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It has been a bad year for pubs. New data by tax specialists Ryan sketches a dispiriting scene, with the equivalent of one pub a day closing permanently in England and Wales throughout the year. In total, in the 12 months leading up to December, 366 pubs were either demolished or converted for other uses. The total number of pubs in England and Wales (including vacant sites and those being offered to let) fell to 38,623 from 38,989 a year earlier.
“These pubs have closed permanently, not temporarily,” Alex Probyn, practice leader for Europe and Asia-Pacific property tax at Ryan, told the Press Association. “The buildings have been demolished or converted into housing, offices, nurseries, cafes or other uses. Once repurposed, they almost never return to pub use.”
Nearly 2,000 pubs have disappeared over the past five years, with every region of England and Wales recording a net loss during 2025. The East Midlands, North West and Yorkshire & the Humber saw the steepest declines.
The closures follow increases in the national minimum wage and national insurance contributions this April — and worse is set to come. From next April, the average business rates payment for pubs is set to rise following an average increase in rateable values of 30 per cent.
Probyn added: “This data should serve as a wake-up call. It reflects deep structural pressures on pubs. Many survived the pandemic through resilience and community support, only to be pushed to the brink by rising costs and a rating system that no longer reflects economic reality.”
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “Every time we lose a pub we lose a piece of our social fabric. Many of these closures are totally unnecessary and the result of a heavy tax and rates burden, which is why it’s never been more vital for a pub-specific business rates relief which could prevent more closures and more job losses.
“The situation is drastic and we want to work with Government to ensure pubs are given a fair deal otherwise communities will lose cherished local institutions and, once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.”
As bad as it is, the figure is fractionally lower than predictions made in the summer by the British Beer and Pub Association, which suggested 378 businesses would go under. And in London, the picture is far from clear, especially on second glance. In August, statistics from the ONS suggested that the decline of London pubs might not be as dramatic as feared. The data, taken from the Office for National Statistics’ Inter-departmental Business Register — and accurate up to March last year — suggested that between 2023 and 2024, the net number of London pubs closing was 10. Over the past 10 years, that figure rose to just 90: in 2024, the ONS reports a total of 3,525 pubs across London. In 2014, that figure was 3,615.
The loss over 20 years is, however, considerably more dramatic. Between 2004 and 2024, London has lost an estimated 930 pubs, with the majority of these closures coming soon after the 2007 smoking ban. In the seven years leading up to the ban, 160 pubs closed. In the seven years afterwards, 680.
While statistics for this year aren’t yet out, the net loss being so low is not entirely a surprise. London has seen a number of pubs that temporarily closed being brought back to life — some with new operators, others after refurbishment. The likes of the Rising Sun in Eltham, the Adam and Eve in Westminster and the Crabtree Tavern in Hammersmith are all trading after brief closures. Likewise, one of this year’s most popular openings — the Marlborough in Mayfair, which houses Crisp pizza — is a pub that revives a site long shut, and a similar story can be found with the Macbeth on Hoxton Street. Others that came back in a new guise include the Shaston Arms in Soho, the Freemason’s Arms in Covent Garden — now trading as the Bull and Egret — and the Newman Arms in Fitzrovia. The much-loved Crooked Well in Camberwell is now the popular Kerfield Arms. Elsewhere, Westminster’s Ganymede pub became the Elizabeth, while the Cricketers in Kew turned into the Rose and Crown. The Baxter’s Arms in Hackney is now the DC Lion. Across the capital, then, pubs are battling on.
London pub closures in 2025
- The Blue Lion, Gray’s Inn Road
- The Old Bank, Battersea
- Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, Swiss Cottage
- Newmarket Ale House, Holloway
- The Cally, Caledonian Road
- The Star, Dartmouth Park
- Brewdog (Camden, Shoreditch, and Shepherd’s Bush)
- Queen’s Arms, High Barnet
- Black Horse, High Barnet
- Ryan’s N16, Stoke Newington
- Woodhouse, North Finchley
- The Gun, Homerton
- The Plough, Homerton
- Galviniser’s Union, Bow
- The Oliver Conquest, Aldgate
- The Denmark Arms, East Ham
- Two Brewers, Croydon
- Market Tavern, Croydon
- Hare & Hounds, Croydon
- Elgon View, Thornton Heath
- Jack & Jill, Coulsdon
- The Sutton Arms, Sutton
- Coopers, Sutton
- Duke of Greenwich, Greenwich
- Anglesea Arms, Woolwich
- The Banker’s Draft, Eltham
- Crayford Arms, Crayford
- The Oak, Shepherd’s Bush
- Queen Adelaide, Shepherds Bush
- Plough and Harrow, Hammersmith
- Frankfort Arms, Maida Vale
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