Paul Rae Wilson

Published: 7 February, 2013
by DAN CARRIER

REGULARS fear the character of the world-famous Black Cap pub in Camden Town is under threat from redevelopment plans.

Faucet Inn Ltd, which owns the mecca for gay men and women in Camden High Street, has applied for planning permission to reduce the size of its popular first-floor bar.

Architects’ drawings show a revamped ground-floor bar area with part of the first floor and all of the second floor turned into homes.

A similar application last year was thrown out in the face of fierce opposition from regulars. Camden Council’s planning committee said the scheme would have affected the pub’s ability to trade.

Actor and theatre director Chris Johnson, who has been drinking in the pub for 43 years, said: “I fear they are more interested in being property developers rather than pub managers. Changing the upstairs bar will  spell the end of the pub.

“It is also a cabaret venue and it provides a link to Camden’s past.”

He added: “It would cost a fortune to soundproof, and who wants to live above a bar open until 3am?”

A spokesperson for owner Faucet Inn said: “The ground floor will stay the same as it is.

The first floor will only be slightly smaller and the terrace will remain, again slightly smaller. We are in the pub business – we are not property developers. If we were, we’d try and convert the whole building.”

The pub is one of many in Camden that have been at the centre of development bids.

The New Journal reported last week on threats to the Golden Lion, in nearby Royal College Street, while the Parrs Head, in Plender Street, has already been converted into homes.

The Queens, in Edis Street, Primrose Hill, is closed and subject to a planning application by its owner, comedian Harry Enfield. He told neighbours that running the space as a pub was no longer viable.

Research by the Campaign for Real Ale showed that in NW5 alone 40 pubs have shut in 20 years.
 

Des res. Why bars have home appeal

CHANGING lifestyles and cheap booze from supermarkets are blamed for pubs falling under the watchful eye of property developers.
But there are other factors too, said leading Kentish Town estate agent Paul Rae Wilson, of specialist home-finder  Buchanan Rae and Wilson, based in Highgate Road.

“Pubs typically are in good locations,” he said. “They are well placed to serve the thirsty public – that translates into desirable locations for homes.”

He added that, while the recession may have affected personal finances, the London property market was as buoyant as ever.

“There is actually a real shortage of property for sale and there are ever-increasing numbers of buyers out there,” he said. “In the Camden property market, there is always demand.”

He added that the pub building boom of the Victorian period meant there were many buildings that could make interesting homes.

He said: “People will buy converted pubs. They are nice-looking, they have interesting characteristics, they are slightly different from other Victorian conversions and they have large rooms.”