Memorandum submitted by Herefordshire
& Worcestershire CAMRA
PUBCO INQUIRY—RESTRICTIVE
COVENANTS
I would like to bring to your attention the
use of restrictive covenants to prevent purchasers reopening a
closed pub that has been sold to them by one of the pub companies.
The Morgan Inn in Malvern is due to be sold
at auction. I have attached the sales particulars (not printed
here) from the selling agents, Breach Wood Ingram. I would
like to draw attention to the following condition of sale: "The
premises are being sold with a restrictive covenant preventing
the property from being used as a public house, restaurant or
hotel or for any use involving the sale or supply of intoxicating
liquor."
The use of restrictive covenants such as the
above result in:
— the unnecessary loss of community
amenity and employment opportunities;
— local plan policies aimed at protecting
pubs being bypassed; and
— the frustration of individuals and
small and medium sized brewers who wish to purchase a free of
tie operation.
In many cases pubs that are not viable under
the leasehold model can become viable when operated as free of
tie or freehold operations. The use of restrictive covenants contributes
to a shortage in the number of freehold or free of tie pubs on
the market, a shortage which may mean that aspiring pub operators
feel compelled to opt for a leased pub. CAMRA would urge the Committee
to recommend that the use of restrictive covenants by pub companies
is prohibited.
4 December 2008
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