‘Affordable’ pub threatened with closure – after landlords informed to pay £50k

A pub designed to be affordable has been forced to call time after its landlord demanded a whopping £50k in rent arrears. Kirsty Dunlop, 45, took over The Star of Greenwich in south London with two pals last spring and together they transformed it into a budget-friendly boozer.

However, their landlord, Greenwich Hospital – which operates independently but is overseen by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – recently demanded longstanding rent arrears to be paid in full. Ms Dunlop revealed that she and her business partners can’t cough up the cash, totalling around £50,000, and have therefore had to temporarily close the pub – a local favourite for over 200 years – while they seek funding.

A fundraiser to pay the arrears and an application for funding from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have since been launched. But the owners fear that without such intervention, the pub will be forced to permanently shut its doors.

“We’ve had to stop everything while we think about what’s going on,” Ms Dunlop said. “We’ve set up a crowdfunding page but Greenwich Hospital wants £50,000 by Wednesday.”

“We always knew we’d have to pay the money, but they have asked for it within two weeks and that’s not something we can do.

“We take no money from running the pub – everything goes back into it.”

The Greenwich pub’s future hangs by a thread as the charity owner demands full rent, with co-owner Ms Dunlop revealing, “We were paying half rent under an agreement [with Greenwich Hospital], but they said it had come to an end and we have to pay them within two weeks.”

Greenwich Hospital—a charity supporting Royal Navy ex-members—oversees the Star of Greenwich where locals appreciate its role as more than just a watering hole. After shutting down previously, the pub was revived in April last year as a community hub for everything from language classes to kiddie ‘stay and play’ sessions.

The Ayrshire-native Ms Dunlop and co-owners took on the mission of rescuing their beloved local. They initiated a fundraiser bonanza, tallying up over £6,000, while setting sights on MHCLG funding to secure ownership.

However, according to Ms Dunlop, the community’s support is invaluable: “We don’t particularly want to ask people to pay for our rent, but we want to keep the pub going,” and adds “The community ownership fund would be amazing – we would buy the pub ourselves.”

She emphasises the pub’s historic presence: “The building is over 200 years old. It’s an historic pub. We have worked so hard to create this community space.”

Her concluding plea: “We just want to keep going. We have worked so hard for this.”

“We know we have to pay the money, but just give us a chance.”

“The Star closing would have a huge impact on our local area.”

“The best way to describe it is a generational impact: parents, children and grandparents all come into the pub to use our facilities.”

“The community won’t have access to an affordable pub if we close. It’s really great for parents in the area. We are a very affordable pub.”

“A pub isn’t just about drinking; it’s about inclusivity and getting to know your local community.”

“It would be really sad if we closed.”

Ms Dunlop revealed that their lease mentioned the Secretary of State for Defence – currently Labour MP John Healey – as a party, but she and her colleagues had not yet reached out to them directly. The rent Greenwich Hospital wanted to charge them was not feasible based on the revenue currently generated by the pub, she clarified.

Ms Dunlop and her business partners had agreed to pay half their rent each month with the hope of securing future funding to make the pub a viable business. They were optimistic that the MHCLG funding could clear the arrears and be used to start making changes to the building.

The repayment plan with Greenwich Hospital was extended beyond the January 2024 deadline, but the landlord is now demanding the full payment of the rent debt as funding to secure the pub’s future is still yet to be found. The MoD were approached but declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stated: “We recognise uncertainty is challenging for groups seeking to save vital community assets; the government is carefully considering all available options and will confirm plans in due course.”