BetOut

Our community, outbid.
Nearly 500 lives are lost to gambling every year in England. The Gambling Act 2005 forces councils to "aim to permit" new betting shops, and they can't say no for reasons like there being too many already. There are now more betting shops than libraries, more than museums, or theatres, even children's centres. These are 10x more concentrated in the poorest areas.

BetOut is an interactive map that puts into perspective just how invasive this industry has become. Is your area one of the lucky ones?

BetOut

Our community, outbid.
Nearly 500 people in England take their lives every year explicitly due to gambling-related harm. One in five members of the public is either directly or indirectly harmed by it right now - through debt, relationship breakdown, mental illness, or even bereavement. The economic cost of this is estimated at £1.77 billion a year.

The Gambling Act 2005 stripped councils of the power to say no to new betting premises on our streets. Its "aim to permit" rule means authorities must approve new betting shop licenses unless they can prove specific harms, they're unable to refuse on the grounds of an area having too many already. Research has found betting shops are 10x more concentrated in deprived areas, where people are 3x more likely to develop gambling problems.

There are currently more betting shops than children's centres, libraries, museums, and art galleries in the UK. What would you rather have on your High Street?

Zoom in on the map to find stats for your area. It's time to get Bet Out.
Made by Danny Gambling Commission, DfE, DCMS, Arts Council, OSM, MHCLG, ONS
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lost by bettors every year
Based on Gambling Commission GGY data

Data sources and limitations

Betting shops come from the Gambling Commission premises licence register, filtered to active betting shop licences in England and geocoded from postcodes via postcodes.io. Points represent postcode centroids, not exact shopfront locations.

Libraries are from DCMS public library data (2016 baseline). Some closures since this dataset was compiled may not be reflected.

Children's centres are from the DfE Get Information About Schools service, filtered to open centres in England.

Museums, galleries, theatres, arts centres, and community centres are sourced from OpenStreetMap. Coverage is community-maintained and varies by area. Rural areas and smaller venues are likely underrepresented, meaning these counts are almost certainly conservative.

Food banks, shelters, and Jobcentres (used for proximity analysis only) are also from OpenStreetMap and will be incomplete.

Deprivation uses the English Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 (MHCLG) at LSOA level. The heatmap visualises deprivation intensity across 33,755 small areas. Population figures are ONS mid-2022 estimates.

Suicide and harm statistics are from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (2023), the University of Bristol (2025), and GambleAware.

References

Gambling Commission. (2025). Industry statistics: Annual report, financial year April 2024 to March 2025. https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/industry-statistics-annual-report-financial-year-april-2024-to-march-2025

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. (2019). English Indices of Deprivation 2019. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019

Office for National Statistics. (2023). Mid-year population estimates, 2022. https://www.ons.gov.uk

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. (2023). Gambling-related harms evidence review: Quantifying gambling-related suicide. Department of Health and Social Care.

Newall, P. W. S., Wilkinson, M., Kidger, J., & Rogers, J. (2025). The relationship between Problem Gambling Severity Index scores and suicidality. Addiction, 120(9). https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16764

Saunders, M., Rogers, J., Roberts, A., Gavens, L., Huntley, P., & Midgley, S. (2023). Using geospatial mapping to predict and compare gambling harm hotspots. Journal of Public Health, 45(4), 847-855.

GambleAware. (2023). Written evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. UK Parliament.

National Centre for Social Research & University of Liverpool. (2022). Patterns of Play. GambleAware.

House of Lords Select Committee. (2020). Gambling Harm - Time for Action (HL Paper 79). UK Parliament.

House of Commons Library. (2026). Betting shops: Licensing and planning issues (SN06919).

Department for Education. (2026). Get Information About Schools. https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk

OpenStreetMap contributors. (2026). OpenStreetMap. https://www.openstreetmap.org