New documents reveal how much WNC was going to charge popular coffee shop in Northampton before it closed its doors for good
New documents have revealed how much the council was going to charge a popular coffee shop in Northampton before it closed its doors for good – with the owner citing the “50 percent increase” as the reason for closure.
Saints Coffee was offered a new rent of £15,850 a year before the business closed, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The community interest company, based at 62 St Giles’ Street, shut in January 2026 after several years of trading.
The business said it had been hit with a 50 percent rent increase from West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), which led to the decision to close.
If the 50 percent increase is correct, this means the café had previously been paying roughly £10,500 a year.
In January, Saints Coffee said: “Unfortunately, the cost of doing business as a coffee shop is growing increasingly prohibitive and, despite conversations with our landlord, we're unable to reach a rent position that worked for both sides. We did not plan to close Saints Coffee, but a proposed rent increase of over 50 percent meant that continuing to trade was no longer viable.
“We may share the whole story one day, but for now we would prefer to focus on the challenges for our team and the positives of what we've managed to do over the last four and a half years.”
The closure sparked a strong reaction from readers Chronicle & Echo readers, with many criticising the council for increasing the rent.
At the time, WNC was asked if it wanted to comment on the closure. WNC declined saying it did not discuss individual cases.
However, FOI documents obtained by this newspaper now give more detail about what happened before the café closed.
In the documents, the council says Saints Coffee did not take out a new lease in 2021 when it moved into the unit. Instead, the company took over a lease that had originally started in 2014.
That lease was transferred to the company running Saints Coffee on June 18, 2021, meaning the rent continued at the level first set in 2014.
The council later offered the business a new 10-year lease at £15,850 a year.
This offer was made in April 2024, with the existing lease due to end in October 2024.
According to the council, the figure was based on advice from commercial property specialists Hadland’s Chartered Surveyors, who assessed what the property could be rented for on the open market.
In the FOI response, the council said the proposed rent reflected the market value of the property.
The council said that while the new rent was higher in cash terms, it was broadly similar to the 2014 rent once inflation over the last decade was taken into account.
Officials said evidence behind the rent was shared with the tenant during negotiations.
The council also said it advised the business to get its own professional advice, but it is not aware that the tenant obtained its own valuation.
Because of the type of lease in place, Saints Coffee could have applied to court to request a new tenancy at a market rent.
The council said the company chose not to do this.
In response, the owner of Saints Coffee said: “This isn’t an appropriate time to comment while the process relating to the lease has not fully concluded. We may share more about the situation in the future.”
WNC was asked if it would like to comment on the closure and the FOI findings, but declined again.