Council to buy 'tatty' pub for affordable housing

A council will buy a long-empty pub in Wolverhampton to make way for new housing.

City of Wolverhampton Council said it would use compulsory purchase powers to take on the former Bagot Arms in Whitmore Reans and turn it into affordable housing.

The pub on Newhampton Road East closed after a father-of-two was fatally shot there in 2008 and has remained empty since.

The boarded-up and overgrown site, which has attracted anti-social behaviour, received planning permission from the council in 2023 to become shops and flats but the work has not been carried out.

A report, due to be discussed by the council's cabinet on 10 December, stated there was "no clear sign" the work was going to go ahead despite the council encouraging the landowners to redevelop it for three years.

The council said it had "insisted" the site was kept tidy and secure, but the building was now "tatty" and "urgently needed redeveloping".

Early plans have been drawn up which would see the pub demolished and replaced with 15 flats.

"Despite securing planning permission for a mixed use development, the owners have failed to implement this scheme," the cabinet report continued.

"It is understood they have recently sold the property to new owners, but their details are not available yet on Land Registry.

"[Redeveloping the site] would have significant benefits to the character and appearance of the area, help reduce anti-social behaviour, and provide much needed social housing to meet the needs of applicants on the housing waiting list."

The council approved plans in December 2023 to convert the building into eight shops and three one-bed flats.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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