Bond Wolfe has pulled the burnt-out Alcester pub from its 10 September sale, days after the council was asked to buy it. No decision has been published.
The burnt-out Three Tuns in Alcester has been withdrawn from Thursday’s auction. Bond Wolfe now marks Lot 172 as withdrawn on its own catalogue, with an addendum reading: “Not being offered, may be included in our October Auction.”
The lot was due to sell at 8.30am on Thursday 10 September with a guide price of £50,000 plus fees. It comes out of the sale two days after Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s Cabinet was asked to approve buying it.
The council has not published what Cabinet decided. Nothing about the Three Tuns appears in its news releases, and no decision record or minutes from the 7 September meeting had been published on its democratic services site when we checked on 9 September.
So the position today is narrower than it looks. The pub is off the market for now. Who takes it on, and on what terms, is not on the public record.
What the council was asked to do
The report to Cabinet was taken as urgent business on 7 September. It asked members to agree the purchase of 34 High Street, Alcester “either through auction or by agreement”, up to a value set out in an exempt appendix that has not been published.
It also asked that the Deputy Chief Executive be authorised to complete the due diligence and legal work needed to carry the decision out. The report is signed by Tony Perks, the Deputy Chief Executive. The portfolio holder is Councillor L Adam.
The building is Grade II listed. A fire about five years ago destroyed the roof and much of the fabric, and it has stood derelict since, propped by a scaffold that blocks the pavement on one side of the High Street.
Why the council thought it had to act
The council appointed West Midlands Heritage Trust in April 2026 to prepare an options and viability appraisal. That work is not finished. An initial summary has already concluded that rebuilding will cost significantly more than the finished building would be worth.
On that reading, no private buyer has a reason to restore it. The Trust’s view, as the report records it, is that the Three Tuns will probably have to pass into public ownership either way, by agreement or eventually by compulsory purchase. Buying at auction was put forward as the cheaper and faster of those routes.
The report sets out a first phase of work if the council did buy:
- an internal steel frame to hold the building up
- works to secure and weatherproof the shell
- a decorated hoarding across the front
That sequence matters because it is what reopens the pavement. The scaffold comes off only once the building is held up from the inside. Costs for this phase sit in the exempt appendix and are not public.
Anything beyond phase one would need a further Cabinet decision, after the Trust’s appraisal is finished.
The doubts the council set out about itself
The report does not read like a sales pitch. Its legal section tells Cabinet it must first satisfy itself on two points:
- why this building, and not any other property that might be considered a “blight” across the district, should be bought now
- why the purchase cannot wait until the Heritage Trust’s commissioned work is complete
Its risk table names the danger of setting a precedent for other derelict buildings, answered with the argument that the Three Tuns “is unique in that it is causing disturbance in the High Street of a key Market Town”. It also names the risk of the council taking on a loss-making asset.
Money would come from the Business Rates Equalisation Reserve. The report says the intention is to keep and use the building once restored, rather than sell it on, and that the renovation figure will come back in a separate report.
The ward member, Councillor Tom Ballinger, is recorded as keen to see the building’s condition improved. The council’s conservation team supports bringing it back into use.
What it means for you
If you walk or shop on Alcester High Street, nothing has changed on the ground. The scaffold is still there and the pavement is still blocked. The report says the county council, as highway authority, has already intervened to require the scaffold to come off the footway, and that the district council is in discussions with the owner about supporting the building from the inside instead. That is a separate track from the purchase, and it is the one that reopens the pavement soonest.
If you were planning to bid on Thursday, the lot is not being offered. Bond Wolfe says it may appear in its October auction instead.
If you want the decision on the record, the Cabinet minutes for 7 September are the document to watch on the council’s democratic services site. Cabinet decisions are also normally subject to call-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which met on 2 September and did not consider this item, because it was added as urgent business afterwards.
We reported the proposal before Monday’s meeting and will report the outcome once the council publishes it. We track district decisions on our planning news page.
Sources
- Bond Wolfe auction lot 172, Former Three Tuns, 34 High Street, Alcester, checked 9 September 2026, for the withdrawn status, the addendum wording, the £50,000 guide price, the 10 September auction date and the 8.30am start.
- Urgent Business: The Three Tuns Purchase, report to Stratford-on-Avon District Council Cabinet, 7 September 2026, for the recommendations, the 2025 sale price, the West Midlands Heritage Trust appointment, the phased plan, the funding source, the legal questions and the risk table.
- Cabinet agenda and papers, Monday 7 September 2026, checked 9 September 2026, for the absence of a published decision or minutes.
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee report to Cabinet, 2 September 2026, for the items the committee did consider.
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council news releases, checked 9 September 2026, which cover four other decisions from the same meeting but not this one.
We could not confirm what Cabinet resolved, or who has withdrawn the lot and why. The council has published no decision and the auctioneer gives no reason beyond its addendum. This page will be updated when either is on the record.
Have your say