Volunteer party
The Hop Pole has been on the market for the best part of a year now and no buyer has come forward. Empty, neglected, the property is visibly deteriorating. The selling Agents, have not been willing to
entertain any discussion regarding a plan to buy the Hop Pole by members of this community…UNTIL NOW…
The pub is registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), which, to summarise, means that having failed to find a buyer by 23rd July 21, they are now forced to offer the pub to the Community.
You may remember that the Parish Council headed up a bid to buy the Hop Pole with a loan from the Public Works Board in the first half of last year soon after the owners, Wellington Pub Co, told the Wiltshire Council of their intention to sell the freehold. The Parish Council offer of £218,000 was rejected and the owners put the pub on the open market. Rumours of various prospective buyers came and went, but the Agents would not divulge any details until May this year when they stated that it had been sold subject to contract and no other bids would be considered.
It would have been fantastic if this once vibrant pub had been sold, restored and reopened! We now know that there is no buyer in the wings and the Agents now have to offer the property to the community under the ACV rules, although there are time limits to be considered.
Who are we?
Lucy Poloniecka, Nick Humpston, Sally Humpston, and James Sibson, are a group of 4 residents who have been researching how best to save the Hop Pole from developers and to consider how to acquire
it for the community.
The timetable
The Hop Pole was put on the market for an asking price of £325,000 plus Vat last summer. It remains registered as an ACV until 23rd April 2024. The failure to find a buyer in the open market by the 23rd of July means that a Community Body can now give notice to Wiltshire Council of its intention to make a bid by 8th September 21. Wiltshire Council will then trigger a ‘full moratorium’ period, meaning no sale can take place, up to 28 January 2022. This period is intended to allow our Community time to raise funding and put together a credible bid to buy the asset.
The way forward
Now that the market has been tested and, following the announcement of a Community Ownership Fund in this year’s Budget, we have a very strong case for making another effort to buy the Hop Pole.
The plan would be to establish a Community Benefit Society to apply for the Government funding and to raise the additional sums needed to buy and renovate the Hop Pole. The pub would then be let to a
suitably qualified individual on terms that would make it commercially attractive to a tenant taking it on. Unfortunately, the Parish Council is not eligible to apply for this funding.
The cost
The grant from the Community Ownership Fund allows a bid of up to £250,000, provided that the Community Benefit Society can raise the same amount. The next opportunity to apply for the government funding is December this year.
An appropriate offer for the Hop Pole will depend on a detailed survey to establish the cost of the work needed to restore and fit out the building. It will also depend on the level of local interest in supporting
the scheme by the purchase of shares in the Community Benefit Society.
The advertised price is still shown as £325,000 plus vat. The Agents are still hoping for more than last year’s offer of £218,000. The building has deteriorated considerably since that offer was made and their experience of marketing the property in the interim leads one to hope that they will be more realistic this time around.
Pending the result of a detailed survey, it is estimated that we will need an additional sum of up to £400,000 to cover all costs to reopen as a pub, assuming that we successfully bid for maximum grant funding of £250,000.
Limpley Stoke Community Benefit Society Ltd or LSCBS
The LSCBS will issue up to 400,000 £1 shares, subject to a minimum purchase of 200 shares and a maximum of 25,000 per shareholder.
The identity of shareholders will be known, but the number of shares held by each will remain strictly confidential. To ensure there is equity amongst shareholders in running the Society, each Shareholding
(as opposed to each Share), will have one vote.
Once the premises are let and running as a successful business, it is aimed to pay shareholders interest on their investment at a rate to be agreed, but hoped to be around 2.5%pa. Details will all be
set out in a prospectus at the appropriate time and to include rules around repayment of shares if contributors move, die, or have a change of heart.
Time is short and crucially we need to hear from as many people as possible with confirmation of their willingness, in principle, to buy shares in the “LSCBS”. If there is sufficient interest we can then form the necessary steering group to move things forward.
Please send expressions of support to limpleystokecbs@gmail.com
Questions, comments or any ideas at all that you think would help the project and any relevant skills that you can offer would be very helpful.
It goes without saying that unless the residents of Limpley Stoke and beyond are interested and prepared to support this plan, we will very definitely lose our pub.
