Protecting Historic Pubs

What challenges do pubs face?

The number of pubs in England has always ebbed and flowed, dictated by changes in society and the economy. However, in recent years the total number of pubs in the UK has markedly decreased, with a reduction of around 15% in the decade between 2010 and 2020.

There are many reasons why pubs may be faced with closure or change of use, including:

• Changing patterns of alcohol consumption
• Changing working patterns
• Competition from other local entertainment and social spaces
• Increasing operational costs, including the rising cost of utilities
• Rates of beer tax
• The availability of low-cost alcohol in supermarkets and other shops
• The high and rising value of pub sites for redevelopment, especially in urban and suburban areas
• The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry
• Wider economic issues
• Wider social and demographic changes

Whilst the overall number of pubs in the UK has decreased in recent years, many pubs have proved their resilience by expanding their offerings, incorporating services and facilities such as meeting rooms, postal services, hot desking and community grocery stores. Read on to find out about a range of options for helping to secure the future of our historic public houses.

Community ownership

For over a decade, the law has required local authorities to maintain registers of Assets of Community Value (ACVs). Assets (which can be buildings, and/or land) on the register are nominated by local community groups, or the parish council. The local authority determines whether the asset is suitable to be registered as an ACV, and if included on the register the asset will remain registered for five years. Only assets whose function benefits the community can be registered as ACVs, and examples include sports facilities, arts venues, libraries and pubs.

When assets on the register come up for sale interested local groups are given time to raise funds and prepare a bid that, if successful, would enable them to take control of the asset. To enable the group or groups to decide if they would like to bid, an initial moratorium (pause) of six weeks prevents the asset from being sold. If at the end of the six weeks the community group decide they would like to prepare a bid, a further moratorium of six months begins. This enables the group to raise funds, research the potential costs, consider how they would manage the asset in the future and prepare a bid. Under current law, the owner is not required to accept the community group’s bid.

Many ACVs are also heritage buildings, and so communities must consider the extra responsibility of caring for a historic asset, which may be listed or included on a local heritage list.

Pubs as community hubs

Pubs have always served more than pints; whether that’s a medieval inn hosting a sheep market, an early modern alehouse doubling as a pawn shop, or a twenty-first century pub using part of its space as a library.

 Today, pubs offer a lot to their local communities: 

• The Star Inn at Vogue, Cornwall, runs a micro-library, a work club, take away food, hairdressers and an IT access point.  
• The Duck in Stanhoe (near King’s Lynn) runs a village store; an essential service for a village that is four miles away from the nearest grocery shop.  
• The Blacksmiths Arms in Branston (near Burton-on-Trent) has partnered with Paget High School to offer a series of employability skills workshops for school-leavers. 

These services are a sound social investment. Recent research suggested that for every £1 spent investing in the provision of services and activities in the pub, an average of £8.28 of social value is created.  

The importance of investing in the spaces and structures that bring people together and restore a sense of pride to communities is increasingly being realised, for example through the government's recent Pride in Place Strategy. 

Of course, publicans are famously strapped for time, running vital businesses for their communities and ensuring long-term commercial viability. Not everyone can attribute resource to starting a social initiative without assistance. Organisations such as Pub is the Hub and pub company Punch work alongside pubs to provide funding, advice, and training to allow pub workers to take advantage of the opportunities that might otherwise be just out of reach. A historic pub might have once been the site of a local sheep market, but today it could be the place where a customer can rely on an IT access point – and a nice, cold pint.  

Pub protection policies

The National Planning Policy Framework (the NPPF) contains the policies which Local Planning Authorities are required take into account when preparing Local Plans. This includes the requirement to ensure that the Local Plan properly considers the heritage of the local area (ranging from that of local to international significance) and the future conservation of that heritage, including considering viable and sustainable uses and recognising the contribution that heritage makes to the character of the area.

As part of their Local Plan, Local Planning Authorities can develop specific policies outlining how they plan to manage certain aspects of the local area, such as heritage and community facilities. Increasingly, LPAs are developing specific policies about pubs (and sometimes clubs and other night-time venues), recognising their importance as part of the social fabric of the local community. Local Plans are developed with the input of the local community through a consultation process, and they are generally reviewed every five years.

Local Authorities facing particular development pressures that may make pubs vulnerable are being proactive in having a specific pub policy in their local plans. This commitment to the future of pubs in the local area enables a consistent approach to managing pubs through the planning system, which provides certainty for applicants and ensures that the local facilities that communities value are considered appropriately. Below are two examples of pub policies, from the London Plan and the Greater Norwich Local Plan.

The London Plan

The London Plan ‘sets out an integrated economic, environmental, transport and social framework for the development of London over the next 20-25 years’.2 It is the statutory spatial development plan for the capital and includes a policy on pub protection, recognising the contribution that pubs make to the history and culture of the city, as well as to its economy. The Plan also recognises that pubs can be valuable in regeneration, social inclusion (for instance by providing additional community services) and as valuable social spaces for particular groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.

Norwich City Council

In the historic city of Norwich, the City Council recognises the part that pubs can play in community cohesion, tourism and the cultural life of the area, as well as valuing their role as heritage assets and a vital part of the city’s social history. As such, Norwich City Council’s Local Plan includes a policy designed to safeguard community facilities such as pubs (DM22 Planning for and safeguarding community facilities). In addition, the City Council have developed a list of protected pubs of ‘special historic or community significance’, which includes 34 pubs in the city centre and 51 outside of it.

To be included on this list (which includes designated and non-designated historic pubs), the venue must be in established use as a pub or café bar, and have "…served the community as licensed premises for a significant period of time (1900 or before), or if built after that date, have been purpose-built as a public house to serve the local community within a housing area or estate. Priority will be given to protection of public houses which are the last such pub in the area".

Local heritage lists

Local heritage lists are usually developed and managed by the local planning authority in collaboration with the community and local organisations such as civic societies. Local lists can include buildings, designed landscapes (such as parks and gardens), archaeology, elements of the natural environment and more. Assets included on local lists are known as Non-Designated Heritage Assets (NDHAs). About 70% of LPAs in England have a local heritage list, although in some areas the list may be outdated or only cover parts of the local authority area.

Unlike statutory listing (listed buildings on the National Heritage List for England, the NHLE), there is no separate consenting regime for works to a locally listed building, however, planning permission will usually be required. When assessing planning applications that affect an NDHA or its setting the LPA is required to make a balanced judgement, considering the scale of any harm and the significance of the asset.

Pubs are often included on local heritage lists, as places that contribute positively to the character of the local area, and which people value as part of the social infrastructure of a place. This reflects the important community aspect of local lists, which should be developed through dialogue and collaboration with the local community and/or groups which represent it.

Some LPAs have taken proactive steps to recognise the importance of the area’s pubs through their local heritage list. In 2019, Tower Hamlets added 41 new buildings to their local list, of which 35 were pubs located outside of Conservation Areas. The draft consultation document for new additions to the local list includes a summary of the architecture and design features common to the Borough’s public houses, as well as photographs and detailed descriptions.

There is a natural crossover between ACVs and local heritage lists too, as both involve the identification of assets of value to the local community, but for different purposes. When asked as part of a 2025 survey of LPAs with local heritage lists, eighteen responding LPAs were aware of buildings bridging both their local heritage list and the register of ACVs.

National listing

Listing celebrates and provides protection to the nation's special buildings, and anyone can recommend a building for listing through our application process. Once a building is listed, changes that might affect its special interest have to be managed through the planning system. Listing buildings of special architectural or historical interest began in the 1940s, with the Town and Country Planning Acts of 1944 and 1947. The first pubs were added to the List in 1947, as part of the list for the Borough of Waverley in Surrey. Today there are more than 11,000 buildings on the List that are either currently in use as, or were previously, pubs or inns. These range from ornate Victorian gin palaces to quirky Post-War public houses.

Listed pubs and inns can be enjoyed and used like any other building. Listing does not prevent all changes or freeze a building in time; it simply means that listed building consent must be applied for in order to make any changes to that building which might affect its character as a building of special interest. Listing status covers the entire building, so works requiring consent might include replacing windows and internal alterations, for example. It is important to note that listing in itself does not prevent change of use, but it can be a tool for recognising and protecting some of our oldest and most unique public houses, provided they meet the criteria.

You can find out more on our listing webpages, and discover past pub listing projects on our Pubs Hub.

Further advice and support

Glossary