Heritage Public Houses Bill
Debate between Lizzi Collinge and Alex Ballinger
Lizzi Collinge
I have not tried that ale. I wonder whether those of us on the correct side of the Pennines would welcome a Yorkshire pint or not—but I am sure it is delicious. Pubs are vital community assets, whether in Yorkshire, Lancashire or Westmorland. British life often happens over a pint and maybe a bag of Scampi Fries or—even better—a packet of Lancashire crisps. My tenuous claim to fame is that Wainwright Beer is named after my great-great uncle Alfred Wainwright, who was a fell walker and writer. He did enjoy a pint at the end of a walk, although I have to say that his mother, who was a strict teetotaller, would be turning in her grave at the idea of her son having a beer named after him.
I have spoken before in this place about the need to have spaces in our community where people can drop by, see a mate, run into people they know or even make new friends. Much as I love the great coffee shops in my constituency like the Salty Bean, or maybe something a bit more traditional like Lewis’s, which has many heritage features, you cannot beat a swift half at the Dispensary at the end of a long week.
It is about not just community—I will come back to that—but conserving important architectural and cultural buildings. The Tivoli Bar in Morecambe, which was named after the Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen, closed a few years ago, but I remember the inside of it being stunning. The Tivoli and the Queen’s Hotel in Morecambe could be fantastic assets to our town and examples of heritage buildings being preserved and put to good use; instead, they lie neglected. The Tivoli is owned by Samuel Smith’s Brewery, and despite Morecambe BID and I trying to get it and other absent landlords to engage on how we get more buildings open and working again, unfortunately we did not get any engagement from the brewery when we wrote to it back in February.
Alex Ballinger
My hon. Friend is making an important point about pubs that are long left derelict. In my constituency of Halesowen, the Olde Queens Head right in the town centre had been derelict for a while, but it is being repurposed to be a community centre by an excellent community group called Stepping Out, which supports young disabled people to get out and around the town. While that is not a heritage pub, I think that is a fantastic use of a venue that otherwise would go to waste. Does she have such examples from her constituency?
Lizzi Collinge
That is an interesting and important point. I will go on to mention the importance of retaining those additional features when pubs, or any buildings, are renovated. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point there. However, as he knows, proposals to demolish or change the use of pubs already require a planning application, as they are deliberately excluded from relevant permitted development rights. That allows local authorities, through the planning committee, to consider the full impact of the proposals. Local authorities have the power to issue an enforcement notice for a breach of planning control. I appreciate that in the hon. Gentleman’s case, with the Crooked House, that came far too late, and I really do share the despair he must have felt at that happening.
We have talked about the heritage lists. Pubs that are formally designated as listed buildings are afforded additional protection, with listed building consent needed to demolish or undertake any works of alteration or extension that affect the listed building’s character or appearance. Failure to obtain listed building consent is, of course, an offence.
I just want to say that I thoroughly support local authorities’ fully enforcing all planning consents and building regulations. There is a pub in the area where I was a county councillor that was changed into flats where the developer, frankly, had no respect for the planning process or local people and consistently and flagrantly breached the planning consents he had been given. I would support much stronger powers to prevent people like that from being able to develop in the future.
Alex Ballinger
I have a similar planning challenge in my constituency, where a supporting wall that was built above a housing development has collapsed. Residents of the new build development have now spent two years waiting for that wall to be fixed without any access to their properties or action by the developer to rectify the situation. There are real challenges with rogue developers, not just in the Crooked House case, but across the board. Given my hon. Friend’s experience of planning, will she say whether the Government could be doing anything else to challenge these kinds of situations?
Lizzi Collinge
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. His case reminds me of my visit to a block of flats in Arnside just a couple of weeks ago. The balconies have been deemed unsafe and the developer and property management company are both trying to charge residents a huge amount of money because they have not created a proper sinking fund. They are also dragging their feet on everyday maintenance and safety issues. There is more we could do, although we are bringing in great reforms to things like leasehold and other matters. The principle is that if someone is responsible for something, they should take responsibility and fix the mess they have made, so I support my hon. Friend’s point.
Communities can also take measures through the assets of community value scheme, which was introduced by the Government in 2011. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the scheme is run in accordance with the legislation.
Rather than adding to the planning regime, it is more important to make sure that we support pubs to thrive through everyday policy. Ask any pub owner and they will talk about rising operating costs, particularly for energy, and changing alcohol consumption habits, which make it harder to make a profit. The Government are taking action on that.
I am a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, which often speaks about business energy costs. I would like to flag the importance of the clean power 2030 mission to the survival of pubs and other businesses. When we go into pubs, we want them to be nice and warm, which means that they have very high energy costs. The Government are doing important work to decouple the price of electricity from the price of gas, which is set internationally and is damaged by international events.
For pubs specifically, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 will ban the use of upwards-only rent review clauses in commercial tenancies. Those clauses have meant that rents can only ever stay the same or rise, regardless of market conditions. Pubs that are signed up to the pubs code already receive that protection, but the ban will extend it to heritage pubs, further increasing support for these important institutions.
I was pleased that the Government announced the 20% business rates discount for pubs, clubs and entertainment venues, which has helped to give them some breathing space. I would point out that there are other businesses very similar to pubs, like the Avanti restaurant I visited in Kirkby Lonsdale, whose owner kindly brought together a group of local businesspeople for me to speak with. They would like to see parity on that tax relief. I encourage pubs to check whether they are eligible for the £61 million community right to buy fund rolled out by the Government, which funds people in deprived areas to take over community assets—something my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) talked about.
Rather than relying on planning protection, which can be slow, those measures give communities agency over a place and the opportunity to operate those assets successfully. There is also the Pub is The Hub programme, which helps pubs in rural areas like mine to diversify and is backed by £3 million of Government funding.
Community ownership and engagement are really important to the Government. They are strengthening them further through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act, which will introduce a new community right to buy and give communities real power of ownership. Communities will have the first opportunity to purchase and 12 months to raise funding, which is a significant improvement.
Local communities should determine which spaces and places are most important to them. A growing number of local residents across the country are stepping into the gap and saving heritage assets. There are some brilliant groups like that in Morecambe and Lunesdale. I want to give a specific mention to the Save Our Sun campaign in Dent. Dent is a beautiful village nestled in the Yorkshire Dales national park—I have three planning authorities in my constituency, which is always fun. The Save Our Sun campaign has pulled the community together to save the Sun Inn, and I wish to put on record my thanks to the group. They have done a fantastic job, and I was pleased to hear recently that they have progressed a little further.