Exeter pub for sale after estate agents dubbed it 'unviable'

An Exeter pub has gone up for sale again despite estate agents saying it was "unviable and unable to compete with surrounding competition" after a year-long attempt to sell the place. This was used to justify plans to convert the premises into a flat.

The application to turn the Iron Bridge Inn on St Davids Hill into a home was withdrawn in June this year, just four months after it was first submitted by AJP (The Hourglass) Ltd, who is understood to have run the Iron Bridge Inn when it was open.

The reason for the withdrawal is unclear but it came after local resident Daniel Raven-Ellison submitted a petition entitled "Stop the Iron Bridge Inn becoming a private house", which was signed by 636 people. They said it "would be a great loss to the community and city" if the proposal was approved.

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A group of locals also previously came together in the hopes that they could buy the place and run it as a community pub. After conducting a survey and setting up a Facebook group, it was concluded in December 2023 that there wasn't "enough energy and momentum to pursue buying the Iron Bridge Inn at this time".

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The application to turn the pub into a home was submitted in February this year. A document included alongside the proposals said that AJP Ltd had asked exeter-city-council>Exeter City Council in 2022 if an application to change the use of the site to residential would be acceptable. The authority is reported to have said approval would only be considered if the premises had been unsuccessfully marketed as a pub for at least six months.

In a marketing report by estate agents Savills, which was also included in the application, said the Iron Bridge Inn had been on the market for more than a year and had received "fairly limited interest". This was attributed mainly to limited parking and a lack of kitchen space.

The estate agents went on to claim that the pub was "unlikely attract much 'destination' trade and instead had to rely on the local population which has not supported the business sufficiently."

Despite this, Savills is listing the pub for sale again, this time with an asking price of £450,000 for the freehold. This includes the entire pub, a small trade garden and the four-bedroom accommodation above.

The Iron Bridge Inn has been closed since September 2021, after reportedly "losing money" and "limping along" in the months following the first coronavirus lockdown.