Community right to buy could be ‘gamechanger’ for saving Welsh pubs, say campaigners

Mark Mansfield

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has welcomed Welsh Government plans to introduce a Community Right to Buy, saying the move could be a “gamechanger” for communities trying to save threatened pubs.

The proposals, announced by First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth in the Senedd last week, would give eligible community groups the right of first refusal to buy locally important assets if their owners decide to sell.

Chris Charters, director of CAMRA Wales, said the announcement, “could be a gamechanger for people who want to save and take over the running of their local”.

He added: “Pubs are more than just businesses – they play a crucial role in building and maintaining cohesive communities. Where they are under threat of closure, conversion or demolition, it is right that people are given first refusal to buy it, so they have a fighting chance to save their local as a community-owned pub.

“At the moment this is really difficult for communities in Wales to save their pub and take it on as a community business because pub protection laws are the weakest anywhere in the UK.

“As well as a right to buy the pub as a community asset, CAMRA wants to see the Welsh Government offer funding for community groups to take over their local. Ministers should also change the law so planning permission is always required to convert a pub in Wales into a restaurant, shop or takeaway, or demolish it to make way for housing. This will help to stop greedy developers depriving a community of their pub against the wishes of local people.”

The Community Right to Buy scheme forms part of the Welsh Government’s first legislative programme of the new Senedd term.

Under the proposals, eligible community groups would be able to nominate and register buildings and other assets considered important to their local area. If the owner later decided to sell, the community would be given the opportunity to make the first offer before the property could be sold on the open market.

Sense of community

Announcing the plans last week, First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “We want to protect and enhance Wales’s unique sense of community. Our nation is a rich tapestry of urban and rural, north and south, young and old.

“We will proceed with the development of a community right-to-buy scheme and provide the legislative basis to enable eligible community groups to nominate and register valuable community assets and be given the right of first refusal when the owners decide to sell.”

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