The closed Nunnery Lane music pub is an Asset of Community Value again from 11 August, nine months after it came off. What it does, and what the owners argued.

The Victoria Vaults at 47-49 Nunnery Lane is an Asset of Community Value again. City of York Council’s Executive Member for Finance, Performance, Major Projects and Equalities approved the listing on 11 August, on a nomination from the York branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, less than nine months after the closed music pub was removed from the register on 27 November 2025.

The published decision gives one reason: “To ensure the Council meets its legislative obligations (pursuant to the Localism Act 2011 and the Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012) and promotes community access to community facilities.” The listing lasts five years.

What the listing does, and does not do

An Asset of Community Value listing does not stop a sale, force a reopening or change who owns the building. The council’s decision report sets out the mechanics. If the owner wants to sell the freehold, or grant a lease of 25 years or more, with vacant possession, they must first notify the council. A community group then has six weeks to say in writing that it wants to bid. If one does, a six-month moratorium runs from the date the council was told, during which the group can put a bid together. After that the owner can sell to whoever they like; the community bid competes with the rest and there is no obligation to accept it. Some disposals are exempt, including where a legally binding agreement to sell to a particular buyer predates the listing.

The listing is also recorded as a local land charge, and it gives the owner a right to claim compensation from the council for costs or losses incurred while the property is on the list.

Third time on the register

The report records that this is the third attempt to list the pub. The first nomination, in October 2024, was approved in December 2024 alongside New Earswick swimming pool; the owner’s challenge went to the First-tier Tribunal, the case was withdrawn, and the pub came off the register on 27 November 2025. A second nomination in January 2026 was withdrawn by the applicant. CAMRA York nominated it again on 17 June 2026, and the council had eight weeks to decide.

CAMRA’s case, as summarised by officers, is that the Victoria Vaults was an independent venue for new and upcoming acts that hosted more than 150 gigs a year, that the premises received £92,244 from the Culture Recovery Fund and a £16,000 grant from City of York Council, and that it has been a public house since 1857. It argues that under the “realistic to think” test in section 88 of the Localism Act a closed but intact building in a strong footfall area could reopen under experienced management or as a community enterprise, and that there are parties interested in buying it to run as a music venue and pub, including the Music Venue Trust. CAMRA says the building is not for sale but is on the market to let at £25,000 a year, with no takers “due to the uncertain future”. Two emails of support were received from parties interested in making an offer.

Councillor Jason Rose sent a written representation in support, saying the Vaults, the Crescent and the Fulford Arms “come up top three no matter whom you ask across the city” as live music venues of community value, and noting that none of the 22 assets already on York’s list “can provide what Victoria Vaults can”.

What the owners argued

The freehold owners, The Victoria Vaults (York) Ltd, asked the council to carry forward comments they had made on the withdrawn January nomination. Their representations, set out in paragraph 28 of the report, were that a repeat nomination from the same body after the previous listing was removed is “an abuse of process”; that the council is respondent to a live First-tier Tribunal costs application over the earlier listing; that the nomination is procedurally invalid because it includes the separately rated first-floor flat, which the regulations bar from listing; that a 140-capacity grassroots venue model is unlawful when the premises licence caps capacity at 90; that an independent appraisal put the cost of reinstating the property at around £250,000; and that supposedly interested parties declined to make offers, showing “the market has been fully tested”. They said that if the council relisted the property they would “pursue full compensation and costs from the First Tier Tribunal”.

The report notes separately that no representations were received from the registered owner at the Land Registry, which it gives as Appleton Estates Ltd, owner since 1 November 2013.

Officers concluded the nomination met the tests: CAMRA York is an eligible community body with at least 21 local members, the pub’s past use as a community music venue was an actual, non-ancillary use furthering social wellbeing, and it is realistic to think that use could resume within five years. Legal Services advised the council was obliged to consider a valid nomination from an eligible body.

Timeline of the Victoria Vaults Asset of Community Value listings: October 2024 first nomination by CAMRA York; December 2024 listed by the council; 27 November 2025 removed from the register; January 2026 second nomination, withdrawn by the applicant; 17 June 2026 third nomination; 11 August 2026 listed again for five years; 18 August 2026 call-in deadline; owner may request a review within eight weeks of the decision
Graphic by The York Times.

What it means for you

  • The pub stays closed for now. The listing changes what happens if the building is sold or let on a long lease; it does not compel anyone to reopen it. CAMRA says it is currently to let at £25,000 a year.
  • The owner has eight weeks to ask for a review, according to the report, and could go to the First-tier Tribunal if the council upholds the listing. Councillors could also call the decision in until 4pm on Tuesday 18 August. Either route would reopen the argument.
  • If a community group wants to buy it, the listing gives that group a six-week window to register interest once the owner gives notice of a sale, then up to six months to raise a bid. It does not give a discount or a right of first refusal.
  • A group is not the same as a plan. The owners’ point about capacity is worth noting: whatever the future model, the current premises licence caps the venue at 90 people, and any new operator would need to work within that or apply to vary it.
  • The wider picture: York now has 23 assets on the register, by the count in Councillor Rose’s letter plus this one. Officers also asked for future renewals of expiring listings to be decided at officer level rather than by an Executive Member; the published decision sheet records only the listing itself, so watch the minutes for whether that second recommendation was taken.

Nunnery Lane sits in Micklegate ward, just outside the walls by Victoria Bar. The York Times covers the city’s pubs in our local business directory, and council decisions on our York planning news page.