{"id":11148,"date":"2026-08-12T03:16:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/12\/uk-government-plans-major-change-to-gambling-premises-licensing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T03:16:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:16:37","slug":"uk-government-plans-major-change-to-gambling-premises-licensing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/12\/uk-government-plans-major-change-to-gambling-premises-licensing\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government Plans Major Change to Gambling Premises Licensing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans to remove the Gambling Act 2005 rule that tells councils to \u201caim to permit\u201d gambling premises. The government also plans to require planning permission for adult gaming centres from the start of 2027.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Section 153 currently tells councils to aim to permit gambling premises when applications meet licensing requirements.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Adult gaming centres will require planning permission under the new government plan.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Great Britain had 5,825 betting shops and 1,415 adult gaming centres in 2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong>Councils Set to Get More Control Over Gambling Premises<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Removing Section 153 would change a long standing part of local gambling licensing. Councils currently cannot reject a premises licence simply because an area already has several betting shops or because residents oppose another venue. Applications must instead be judged against licensing objectives, Gambling Commission guidance and local licensing policy.<\/p>\n<p>Burnham said the government intends to revoke the rule as part of a wider high street policy announced on August 11. Adult gaming centres will also need planning permission, closing a route that currently allows some venues to open without a separate planning application.<\/p>\n<p>The licensing reform follows another change already approved by Parliament. Section 87 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 created Gambling Impact Assessments, which will let councils consider the concentration of gambling premises when deciding applications. Those provisions had not yet entered into force as of July 20, although the government expected implementation before the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Retail gambling data also shows two different trends. Gambling Commission figures put the number of betting shops at 5,825 in 2025, well below earlier levels, while adult gaming centres stood at 1,415.<\/p>\n<p>Research from the Social Market Foundation found a 7% increase in adult gaming centres between 2022 and 2024, with growth concentrated more heavily in deprived areas. A separate SMF study estimated annual economic losses linked to machine gambling harm at \u00a32.33 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The policy therefore lands during a difficult period for retail bookmakers. Betfred confirmed plans in July to close 132 shops and cut more than 600 jobs. Chief executive Joanne Whittaker linked the closures to higher employment costs, gambling taxes and wider economic conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Tax changes add another cost for operators. Remote Gaming Duty increased from 21% to 40% in April 2026, while General Betting Duty on most online sports betting will rise from 15% to 25% in April 2027.<\/p>\n<p>For adult gaming centre operators, the new planning requirement creates an additional local approval stage. For betting shops, removal of the aim to permit rule could give councils greater freedom to reject new premises even as the overall betting shop estate continues to shrink.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/uk-government-plans-major-change-to-gambling-premises-licensing\/\">UK Government Plans Major Change to Gambling Premises Licensing<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans to remove the Gambling Act 2005 rule that tells councils to \u201caim to permit\u201d gambling premises. The government also plans to require planning permission for adult gaming centres from the start of 2027. Good to Know Section 153 currently tells councils to aim to permit gambling premises when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}