Bath's biggest landlords charging 'sky high rents', claim independent traders
The city’s biggest landlords have been accused of charging “sky high rents” which deter independent traders.
But Bath and North East Somerset Council and the St John’s Hospital charity have rejected the criticism.
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David Gledhill
Businessman David Gledhill, of the Bath branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, has welcomed new efforts by city centre traders to highlight the importance of independent firms.
But he said: “It has long been a concern that independents are losing out in Bath, and given the sky high rents charged by two of the biggest landlords – B&NES and St John’s, it comes as no surprise.
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“It is no use hiding behind the fact that there are companies queuing to come here – they are not the type of business that makes Bath special, they are the type of businesses that can be found on high streets up and down the country. It really is time this coun cil made an effort on behalf of independents – most of whom are local residents as well and stop hiding behind the rather spurious argument that rents have to maximised, no matter what. It is time to support local businesses, not milk them.”
B&NES said that in the last year, 20 of the 24 new leases it signed were with independent traders. The local authority owns 229 properties in Bath, of which only nine are empty.
A spokesman said: “The council considers market evidence when establishing a guide rent for letting purposes. Offers are then invited from potential tenants. We do not state the rents are non-negotiable. As a result of this approach there is strong demand for our premises in Bath.”
St John’s Hospital is responsible for 65 properties in the city centre and chief executive, Jonathan O’Shea, said money raised through rents was put back into the city through the charity’s work.
He said: “The reality of it is that we have more than half of our tenants are independent traders. We listen and help develop our independent traders where we can and some people who have started with us have gone into bigger properties as the business has grown.
“We have a lot of tenants that we have had for years and years.”
16 Comments
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by lotusman2010
Friday, February 01 2013, 11:23AM
“The B&NES properties for rent and / or sale can be found by using this link:
http://tinyurl.com/alfuo34
have a look for yourselves to see the costs for renting business premises in Bath.”
by lotusman2010
Friday, February 01 2013, 11:23AM
“The B&NES properties for rent and / or sale can be found by using this link:
http://tinyurl.com/alfuo34
have a look for yourselves to see the costs for renting business premises in Bath.”
by Imp-Act
Wednesday, January 30 2013, 4:38AM
“BaNES are doing what they always do best (in their opinion) for Bath AND that's ALL that matters! As for St John's? Just get rid of the St!”
by jdd1977
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 11:38PM
“@FredofoffBath - Threshers were bought by a private equity firm in 2002 having been run by another private equity subsidiary of a Japanese bank for a couple of years prior to that. But of course it was the rise in property rental in Bath that lead to the loss of those jobs. Interesting that you don't really see Threshers as a high street name anymore...”
by FredofoffBath
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 9:10PM
“When there used to be a thresher off licence on bathwick street way back in 2002 the rent was 9k per year. One day a person from the council phoned up and said in 3 months we are putting the rent up to 14k per year. So everyone lost their jobs cos they closed the shop.”
by Viscount_V
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 4:15PM
“DaveWeston - When they wereset up centuries ago to enable the poor of Bath it didn't state just the elderly and disadvantaged, that age old motto hasn't changed as far as I'm aware.
The cash grants you speak of were formerly distributed by Bath Municipal Charities, when St Johns took over the management of this the criteria changed so that if you were in a desperate enough position to apply for a grant and it was given then you were not eligible to apply for one again.. ever!
As Bath's biggest charity and the one CAB used to refer clients in debt and danger this is frankly, disgusting. Is it unthinkable that a person or family could fall on hard times twice or even three times?
To my mind the direction St Johns took under the massive reform that saw countless staff cast aside while money men took the reins has not only contributed to the affordable housing shortage in Bath but also excluded the majority of people (of all ages) from low cost housing and financial help who needed it most.”
by rogerh3
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 3:19PM
“No doubt it makes more money..."
But possibly not even that with the agent's commissions. It certainly earns less goodwill.”
by rogerh3
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 3:17PM
“St John's does seem to have lost its way since it farmed out its lettings to an agency. Same with its treatment of The Dispensary. No doubt it makes more money but it's a sad loss to the city.”
by Dave_Weston
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 3:03PM
“Not sure that's entirely fair Vix - their accounts show a £2m subsidy for provision of care to financially disadvantaged elderly people and a further £400k given away in various grants (half to groups and half to individuals in chunks of up to £1500). They may well manage their property portfolio entirely on a commercial basis rather than having cheap rents but that is probably a management issue which means its easier to keep the income generating portfolio on that basis and give money away via grants rather than trying to work out whether to rent places out cheap to people and making things more complicated internally. I know at one point it was the case that people in need of quick cash for an urgent need could get a better and faster response from St Johns than from the state services - whether that's still the case I don't know but its clear from the accounts that at least 150 people (and probably many more) get helped out each year directly with cash grants.”
by rogerh3
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 2:37PM
“Yes, my mistake. I was making a general point about the types of businesses we get but you're correct about the different use classes.”