The decline in the number of pubs over the last decade has been well publicised but encouragingly, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has recently published figures which show that the number of pubs has increased for the first time since 2010.
The UK ended March 2019 with 320 more pubs than the year before. To put the figures in context, around 700 pubs had closed in the UK each year for the previous nine years.
Reasons
cited for the change in fortunes include improvements in menus, offering
accommodation and providing entertainment such as themed events and live music. Former chancellor Philip Hammond also introduced
relief on business rates for some pubs which may also have been a factor.
When
buying a pub in England and Wales, particular care must be taken with the
premises licence. A premises licence is a licence from the local authority for
the sale of alcohol and the provision of other licensable activities. The owner
or occupiers of a pub must have a premises licence in order to legally sell
alcohol in England and Wales.
When
buying a pub with an existing premises licence, you must ensure that you (a)
fully understand the contents of the licence and (b) procure that the licence
is transferred to you, together with the pub itself.
Your
lawyer will obtain a copy of the premises licence from the seller and send it
over to you for review. You must check that the range of licensable activities
permitted by the licence, and the hours in which they are allowed, are suitable
for your intended use of the property. You must also check that the conditions
attached to the licence do not have an adverse impact on your plans for the
property.
You
should also check that the plans attached to the premises licence accord with
the current layout of the property. If not, the property may not be trading in
accordance with the premises licence. You should also consider whether you will
need to vary the premises licence if you intend to make significant changes to
the layout of the property.
It
is also a good idea to speak with your local licensing, environmental health
and police officers to see whether there have been any recent or ongoing
licensing or enforcement issues with the property (e.g. noise abatement
notices) which could affect your ability to vary the licence further down the line
(e.g. to extend trading hours).
Checks
should also be carried out with the licencing authority to ensure that the copy
of the premises licence provided by the seller is the most up to date version
of the licence, and that it hasn’t been revoked or surrendered. Confirmation
should also be obtained from the licensing authority that there are no
outstanding licensing applications, particularly any review of the premises
licence. If a review of the premises licence is underway, this can result in
things like opening hours being reduced or the imposition of more onerous
conditions.
Enquiries
should also be made of the seller to ensure that the holder of the premises
licence has not died, lost capacity, become insolvent or (if a company) been
dissolved as these circumstances can result in the premises licence lapsing.
Once
it has been established that the licence is still in force and fits with your
plans for the property, your lawyer will insert a provision in the contract
requiring the seller to provide the necessary consent forms for the transfer of
the premises licence to you. These forms will be handed over on
completion of the purchase of the property so that you can file them with the
licencing authority to complete the transfer of the premises licence into your
name.
Get in touch
If you would like some help with an issue relating to commercial property, our experienced team at Murrell Associates would be delighted to help. You can contact Caroline Daly on 01872 226990 or by emailing caroline.daly@murrellassociates.co.uk.
