Northampton man criticises council after it took 11 months to be told he could not rent a shop - costing him £10,000

A Northampton man trying to set up a new business in the town has criticised the council after he has been left waiting months to rent a building, only to be told he will not be granted the lease.

Dave Dillow, from Far Cotton, was kicked out of his previous second hand goods shop in Towcester after landlords gave him three months notice to move out at the end of last year.

The 45-year-old had a plan however to smoothly transition to another unit, with £10,000 in savings and eyes on an available shop owned by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) in St James Road. However, it has been 11 months now that Dave has been liasing with WNC to move into one of two empty properties in St James Road. His £10,000 savings are all gone, mainly on storage costs for his old stock, and he is now living on Universal Credit.

He said: "I'm currently out of work now. It's costing me a fortune in storage for all my stock from my old shop. It's just depressing, frustrating and annoying. Every time I get close I just get let down again. It's eaten all my savings. I'm living on Universal Credit now. The only time I ever get anywhere is if I actually complain to the council. You don't hear anything for weeks [from the asset management team]. It just seems a bit ridiculous. They say WNC is best for business but they don't want to help anybody. When you walk around town you've got nearly 100 empty shops."

Dave was hoping to move into the former library in St James Road, next to the Post Office, and open his shop to “help people”. He said: "I'm going to be doing second hand goods. Like a charity shop but cheaper. With the times as they are, with people struggling with money, I just want to help people."

Independent councillor Julie Davenport, of the Delapre and Rushmere ward, said she has been “trying hard” to help Dave. She said: “I’ve tried so hard to push things along… but we are both hitting a brick wall. It’s sad because Dave could have been earning a living for the past 10 months rather than claiming Universal Credit and struggling. He really wants to get back to work. I obviously cannot understand the delay and share his frustration at the whole situation.”

This newspaper got in touch with the council and finally managed to get an answer for Dave, who was told on Thursday (November 3) that he would not be granted a lease.

Simon Bowers, WNC’s Assistant Director for assets and environment said: “WNC has a large number of commercial tenants, and when considering prospective tenants, it carries out a range of checks to establish if they are likely to be able to meet the obligations which comes from leasing commercial property. Unfortunately, in this case those tests have not been met, so it would be irresponsible – both for the taxpayer and for the prospective tenant – to enter into a lease.

“We hope Mr Dillow finds another way of fulfilling his business ambitions.”

Following the news that he will not be able to rent a shop, Dave has been left even more frustrated. He says he had the money to pass the financial checks, but, due to how long process took, that money has now gone. He says he will continue to search for a way to open the shop.