Nottingham City Council says it will consider reducing a planned rent increase for a Sherwood community centre after originally proposing to hike it by tens of thousands. The Place Activity Centre has been used as a venue by community groups, local MPs and neighbourhood watch meetings since it started operating in 1997.
The centre has been paying a peppercorn rent of £10 a year to the building's owner, Nottingham City Council, since that time. But staff at the centre were informed in 2020 that its rent would be increased to a commercial level of £12,000, eventually going up to £20,000 within four years.
The first payment of this was due last year, but an administrative error meant an invoice for the original peppercorn rent was sent and paid. But the city council originally said they still wanted last year's rent paying at the full commercial level and as part of the plans to eventually increase the rent to £20,000, the Place Activity Centre was facing a £14,000 bill at the end of September.
