Cumulative Impact Zones (CIZs) under the Licensing Act 2003 allow local authorities to restrict new alcohol licences in designated areas where they believe further licences would increase crime, disorder, or public nuisance. In practice, these zones – now covering parts of over 100 towns and cities – have become a blanket ban on new pubs, bars, restaurants, and off-licences. The Home Office’s 2025 Licensing Statistics show that 68 % of new premises licence applications in CIZ areas are refused or withdrawn, compared with just 12 % outside them.
For small entrepreneurs – the independent publicans, craft brewers, and café owners who want to open a community pub or wine bar – the zones are a killer. A proposed new micro-pub in a CIZ in Portsmouth or a gastro-pub in a high-street zone in Bristol can face six-month delays, £10,000+ in legal and consultant fees, and near-certain refusal even with impeccable plans. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) 2025 report estimates that CIZs have prevented over 1,200 new licensed premises since 2015 – the majority of which would have been independent SMEs.
Large pubcos and chains can afford the appeals, consultants, and political lobbying to navigate or challenge zones. Small operators cannot. When they give up, high streets lose vitality, communities lose gathering places, and local economies lose jobs and rates.
The solution is simple and overdue:
- Abolish Cumulative Impact Zones for all premises licence applications from businesses with turnover under £2 million (covering 95 % of independent pubs and bars).
- Replace them with targeted, evidence-based conditions only where police data shows specific, proven issues.
- Require local authorities to review existing zones every three years with independent scrutiny.
- Estimated cost to government: zero – in fact, it unlocks hundreds of millions in new business rates, VAT, and jobs (BBPA economic modelling).
This is not deregulation; it is fairness. The Licensing Act was never intended to create permanent no-go zones for small businesses. Scotland and Wales have already moved away from blanket CIZs toward evidence-led decisions with better outcomes.
Stop using cumulative impact as a blunt instrument against new independent pubs. Let small entrepreneurs breathe life back into our high streets.
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