Pub sale price too high?

A pub that is up for sale in Linley Brook has been deemed too expensive for its location given the current state of business.

The Pheasant Inn, which is owned by Simon Reed, previously agreed a sale in 2008 for £600,000, but the buyers later went into liquidation. Since then, the pub attempted to limp on but business never quite picked up and it was forced to close its doors earlier this year.

Mr Reed has sought permission to turn the property into a residential home, claiming that as a pub it is “not viable and that is why it has remained unsold for nearly five years and it will not reopen”.

However, Shropshire Council officers have suggested that more could be done to encourage a sale. They claimed that Mr Reed has not made reasonable efforts to develop more diverse uses for the pub, such as offering food or turning it into a bed and breakfast. They added that the sale price of the pub is also too high at the moment.

Councillor Charlotte Baines added: “Just because the pub is a building should not mean it is definitely turned into a house. Other people should be given the opportunity to turn it into a pub again.”