Commercial landlords and letting agents across the Black Country are working out what a planned change in the law could mean for their high-street units. Councils in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton are set to gain the power to refuse new betting shops, removing one of the few tenant types that has kept opening on struggling parades.
The plans, announced by Prime Minister Andy Burnham on 11 August, arrived alongside a new £10m fund for the region’s town centres.
What changes for landlords and councils
The Government says it intends to revoke the Gambling Act’s ‘Aim to Permit’ rule. Since 2005 the rule has told licensing authorities to start from a presumption in favour of granting gambling premises, which has made it hard for councils to turn down a betting shop or a 24-hour slot machine shop once a landlord has agreed a letting.
Adult gaming centres will also need planning permission under proposals due to take effect at the start of next year, and vape shops are being brought under the same planning control. The maximum length of closure orders, used against problem premises, will double from six to 12 months.
The local exposure is significant. The Gambling Commission’s premises register lists 113 licensed betting shops and 22 adult gaming centres across the four boroughs, with Sandwell alone accounting for 42 of the betting shops and 15 of the gaming centres. Existing premises are not affected, but any new letting of this kind would face a council that can now say no.
Spending moves online, not away
For property owners, the bigger trend predates the announcement. Gambling operators have been shifting their business from shopfronts to apps, and planning law has no reach over a phone. Online play answers to the Gambling Commission, headquartered at Victoria Square in Birmingham, whose rules have capped online slot stakes at £5 per spin, or £2 for players aged 18 to 24, since spring 2025, and limited bonus wagering requirements to ten times the bonus since January this year.
The first check on any online operator is the Commission’s own public register of licensed businesses, searchable on its website, which shows whether a company holds a licence and whether it has faced regulatory action.
Beyond that, a crowded market of commercial comparison sites, paid when a player signs up and so never a neutral view of the whole market, now does the job a betting shop window once did. One of them, for example, ranks licensed sites on bonus terms, payment options and customer support, printing each operator’s licence number next to its score.
Costs rising for licensed operators
The regulated industry is also paying more to trade. Gambling Commission licence fees are due to rise by 25 per cent overall from 1 October, subject to secondary legislation, with the exact increase varying by licence type.
For operators already facing tighter rules online and closer scrutiny of their shops, the direction of travel is fewer new premises and higher overheads for the ones that remain.
What comes next for town centres
The planning powers land alongside the £10m High Streets and Growth Incubator Fund announced by West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker. The Black Country Chamber of Commerce welcomed the money, with chief executive Sarah Moorhouse saying ‘our high streets are already a real strength for this region’ and asking for sustained backing for its SMEs.
Units that might once have gone to a bookmaker or an arcade could now be steered towards independent retailers, food and drink, or services, which matters to landlords weighing up long-term tenants. The Chamber has already been backing new firms in four centres through its latest Bostin business cohort. How far that reshapes local parades will depend on how councils use the powers once the details are confirmed.
Anyone worried about their own or someone else’s gambling can call the National Gambling Helpline free on 0808 8020 133.
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