Shops Will Struggle To Pay Rent As Cuts Bite

[catsick]

As far as pubs go , I was looking at one in a decent part of london recently , in a residential area where the very close local residents would probably be happy for it not to be a pub, I'm sure the operating business was marginal at best, cost around 150 gbp per sq foot , vs 700 per sq foot for local residential , only you have to lease it to the pub co on a long lease , but at an ok yield , I was advised it would be almost impossible to get a change of use agreed, basically the council own the property as they dictate what it can be used as .....

As far as most shops go, even if you own them the business rates is the killer, basically you pay again what the rent would be to the council, my friend who runs a chain of restaurants has set up a charity he can install in sites he has bought and is waiting to refurb to avoid paying astronomical rates ...

[Fishbone Glover]

Around me most of the pubs belong to Adnams. They get in people who think that it will be a nice lifestyle,relieve them of their life savings for the lease,charge them a massive rent and make them pay through the nose for beer,wines,sprits etc then they sit back and wait until the poor dupes give up.

That seems to be pretty much standard as a Pubco business model these days

[Stars]

As far as most shops go, even if you own them the business rates is the killer, basically you pay again what the rent would be to the council,

If the tax is steady it is merely discounted (more or less) from the exchange price, so it is not the issue you make it out to be. You would still have had to pay this money even if there were no rates, except (of course) you would pay it to the previous owner in a raised exchange price rather than the council.

The real business killers are the rents inflicted on tenants, the exchange prices inflicted on those who wish to own and the taxes imposed on labour and commerce