Barley Mow Public House - Closure and ACV

The Barley Mow Public House in The Sands was registered by the Parish Council with the planning authority, Guildford Borough Council, as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) 22nd June 2022. This designation means that if the business and freehold is put up for sale and the potential new owner wouldn’t carry on the same business or if a change of use is applied for, the owner has to notify the planning authority and the Parish Council would be informed and we would advertise the details to the community.

There are various caveats with how an ACV can work for the community and whether it comes into play or not. Please read on to find out more.

The following is an extract from mycommunity.org.uk: ‘Once listed as Assets of Community Value with the local authority, the local community will be informed if they are listed for sale within the five year listing period. The community can then enact the Community Right to Bid, which gives them a moratorium period of six months to determine if they can raise the finance to purchase the asset.

The Community Right to Bid does not give the right of first refusal to community organisations to buy an asset that they successfully nominate for inclusion on the local authority’s list. What it does do is give time for them to put together the funding necessary to bid to buy the asset on the open market. If an owner wants to sell property/land that is on the list, they must tell the local authority. If the nominating body is keen to develop a bid, they can then call for the local authority to trigger a moratorium period, during which time the owner cannot proceed to sell the asset.

There are two moratorium periods. Both start from the date the owner of the asset tells the local authority of their intention to sell. The first is the interim moratorium period, which is six weeks, during which time a community organisation can decide if they want to be considered as a potential bidder. The other is a full moratorium period, which is six months, during which a community organisation can develop a proposal and raise the money required to bid to buy the asset. The regulations list some situations where the Moratorium will not be applied, even when it is an Asset of Community Value on the list. These include:

• If the disposal is a gift

• If the disposal is made between members of the same family

• If the land or building being disposed of is part of a bigger estate

• If the disposal is of a building or piece of land on which going-concern business is operating, provided that the sale is to a new owner to continue the same business (for example if an owner of a pub wants to sell the pub to a new owner, to continue running it as a pub).

During a moratorium, the owner of the asset cannot conclude the sale.’

 To date the Parish Council has not received any notification from GBC on this matter.