning use is said to remain that of a public house until a change of use is formally approved
Concerns had been raised locally that the building was converted into a discount store without planning permission. A councillor has since confirmed that the new application for a bingo hall has been submitted.
Residents are able to submit their views through the official consultation, which closes on October 14.
Campaign to bring back the pub
Not everyone is convinced by the bingo hall idea. Councillors have launched a petition calling for the Hammersmith Ram to be restored as a pub, arguing the area has lost another valued local.
The campaign has struck a chord online, where discussion of the plans has drawn more than 2,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments.
“It was categorically better when you had decent pubs like The Ram, not a discount store,” one commenter wrote. Another, who had visited the pub before its closure, said they had signed the petition, adding that the building had been left “completely unrecognisable with everything stripped out”.
Others were more relaxed about the idea. “If people wanted a pub then it would be in business?” one user wrote, while another simply said: “A Bingo Hall seems… fine?”
The Ram’s place in Hammersmith
The Ram is a long-standing fixture on King Street, one of Hammersmith’s main thoroughfares, and generations of west Londoners have passed through its doors. Like many traditional pubs, it was more than a place to drink: a meeting point, a venue for celebrations and commiserations, and a familiar landmark on a high street that has changed enormously over the years.
That history is part of why the building’s recent transformation into a discount shop stung so many people. For regulars and neighbours alike, seeing the interior stripped out felt like another chapter in the slow erosion of the traditional high street pub.
What the plans would mean for the area
If approved, the conversion would bring a new use to a prominent King Street building. Bingo halls can draw steady daytime and evening footfall, often from older residents who value an affordable, sociable night out — and that footfall can in turn support neighbouring shops and cafes.
On the other hand, opponents argue that a pub serves as a community meeting place in a way a bingo hall cannot fully replace, and that each lost pub chips away at the character of the high street. The petition to restore The Ram as a pub taps into that sentiment directly.
There is also a practical question at the heart of the debate: the building’s legal planning use is said to remain that of a public house until any change of use is formally approved. That is why the consultation matters — it is the formal route for residents to have their say, rather than simply debating the plans online.
London’s pubs under pressure
The Ram’s story is far from unique. Across the capital, traditional pubs have been converted into shops, flats and restaurants as operators grapple with rising costs and changing drinking habits. Each conversion sparks the same debate: is a building’s future better served by a new commercial use, or should its historic role as a pub be protected?
The capital’s pub scene is also still evolving in other ways. Plans have just been revealed for two new Wetherspoons pubs in London as part of six openings — a reminder that while some pubs are being lost, others are opening their doors.
For Hammersmith, the immediate question is simpler: what should happen to The Ram? The consultation on application P/2026/02286/FUL closes on October 14, after which council officers will weigh the comments before making a recommendation.
The strength of feeling is no surprise. Hammersmith residents have repeatedly shown they care about their neighbourhood, whether celebrating a Tiny Forest at Hammersmith Grove winning a top TfL In Bloom prize or debating the future of King Street’s high street. Whatever the outcome for The Ram, it is clear the building’s future matters to the people who live around it.
