Under-threat cinema listed as asset of community value

One of London’s most famous independent cinemas has been listed as an asset of community value (ACV).

The Prince Charles Cinema, in Leicester Square, announced the news that Westminster City Council had bestowed the title months after it revealed concerns about its future as a result of its landlord seeking to impose new terms.

The cinema’s current lease is due to expire in September and the building’s owner wants to raise the rent. The listing provides the local community with the right to try to raise funds and bid for the building first if it is put up for sale.

The cinema described the recognition as “a huge honour”, but added “the fight continues to secure a long term lease”.

If a building is listed as an ACV, its owner must notify the council if it is put up for sale. A six-month moratorium on the sale can then be invoked by the local community to give them the chance to raise finance and make a bid to buy it on the open market.

However, it does not require a landowner to sell their property to a community group and does not mean a landowner has to continue any existing lease.

In a statement about the listing, the cinema said: “Though this recognition is a huge honour, the fight continues to secure a long term lease that will enable us to invest in our future development and continue to bring the best of what we do to Leicester Place.

“We believe that any truly great venue is built on the shoulders of those who work within and those who support it – and we couldn’t have asked for a more passionate and vocal level of support from the many thousands of you who signed the petition, bought tickets, became members or simply just kept coming through our doors.

“Thank you to every one of you who took a moment to support our cause.”

More than 160,000 people have signed a petition to save the venue.

Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice, has previously spoken up for the Leicester Square cinema, which he described as “like tuning into your favourite radio station”.

Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs director Quentin Tarantino said it was “everything an independent movie theatre should be”, adding that “for lovers of quality films, this is Mecca”.

The venue, one of the last remaining independent cinemas in central London, has accused the landlord, Zedwell LSQ, of trying to “bully” the business out of the building.

Criterion Capital, Zedwell LSQ’s parent company, said the terms of a new lease were standard practice and not unreasonable.