Wolverhampton outdoor market rents are frozen

Rents are set to be frozen at outdoor markets across Wolverhampton next year, it was revealed today.

Stallholders in the city centre reeling from the collapse of the £300 million Summer Row shopping centre dream they hoped would revive trade today welcomed the move.

Rates are due to remain the same at Bilston and Wednesfield markets, which are struggling to fill pitches.

Some charges at Bilston Indoor Market, where all stalls are occupied and visitor numbers are climbing nine per cent year-on-year, will rise by between two and six per cent next year under the plans. Wolverhampton City Council say the changes there will bring prices across the market into line.

The freeze at outdoor markets means traders in the city centre will continue to pay between £12.70 and £30.90 a day next year.

In Bilston fees would remain the same, ranging from £12.95 to £36.40 depending on location and day of the week.

Wednesfield stallholders would pay £12.70 to £22.45 a day in 2011/12, the same as this financial year.

The proposals are recommended for approval by the council's cabinet next Tuesday.

Just 43.6 per cent of outdoor stalls in the city centre are occupied, while 54.1 per cent and 71.5 per cent are filled in Bilston and Wednesfield outdoor markets respectively.

Neil Spiers, who has run a haberdashery stall in the city centre for 20 years, today welcomed a rents freeze. He said: "I'm delighted. We didn't expect it in the current climate."