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Perth eyesore hotel set for demolition after 10 years of ruin

The White Horse Inn has been derelict since a major fire in 2013.

White Horse Inn exterior showing building in advances stages of dereliction
The White Horse Inn in Perth has been derelict for 10 years. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

A derelict Perth hotel which fell into ruin after a blaze in 2013 is finally set to be bulldozed.

Signs have gone up around the White Horse Inn, alerting locals that demolition work is due to start next Tuesday April 2.

The works on North William Street are scheduled to continue for two weeks.

Parking will be prohibited for the duration.

It comes after Perth and Kinross Council served a Dangerous Building notice on the property.

A spokesperson for White Horse Inn owner Derek Petterson confirmed the demolition was going ahead.

However, they would not say when exactly the bulldozers were moving in – or discuss the long-term plans for the site.

Sign prohibiting parking, waiting and loading in North William Street, Perth, for demolition works from April 2-15
Signs around the White Horse Inn in Perth’s North William Street. Image: Supplied.

The news has come as a relief to neighbours.

One told The Courier: “We’ve been fighting for this for years.

“It’s a dangerous eyesore and everyone will be glad to see the back of it.”

Perth’s White Horse Inn works must be completed by May

The White Horse Inn was abandoned in 2013 after a fire ripped through the building.

A second major blaze broke out in 2016.

Firefighters at scene of White Horse Inn fire, in Perth, in 2016
The 2016 fire at the White Horse Inn in Perth.

Plans to demolish it and build 12 flats in its place were shelved in 2020 when the roof collapsed, forcing nearby residents to flee their homes.

At the time Mr Petterson, who owns McLeod Glaziers, told The Courier he was working with an architect on another proposal for the site, adding: “We look forward to a happier path for the building”.

A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said: “A Dangerous Building Notice was served on the White Horse Inn on November 17 2023.

“The notice stated that demolition works must be completed by May 17.

“We have received notification from the appointed agent who will be carrying out the works that they intend to begin demolition next week once final arrangements regarding traffic management have been put in place.”

White Horse Inn ‘a blot on Perth landscape’

The demolition works have been welcomed by Perth City Centre councillor Peter Barrett.

He said. “I hope this really is the end in sight for the White Horse Inn saga.

“Demolition will remove this blot on the landscape which has existed for more than a decade.

White Horse Inn with peeling brickwork, gaping windows, and shrubs growing out of the building
Perth residents have been calling for the White Horse Inn to demolished. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

“And it will hopefully mean the end of the emotional, mental and financial stresses that the direct neighbours have endured living next to a structurally dangerous building – as well as the impacts and inconvenience of having to leave their homes when it wasn’t safe.”

Mr Barrett said the razing of the White Horse Inn and the ongoing YMCA renovation of the 130-year-old St Andrew’s and St Stephen’s church building would make a huge improvement to North William Street.

The White Horse Inn move follows the recent demolition of another of Perth’s longest-standing eyesores.

The Clachan Bar and Quality Street Cafe in South Methven Street were torn down last autumn.

There have been calls for affordable housing to be built on the site.

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