Hospitality’s red tape problem: what UKHospitality wants fixed, and what founders can do now

Opening a bar, café or restaurant isn’t just about finding a lease. For new hospitality founders, waiting on licences and planning decisions can drain cash before the doors have opened. 

UKHospitality recognises the problem and is urging the Government to implement the Licensing Reform Taskforce’s recommendations in full. Its new report also makes 33 recommendations, spanning business rates, planning, rent and skills.

It lands as the Government develops its High Street Strategy, which UKHospitality wants licensing and planning reform to be part of. However, the reform that has landed so far is non-statutory guidance, so we also break down what hospitality founders can do before licensing reform is enshrined into law.

Licensing is the biggest barrier for new venues, says UKHospitality

The trade body’s report, Placemaking: a blueprint for the high street, argues that restrictive local policies are holding back investment and growth in hospitality. Licensing is where that bites first for new businesses, as you can’t trade until you’re approved.

To guarantee more certainty, UKHospitality is calling for a more growth-focused licensing framework that gives operators more certainty when they invest. It also wants stronger engagement between operators, licensing authorities and local communities, because it argues restrictive local policies can hold back growth. 

For founders, the practical point is that uncertainty is a cost. Every month a site sits empty while you wait for a decision is a month of rent and fixed costs with no revenue coming in.

As Allen Simpson, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, puts it: “Successful places need successful hospitality.” He added that the sector’s ability to fulfil its potential “is being constrained” by regulatory burdens, which the report aims to tackle alongside cost pressures. Licensing isn’t the only barrier addressed in the playbook, though.

Planning, rent and business rates: the other changes UKHospitality wants

Beyond licensing, the report makes recommendations in six other areas.

On planning, UKHospitality wants presumptive permission, where applications are approved automatically if they meet set criteria, plus a fast-track route for major and minor applications.

It also calls for Upwards Only Rent Review legislation to support sustainable rents, a faster business rates appeals process ahead of the 2026 revaluation, and a legally stronger Agent of Change principle to protect existing venues from new developments nearby. 

None of this replaces action on tax, the trade body says. It points out hospitality pays 82% of pre-tax profits in business taxes, the highest out of any sector of the economy, and wants that tackled at the Budget on 28 October.

So, what happens next? Well, some movement is likely, as the Government has already publicly backed parts of this agenda. It has said, for instance, that it supports strengthening the Agent of Change principle in licensing decisions. It published a National Licensing Policy Framework in November 2025, although that is only guidance thus far, rather than law.

It has also said its High Streets Strategy will include licensing reform, consultation on new planning policy and at least £150 million of support, but that strategy is still in development.

However, until any of this becomes law, founders will have to work within the current system. To avoid playing a waiting game, here are five practical steps to keep your opening on track: