Over the last few years more and more people are choosing to convert former public houses into private residential dwellings.Steve Oliver of London estate agents Paramount Properties has been selling pubs for alternate use for the last 8 years and gives a quick guide on buying a pub.
Planners: A good starting point is the local planners they will be able to give you their opinion on the feasibility of your plans
Local amenity: Is the property the only pub in the village? Although not impossible it will be harder to get planning permission if it's the last pub in village, planners like to have a least one pub in the area.
Precedent: Has a similar property already been converted? If yes then this will help your case also.
Listed: Find out if the pub is listed by English Heritage. Properties of importance are listed from Grade I to Grade II. Being listed wouldn't be a reason to stop the pub from being converted but may limit what you can do to it.
Change of use: A public house is classed as A4 use, to convert a pub into a house you will need to submit a planning application for a "change of use" from A4 to C3
Unconditional: Most Pubco's will only sell their pubs on an 'unconditional' basis, that is, you agree a price whether or not planning for a change of use is in place.
Finance: Getting a mortgage on a commercial property can be a minefield and time consuming, so you will need to speak to a specialist lender.
VAT: Most pubs attract VAT (value added tax) on top of the purchase as well as stamp duty, if VAT is applicable you may be able to avoid paying VAT altogether as VAT isn't charged on residential properties be serving a VAT waiver known as a VAT 1614D form. Further details can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk
Browse our list of Freehold Property Investments For Sale with extensive details on hundreds of closed down, empty, disused, derelict or run down residential and commercial properties for sale in the UK
29 Jun 2011
Guide to Buying a Pub
UK Pubs For Sale - Freehold Pubs For Sale: Change of Use & Planning Permission
The traditional British pub is currently under threat as never before. A combination of factors has led to more and more pub owners shutting down pubs and seeking to convert the buildings to other uses. Footfall in all pubs has gone down two-thirds in the last twenty years, and there just isn't the demand that there used to be. Beer sales are falling by 20pc year on year and pubs are closing at the rate of 5 a day. The price of freehold pubs continues to fall, as breweries, pub chains and pub companies offload unprofitable, struggling, run down or vacant pubs.Paramount Investments specialise in the sale of licensed and commercial properties and Sales Director, Steve Oliver has been selling pubs, wine bars, hotels and restaurants for the last 8 years. "The steady flow of these distressed pubs coming up for sale is creating tremendous bargains within the pub market for licensees and restauranteurs who know they can respond to the challenges facing the modern trade. However, with pub property prices at rock bottom, and the square footage of public houses and the surrounding land, such investments are proving to be the best value for property developers and investors."
Many of these pubs for sale on the market are freehold and occupy prime town and city centre locations with spacious yards, car parks, beer gardens and out buildings.
Steve Oliver continued: " Part of the reason these pubs are so attractive is that in some cases they come with planning permission for redevelopment. Pubs have a flexible A4 planning ‘business use class’ that normally can be changed to A1 use (say, for a newsagents), A2 (a delicatessen or a firm of solicitors or architects) or A3 (restaurants). And if you buy a property with planning permission, you can get on with your property development, modernisation or refurbishment project straight away."
But finding the ideal pub site to redevelop is not always that simple. Sites without planning permission are also available and most Pub Co's will only sell their pubs on an 'unconditional' basis, that is, you agree a price whether or not planning for a change of use is in place.
"Find out if the pub is listed by English Heritage. Properties of importance are listed from Grade I to Grade II. Being listed wouldn't be a reason to stop the pub from being converted but may limit what you can do to it, " advises Steve.
"Planners believe a pub is as essential to village life as a shop or post office. The loss of pubs, whether in rural or urban areas, can undermine the local economy and community. Although not impossible it will be harder to get planning permission for changing the use if it's the last pub in village as planners like to have a least one pub in the area. Your local planning authority will be able to give you their opinion on the feasibility of your plans and if a similar property has already been converted, then this will help your own planning application."
Pubs For Sale For Redevelopment
28 Jun 2011
Belhaven poised to beat forecasts - Scotsman.com Business
INVESTORS are likely to raise a glass to the owner of Scotland's Belhaven brewery this week as brokers are tipping it to serve up forecast-busting annual profits.Pubs and beers owned by Belhaven should help Greene King report profits of £140 million on Thursday, against market forecasts of £139.4m, up from £123m a year ago, according to Numis Securities.East Anglia-based Greene King, which bought Belhaven
It said in April that the Scottish brewer's Belhaven Best ale had boosted volumes by 1.8 per cent while volumes of its English ales such as Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale had stayed level with last year.
Sunny weather helped its drink-led pubs, while food growth was also strong with the group reporting an 8.2 per cent uplift in the last quarter of the year through its Hungry Horse and Old English Inns brands.
Belhaven's pubs division has more than 300 tenanted, leased and managed pubs, from Stranraer in the south of Scotland to Wick in the north, and its brewing business is based in Dunbar.
Greene King announced in 2005 that it was buying Belhaven and runs it separately from the other Greene King businesses.
27 Jun 2011
Pub for sale Wiltshire, Pub for sale Bradford-on-Avon
Wiltshire Pub for Sale Beef & Barge Widbrook Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire BA15 Gross Site Area: 1 acres* £ 575,000 + VAT Freehold Beef and Barge Pub for Sale, Bradford-on-Avon Supermarket plan for historic Leeds pub - Latest News - Yorkshire Evening Post
U.K. Retail Demergers Should Await Consumer Return, Analysts Say - Bloomberg
First-quarter sales at Costa Coffee surged 23 percent, Whitbread said last week, while sales at its budget hotel chain Premier Inn rose 8.1 percent. The company plans to double the size of Costa Coffee to 3,500 stores worldwide over the next five years.
“Nothing is likely in the near term,” Ellis said June 23. “It isn’t the easiest market environment to sell into at the minute, with ongoing consumer pressures. They would be better to hold off. It is now at the stage where a lot of investment in overseas markets is starting to bear fruit.”
The planned demerger of Punch Taverns Plc (PUB) this year to separate its leased pub division from Spirit, the faster-growing managed pub estate that includes Chef & Brewer, is unlikely to create shareholder value as weak consumer spending hurts leased outlets, say analysts.
“My valuation is 70 pence for Spirit and five pence for the Punch part of it,” Paul Hickman, an analyst at Peel Hunt, said in a phone interview on June 23. “It is fairly valued at the moment. The demerger is the delayed result of a company hitting the recession with too many pubs and too much debt. While trading is quite difficult, what they are doing is appropriate.”
Punch climbed 1.9 percent to close at 71.35 pence a share in London trading on June 24.
Punch Taverns is making “good progress” with its demerger the company said on June 8. The demerger needs the approval of bondholders.