LONDON — The UK government is preparing to abolish a rule that has stood since 2007 requiring local councils to approve new betting shops and gambling arcades whenever an operator met basic licensing conditions, regardless of how many similar venues already lined a high street or how residents felt about it.
The change targets the “aim to permit” provision of the Gambling Act 2005, which placed a statutory duty on licensing authorities to approve gambling premises meeting the Act’s objectives. Councils could attach conditions to a licence or refuse one only if an applicant demonstrably fell short of those criteria — never simply because a community didn’t want another bookmaker.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham framed the repeal as part of a broader campaign to revive Britain’s “hollowed out” town centres, saying the change would put local communities back in control of what opens on their streets. Burnham, a minister in the Blair government that introduced the original rule, is set to unveil the plan as part of a wider package of high-street reforms.
Under the new rules, adult gaming centres — venues offering round-the-clock access to slot machines — will for the first time require planning permission, closing a loophole that has let them open as easily as a coffee shop. New vape and e-cigarette retailers face the same requirement, with regulators tightening the definition of a “vape shop” to stop businesses rebranding as convenience stores to dodge the rules.
The numbers explain the government’s target. Betting shop numbers have fallen by close to a third since 2019, from 8,320 to 5,825 last year, as the retail betting sector continues to contract. Adult gaming centres have moved the opposite direction, rising to 1,415 locations in 2025 — up 7% between 2022 and 2024, according to a Social Market Foundation report commissioned by Brent Council. A third of all such centres, the report found, are now concentrated in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in Great Britain.
The Local Government Association welcomed the move, saying councils should have greater influence over which businesses operate in their communities.
The Betting and Gaming Council, the industry’s trade body, called the plan misguided. Licensed betting shops are being unfairly grouped with “rogue or criminal businesses,” a spokesperson said, noting the sector still supports 37,500 jobs despite losing more than 15,000 positions and roughly 3,000 shops since 2019. The real risk to high streets, the group argued, is more empty storefronts — not existing regulated bookmakers. Opposition politicians separately said the plan sidesteps the deeper economic pressures squeezing town centres.
The repeal applies across the entire premises-licensing regime, not just gaming arcades, meaning it will shape planning decisions for the shrinking betting-shop estate as well as curb the arcade sector the government considers the more pressing concern. Legislative detail is expected as the proposal moves through consultation and Parliament.
Sources: European Gaming, World Casino News, iGaming Business, Racing Post — August 2026.