North Crawley Chequers Listed: 6 Months to Bid If Sold

The Chequers at 24 High Street, North Crawley, has been listed as an Asset of Community Value by Milton Keynes City Council. The decision was taken and published on 18 August.

The listing does not stop the pub being sold. What it does is buy the village time. If the owner decides to dispose of it, they must tell the council first, and a clock starts.

The nomination came from the North Crawley Community Preservation Group. The council received it on 30 April and accepted it as valid on 22 June, according to the officer report put to the delegated decisions meeting.

What the listing actually does

The report sets out the sequence:

• the owner must notify the council of any intention to sell or otherwise dispose of the property
• an interim moratorium of six weeks follows, during which community or voluntary groups can register an interest in buying it
• if an expression of interest is received, a further six-month moratorium is triggered so a group can prepare and submit a bid
• the listing itself lasts up to five years

Two limits matter. The report states plainly that listing “does not confer any preferential status on any potential bidder and does not compel the owner to sell to any particular bidder, or to sell at all”. The owner can also ask the council to review the listing within eight weeks, and appeal a review decision to the First-Tier Tribunal.

The council says it contacted the owner on 22 June and received no objection from anyone it engaged with, including ward councillors, the parish council and council officers in planning, legal and property services.

Who owns it

The registered proprietor at the Land Registry is Hawthorn Leisure (Mantle) Limited, under title number BM188038. The report notes that Admiral Taverns Limited acquired the Hawthorn Leisure group in August 2021.

The pub sits in the Olney and Rural ward. It holds a food hygiene rating of 4 out of 5, inspected on 16 January 2025, and it is the only pub on the Food Standards Agency’s register for the village. Our own directory entry for The Chequers carries the address, phone number and rating.

Why the village argued for it

The council quoted the preservation group’s case at length. The group described the pub as:

• a welcoming, inclusive meeting place for residents of all ages
• a safe social environment that reduces rural isolation, particularly for older residents and those living alone
• a venue for birthdays, wakes, anniversaries and celebrations
• the only non-religious indoor community space in the village
• a base for village cricket and football teams, and a venue for darts, pool, quiz nights and live music
• a meeting point for walkers and cyclists using local footpaths and routes

Officers concluded the tests in Section 88(1) of the Localism Act 2011 were met: that the current use furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community, and that it is realistic to think that use can continue.

North Crawley has been here before

The village already had a listed asset and lost it to the clock. The council’s register of unsuccessful, removed and expired listings records Kilpin Green, bordering Orchard Way, nominated by the North Crawley Heritage Society and listed in September 2019. It expired in September 2024.

The same register shows listings are not automatic. Two Milton Keynes pubs have been refused: the Suffolk Punch in Heelands, and the Globe Inn at Hanslope, the latter because part of the premises is residential and a residence cannot be listed.

The council’s published list of currently listed assets, last updated in August 2025, holds six entries across the whole city and its villages:

• The Lamb, Stoke Goldington
• Ye Olde Swan, Woughton-on-the-Green
• The Cowpers Oak, Weston Underwood
• Weston Underwood Village Hall
• Wolverton Working Men’s Club, Western Road
• Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Working Men’s Club, Chandos Place

The Chequers will be the seventh, and the fourth pub. Two of those six have already had the machinery used on them: notices of intended disposal have been published for both The Lamb and Ye Olde Swan.

One thing to watch

The report flags a change coming. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and makes significant amendments to the Asset of Community Value regime. Those provisions are not yet in force, beyond what has been commenced for making regulations, and the report says there is no indication of when they will be. Until then, the Localism Act 2011 rules above are the ones that apply.

What it means for you

If you live in North Crawley, nothing changes today. The pub is trading and the listing does not oblige anyone to sell or buy.

What it means in practice is that the village cannot be caught out by a quiet sale. The owner has to declare an intention to dispose, and a constituted local group then has six weeks to say it wants to bid and six months to find the money. The five-year clock also means the listing has to be renewed before it lapses, which is exactly what happened at Kilpin Green.

Any parish or town council, charity, voluntary organisation or social enterprise can nominate a building or piece of land. The nomination form and guidance are on the council’s website.

For other village news and what is changing near you, see our Milton Keynes planning news and the MK Daily business directory.