Pubs in England & Wales are facing a massive hike in business rates this April. 75% are looking at increases in their rateable value — some by 500%+.
The government's signalled a potential u-turn, but nothing's confirmed yet.
So I built ismypubfucked.com
It uses official VOA data for 43,000 pubs to show what each one is facing. Enter your postcode and it finds the pub near you that most needs your support (using the very scientific Fucked Pub Index™).
You can also:
– Browse the map with all 43k pubs colour-coded by how screwed they are
– Check the leaderboard of the most fucked pubs in the country
Some of these increases are brutal.
This isn't a political thing. Pubs are community spaces and they're under pressure from all sides. If yours is facing a big increase, maybe go visit this weekend. Buy a pint. Have a chat.
Would love to know what you think!
Source: bjhguerin
11 Comments
The first 2 I looked at which are apparently in trouble closed years ago, one of them I know has been closed since covid. Others which have been around for decades don’t exist at all on the map.
Interesting and scary the increases my local pubs are facing.
> Pubs in England and Wales are facing a massive hike in business rates this April.
Aren’t they just losing the tax relief that was introduced during the pandemic?
We can’t seriously be talking about continuing with central government using tax revenue to pay the business rates of these failing businesses?
Funny that the three pubs I go to the most aren’t on this map at all. I assume that means they’re fine
I searched in my area – quite a few pubs are missing from the map, but honestly, they’re mostly green with some yellows around here. There was 1 red, but it closed years ago.
I’m in the valleys in South Wales.
The ‘most fucked’ the tool gave me is only in the ‘Fucked’ category, but it’s 7 miles away in the next valley, almost a 20 minute drive away.
Is this actually a massive issue? Maybe just something suffered by pubs in affluent areas or cities maybe?
I was 90% sure the site was just going to say “YES” in big letters
The closest to me is listed at 100% “Totally Fucked” with a rate increase predicted of 515% to 46K.
It’s a lovely little pub used in a few TV shows and mostly does business in the Summer as the outside space is much nicer. Indoors is old and small and quaint and most evenings just a dozen or so regulars. I can’t see them surviving and it would be quite the loss.
Was gonna say, my local would have been fucked, but it already closed the door last year after 230 years… Seeing it boarded up and sprayed over is a sorry sight.
Thanks that was interesting.
My local’s rateable value is going down by 9%, so I’ll be asking him why he’s put the prices up next year 😆
i like this..thanks for putting the effort in, fingers crossed the mafia make the U turn
I love this. And it’s a great initiative. Pubs are excellent community spaces. I want them to continue.
But we have to accept that people don’t go to pubs so much anymore because it’s too expensive. Yes, I’ll understand the prices rises aren’t unilaterally raised by the pubs themselves.
Nevertheless it used to be that you could go the pub without really thinking about it – pop in for a pint or two, maybe have a burger. Those days are over. So if normal, average, bog standars people can’t afford to drop in have a pint, then the whole model needs change.
“Young people aren’t drinking anymore” – they simply can’t afford to.