Vacant Properties Taskforce

We offer free advice on matters such as planning, licensing, business support and investment. Please e-mail planning@wolverhampton.gov.uk for free advice.

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It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain their property in a tidy condition. Most of the property in the city centre is privately owned. Within the ring road Council ownership includes the Civic Centre, highways, several surface level car parks, property in and around the newly developed Interchange, including the multi-award winning i9 building, the St George’s regeneration site and most of the City Centre West major regeneration opportunity.

It also owns property that is part of the city centre Learning Quarter. The Council has secured the main contract with its chosen constructor to ensure the new City Learning Quarter city centre site is completed for the start of the 2025/26 academic year. The £61 million scheme will establish transformational facilities for the City of Wolverhampton College, Adult Education Wolverhampton and Central Library, benefitting skills and employment outcomes for residents across the city and wider region.

The Council has never owned Beatties. The private owners of Beatties failed to maintain the building properly and are now in receivership. We served an enforcement notice requiring the building to be tidied up. The receivers are now responsible for maintaining the building and have begun to carry out the work required to tidy up the building and they have improved the security of the building. We are in dialogue with the receivers to encourage bringing the building back into active use as soon as possible. There is planning permission in place for six commercial units on the ground floor with residential apartments above.

The vacant shops in the city centre are privately owned. The Council offers free advice to owners and encourages them to re-use their vacant shops. The Council does not have the resources to run commercial retail businesses across the city centre but has recently invested in the creation of the Glaze café at the art gallery and is opening a community run café in the Queens building. The Council is actively targeting the food and beverage market to encourage investors to open more good quality restaurants in the city centre.

It is the private owner’s responsibility to maintain their land and buildings in a tidy condition. Section 215 (s215) of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 provides the Council with the power to require a private owner to clean up a building when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area. We regularly ask property owners in the city centre to tidy up their buildings in accordance with s215. Responsible property owners respond positively to our requests and take steps to tidy up their buildings, such as the removal of litter / vegetation and repairs to the fabric of the building. Occasionally owners do not respond and the Council may serve a formal s215 notice requiring the building to be tidied up. If the owner does not comply they may be prosecuted in the Magistrate Court.

The Council do not have powers to force a private property owner to reuse their vacant shops or buildings. We encourage private property owners to reuse their vacant buildings by providing free advice on matters such as planning, licensing, business support and investment. The Council may consider purchasing a vacant property particularly if it is linked to or part of a comprehensive regeneration project area. As a last resort the Council may consider a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). This is a lengthy and expensive process, as the Council can only exercise this power if it has the funds to compensate the owner for the market price of the building and has the resources to refurbish and reuse the building for a beneficial purpose. CPOs are quite rare and can only be used as a last resort. They are generally only used in a city centre if a property owner will not sell their building at a reasonable price to a developer with planning permission for a comprehensive redevelopment of an area. In these circumstances the Council may carry out a CPO on behalf of the developer if the developer agrees to cover the costs of a CPO.

This pub was in poor condition and was vacant. The council worked with the owner to improve the condition of the building and permission was approved and implemented for external changes and alterations which has seen the pub brought back into use, while also enhancing its visual appearance and the street scene. The pub now provides an important community meeting place, forming part of the wider regeneration of the Ward Street area, which includes hundreds of new homes and open spaces in a canalside setting. 

The former Samson and Lion pub closed to customers in 2011 and fell into a serious state of disrepair, suffering break-ins, vandalism and significant internal and external damage. 

The building located in a residential street became a significant eyesore and nuisance to surrounding residents who reported incidents of fly-tipping at the site and in the adjacent alleyway, as well as the prevalence of vermin and anti-social behaviour.

Following action by the council, a planning application was submitted to reuse the building and land to the rear for residential use. Permission was granted in 2019 to refurbish the main building to create three two-bedroom apartments and three one-bedroom apartments, with the additional development of three two-bedroom houses and 14 off-street parking spaces, plus landscaping to the rear of the building. A £200,000 investor by the developer has seen the refurbishment of the main structure completed, providing much-needed residential accommodation in the area. Work on the approved housing development to the rear is set to start in 2024.

This pub closed and was demolished approximately ten to 15 years ago. The site was overgrown and subject to fly tipping. The council took action to get the site boundaries secured with solid fencing and rubbish removed. It then worked with the new owner to agree planning permission to redevelop the site for nine houses. The development is now complete subject to some minor works and the properties are occupied. The new development has been welcomed by adjoining residents.

The site has been vacant for over 15 years and its condition has deteriorated to the point where intervention was necessary.  
 
Planning permission was granted in 2018 for new shops and flats. The application expired and the condition of the site continued to deteriorate.
 
The council has worked proactively with the owner to tidy and secure the site.
 
Following this, a revised planning application was submitted, and granted, to redevelop the site. Permission is in place for proposed alterations and an extension to form eight retail units on the ground floor and three one-bedroom apartments on the first floor.
 
It is anticipated work will start on site soon.

The Talisman ceased trading as a public house in December 2018.

Following its closure the pub and its site became the subject of anti-social behaviour including fly tipping and arson. This resulted in the site deteriorating to an unacceptable condition. Consequently, in November 2021, the council issued a s215 Notice under its powers contained within the Town & Country Planning Act 1990. 

The Notice required the owners to repair the building, remove all rubbish and cut back the foliage. The council also gave the owners the option to demolish the former public house and secure the site’s perimeter. 

Demolition of the former pub took place in May 2022. The site was cleared and secured at the same time. 

Unfortunately, the vacant site’s condition again began to deteriorate and the council had to serve a second s215 Notice in February 2023, requiring all fly-tipped rubbish to be removed and missing and broken perimeter fencing to be replaced. 

In the meantime, the planning team worked proactively with the owners to produce an acceptable proposal for the redevelopment of the site. This culminated in planning permission being granted for a convenience store and 14 1&2-bedroom apartments being granted in June 2023. The planners continue to work with the developer to encourage construction on site and are monitoring the site to ensure its condition does not fall below the required standards.

The pub closed in 2017 and was attracting anti-social behaviour and arson attacks. The building was demolished in spring 2022. This was welcomed by residents. The owner has now cleared the site of building rubble, rubbish and secured the site with solid boundary fencing. The demolition of the building and securing of the site boundaries has reduced the anti-social behaviour. The site is now subject to a planning application from Keon Homes in partnership with Black Country Housing Group. The planning application is for 19 dwellings and has been consulted on. No resident objections have been received. Planning permission is likely to be granted. 

Following its closure, the pub has been converted into a dentist and pharmacy. The land at the rear, which was overgrown and disused, has been redeveloped as a new customer car park for the dentist and pharmacy and six new detached dwellings. All the new properties are occupied.

This pub was closed in 2022, leaving the windows and doors boarded and the site untidy. Council planners got the owner to tidy the site, remove rubbish and carry out essential maintenance. The pub has now reopened and is operational.

This pub lost its license and closed in 2022. Planners got the owners to secure the boundaries of the site with new fencing to prevent unauthorised entry and fly tipping. Rubbish was removed and all windows boarded. Planners are working with the owners to agree a pre-application proposal to demolish the pub and erect up to ten dwellings. Negotiations are ongoing.