Property versus Pints

June 2, 2015

Foxtons the Estate Agents represented by Agents Montague Evans  notified Southwark  Planners in April that they intended to open a Branch of their Estate Agency in the pub known as the Elephant and Castle.

The current Elephant & Castle pub is on the corner of New Kent Road and Newington Causeway, it  took the place of the original tavern that gave the area its name.

In a recent community website report it stated: In a letter to the council, agents Montagu Evans explain that – so long as the pub is not listed as an asset of community value under the Localism Act – they don’t need planning permission to change the use of the building from class A4 (pub) to class A2 (finance).

If the pub is not nominated as a community asset within 56 days of Foxtons’ request to the council (dated 16 April), then the change of use is automatically permitted.

In another area of London “The Star” a former public house in St John’s Wood  has been used as offices since March of this year by  Champion Estates, following an unsuccessful attempt by the owners to demolish and to build luxury flats on the site.

Champion Estates have now been ordered by Westminster Council to vacate. In February the building was awarded Asset of Community Value status by Westminster Council, which halted it being converted into residential space.

This is certainly the  war of Property versus Pints.

 

 

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: December 2025

Main Points Average UK monthly private rents increased by 4.4%, to £1,366, in the 12 months to November 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 5.0% in the 12 months to October 2025. Average rents increased to £1,422 (4.4%) in England, £820 (6.1%) in Wales, and £1,012 (3.3%) in Scotland, in the…
Read More →
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 17/12/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. How to get Proptechs from MVP to EXIT Reporter Zara S. Proptech has spent years trying to prove its relevance to the property industry. New platforms appear daily, capital flows in cycles, and “disruption” is promised more often than it is delivered. What is far less…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

Why Real Estate Pros Should Care About the RoHS Directive in Smart Home Tech

Some of the tasks that real estate pros perform nowadays include negotiating and posting, and checking houses on property listings. You also have to deal with buyers who expect “smart-everything,” landlords who want long-term reliability, and tenants who care about safety and sustainability. In the middle of these expectations, there’s rohs directive. Why should you…
Read More →
Breaking News

A fifth of ‘second-steppers’ received financial help from friends or family to buy their home

 ‘Second-steppers’ who had financial help received £81k on average towards purchasing their home Three in 10 second or third-time owners who received financial help for their current property, say they also received support for a previous home Barclays data shows spending on rent and mortgages rose by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in November, the smallest…
Read More →
Breaking News

NPPF review is a chance to fix planning, build homes, restore wildlife and help SMEs

The latest National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) unveils an ambitious package of reforms designed to speed up the planning process and make smaller sites more viable. This includes trimming environmental regulations and cutting Building Safety Levy on smaller sites, as well as providing more funding to local authorities to process planning applications faster, whilst taking…
Read More →
Letting Agent Talk

Five key tax mistakes made by landlords

By Allison Thompson, National Lettings Managing Director, Leaders Landlord tax is a hugely complicated area, so if you are investing in buy-to-let or renting out any property you own, it’s well worth consulting a specialist property tax adviser. They can help ensure you: a. Own, let, take income and realise gains from your investment in…
Read More →