I'm glad you're only joking there Michael. As I'm sure you appreciate, seriously, I'm testing my hypothesis that landlords will not keep property empty when they can get a rent in the meantime.

Interesting to note that although FH Soc notionally offset the loss of this pub against the gain of the Sylvan Posts, the formality of the owners having to demonstrate that they could not get a tenant for it as a pub still had to be gone through. Prima facie evidence, I'd say of planning getting in the way of efficient provision of housing.

Cheeky - I agree - I think the architecture was - and still is - good, which is why I was reminded of it by the case of the Kent House Tavern. My general point, as readers of these Forums will know, is that pubs such as these have a much better chance of surviving as such if the demand for housing can be met by redeveloping existing residential sites, without having to wait for them to relapse into dereliction and so count as brownfield. Such densification of borderline suburban areas such as ours will also bring in more new clients for our existing pubs.