‘Half of all disposals for alternative use’

The figure is higher than last year, when Fleurets reported that 50% of its pubco disposals went for alternative use, and up from 42% in 2009. The property firm said that residential was the most common end use.

However, Fleurets’ director and head of pubs Simon Hall predicts that this will have improved in the latter half of Fleurets’ financial year between April and October because there are better-quality pubs on offer.

He said: “We were probably at the peak of the market for alternative use from pubs towards the end of 2010 to the beginning of 2011 and expect this to level off and the percentage to reduce as there are better-quality pubs now on the market.”

Last year, Fleurets said the “vast majority” of sales for alternative uses were sold in unconditional deals without a finance facility.
Of those pubs that were sold for alternative use, 50% were for residential purposes, with 14% for retail, 13% for restaurants, and 10% for offices. Two per cent became takeaways and the same proportion became warehouses or doctors/dentists/vets’ clinics.
Fleurets is due to announce complete figures for its pub sales in 2011 towards the end of the year.

However, Sidney Phillips’ managing director Robin Mence disagreed with the figures. “We haven’t seen pubs go for alternative use anywhere near that proportion,” he said. The agent quoted 30% of pubco sites sell for alternative use.

He added: “We have also seen fewer closed pubco sites on the market this year, compared to last year when a lot were not trading when they were up for sale.”