UK to shield all pubs from conversion into housing or offices
England's housing secretary Angela Rayner will unveil planning reforms this week that protect every pub from being turned into homes or offices, amid a wave of pub closures.
The UK government is preparing a sweeping overhaul of planning rules in England that would protect all pubs from being converted into housing or commercial premises. The new national planning policy framework will be presented this week by housing secretary Angela Rayner, who is simultaneously working to further loosen planning laws to help deliver 3 million new homes by the end of this parliament.
Ministers had initially been consulting on a narrower plan that would have protected only the last remaining pub in a given area. However, after hospitality campaigners warned that such a limited approach could still lead to the loss of thousands of pubs, the government decided to widen the protection to cover every pub facing a threat of conversion.
The move comes amid growing concern over the pace of pub closures across England. According to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), 794 pubs have closed so far this year, with 82 of them either demolished or converted to other uses. Pub and restaurant operators have pointed to rising employer national insurance contributions, a higher minimum wage, food price inflation and high business rates as key pressures. Separately, minister Andy Burnham has already announced a cut in business rates for the hospitality sector.
Under the new rules, developers will be required to prove there is no realistic prospect of keeping a pub running as a viable business, including showing evidence it was marketed for sale for at least a year. Local councils will also have to weigh whether losing a pub would deprive a community of a place to gather.
Rayner said pubs are woven into the national identity, serving as places where people celebrate, grieve, argue and feel a sense of belonging, and argued it was wrong that weak protections had allowed so many to disappear without a fight. She stressed that building badly needed homes should not come at the expense of beloved local pubs.
Camra had previously warned that restricting protection to only the last pub in an area risked spelling the end for thousands of otherwise viable pubs, insisting that protections must apply to all pubs so communities can fight to save their local regardless of whether other pubs remain nearby.
