Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to publish the response to the consultation on restricted covenants for pubs carried out in 2011.

The Department carried out a consultation into whether the use of restrictive covenants by pub companies was having a negative effect on communities since, once sold with such a covenant, a pub could not continue to be used as a pub by its new owners. The consultation drew only a small number of responses and it was concluded that there was an insufficient evidence base to justify legislative action by the Government. Some respondents argued that such a use of restrictive covenants did have an impact upon communities, but others disagreed and maintained they are rarely used. We will seek to publish the response to this consultation in due course and are willing to consider the issue further if sufficient evidence is provided in the future.