Housing Secretary Angela Rayner will present new planning laws in England to protect all pubs from conversion into housing or offices. The move aims to preserve community hubs amid rising closures, requiring developers to prove a pub cannot remain viable before conversion.
The new planning laws aim to preserve pubs as vital community assets, addressing concerns about their decline while also seeking to facilitate much-needed housing development.
All pubs in England will be protected from being converted into housing or offices under a revised planning policy framework to be introduced by Housing Secretary Angela Rayner. This move aims to safeguard community hubs amidst concerns over high closure rates.
The government's new national planning policy framework, intended to facilitate the construction of 3 million homes, will extend protections to all pubs, not just the last one in a community area as was previously considered. Hospitality campaigners had warned that narrower protections could lead to the loss of thousands of viable pubs.
Under the new regulations, developers will be required to prove that a pub has no reasonable prospect of remaining a going concern, including evidence of it being marketed for sale for at least a year. Local councils will also need to assess the impact of losing a pub on the community.
Rayner stated that pubs are integral to the nation's identity and communities, expressing outrage at the weak protections that have allowed too many to close. She emphasized that the need for new housing should not come at the expense of beloved local establishments.
According to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), 794 pubs have closed in England this year, with 82 being demolished or converted. Pub and restaurant industry leaders have cited increased employer national insurance contributions, higher minimum wages, food price inflation, and high business rates as contributing factors to closures.