Derelict London Pubs
The Government recently started charging business rates on empty buildings - just as the property market collapsed.
Hundreds of buildings are currently being demolished to avoid paying business rates on empty properties. Empty buildings,
many of which are nearing the end of their useful life, are being torn down early rather than offered to the market on short
leases. Start-up companies, sole traders and small businesses that rely on this kind of lease are being denied exactly the
low rents and flexible terms that the Government was trying to promote.Equally, there is the possibility that those developments
already under construction could be stopped before they are completed, the point at which they become liable for business
rates.
Up to April 2008 the owner of a business building did not have to pay business rates if the building was not being used. This
has now been withdrawn and the owner has to pay the full rates even if the building is unoccupied. The idea behind this is to
encourage owners to find tenants and allow short term leases and lower rents. The danger appears to be that it makes it more
likely that an owner may be more likely to demolish a building especially it is near the end of its life.
Thanks to Colin Price for bringing this to my attention
Greater London has 228 fewer pubs in the last 5 years - 638 were closed and 410 were opened.
The old boozer, where the regulars had their places at the bar and red and gold flock-wallpaper set the tone, is increasingly a thing of the past. In England and Wales six rural pubs close every week.
Once closed and boarded up these old pubs are ruthlessly targeted by developers either for demolition or
conversion into flats.
|
DID ANYONE USED TO DRINK IN ANY OF THESE PUBS? ANY STORIES TO TELL?
Due to discovering more and more derelict pubs Ive had to divide them
into more manageable sections.
Search derelict pubs by area by clicking on icons:
"Those of us who like to explore the capital's hidden corners and forgotten byways can only applaud
Paul Talling for compiling derelictlondon.com, an often uncomfortable record of the capital's underbelly.
We see them every day: the disused cinemas, boarded-up shops, vermin and even human derelicts
that society would rather turn a blind eye to. They may be less picturesque than Big Ben, Beefeaters
and the London Eye, but they are no less part of London. Once you start noticing them, you just can't
stop.I can't quite bring myself to look at the toilets, though."
THE GUARDIAN
