UK Plan Would Give Local Councils New Power to Block Betting Shops, Adult Gaming Centres

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled plans to hand local councils sweeping new powers to block betting shops and adult gaming centres from opening on Britain’s high streets, part of a broader package aimed at reviving town centres hit hard by years of retail decline.

The centerpiece of the announcement is the planned scrapping of the “aim to permit” rule under the Gambling Act 2005, which currently limits how much authority local authorities have to reject new betting shop applications that meet basic licensing requirements. Removing the rule would apply across Great Britain, while a separate requirement for adult gaming centres to secure planning permission before opening would apply in England only.

A Rule Dating Back to the Blair Government

The “aim to permit” policy was introduced in 2005 under Tony Blair’s government, which liberalized UK gambling law at the time — with Burnham himself serving as a minister in that administration. Two decades later, he’s now positioning its removal as a way to give “local people a real say over what opens on their high street,” arguing that vape shops, betting shops, and other “rogue operators” have crowded out the community spaces residents actually want.

The move builds on changes Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, introduced in April, which allowed councils to weigh the existing concentration of gambling premises in an area but stopped short of eliminating the aim-to-permit rule entirely. Officials say the fast-tracked consultation on the new measures will run six weeks, with the goal of having the rules in place by the start of 2027 — meaning the practical effect on new shop openings likely won’t be felt until well into next year.

Alongside the gambling changes, the government is also tightening rules around vape shops, which will now require planning permission in England, with a stricter legal definition designed to stop retailers from sidestepping the new rules by rebranding as general convenience stores. Officials also plan to extend police closure orders for premises linked to organized crime — such as unlicensed barbers and nail salons — from a maximum of six months to 12, giving investigators more runway to build cases against repeat offenders.

Betting and Gaming Council Pushes Back

The industry’s response was swift. A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council told the Racing Post that the group supports “tough action against criminal operators” but rejected the framing that legal betting shops are proliferating unchecked. According to the BGC, shop numbers have fallen by more than a third since 2019, with roughly 3,000 closures and over 15,000 jobs lost in that span. The group maintains that licensed shops still support 37,500 jobs and drive footfall for neighboring businesses, warning that empty storefronts — not regulated betting shops — pose the bigger threat to struggling high streets.

Part of a Wider Tax and Regulatory Squeeze

The planning shake-up lands just months after the UK raised its online gambling tax rate from 21% to 40% in April’s budget, with the online sports betting tax rate set to climb from 15% to 25%. Machine Games Duty for retail betting shops and adult gaming centres was untouched in last November’s budget, but there’s speculation it could rise when the next budget is unveiled on October 28 — a push partly fueled by a Social Market Foundation report estimating that doubling the duty on Category B machines to 40% could generate between £275 million and £458 million in additional revenue.

Taken together, the planning reform and the tax increases mark one of the most consequential regulatory stretches for UK land-based gambling operators in years, with betting shop and gaming centre operators now facing tighter routes to market at the same time as higher costs on the revenue side.

What It Means for Bettors and Operators

For now, existing betting shops and adult gaming centres are not directly affected — the changes apply to new premises seeking to open, not ones already trading. But the combined pressure of a tougher planning environment and rising duties could make UK operators more cautious about expanding their physical footprint, particularly for the 24-hour slot and fruit machine venues singled out in the proposal.

For bettors who split time between UK high-street shops and online platforms, the pressure on physical locations could accelerate a shift toward digital sportsbooks and betting apps in the years ahead, especially in towns where councils move quickly to use their new authority. Burnham’s team says a fuller picture of enforcement and timelines will emerge once the six-week consultation period concludes, but the direction of travel is clear: after two decades of the gambling industry having the edge on planning decisions, British councils are about to get considerably more leverage over what lands on their high streets.