The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act passed into law following Royal Assent, delivering a wide-ranging package of reforms that extends decision-making powers away from central government and towards elected mayors, strategic authorities and local communities. The legislation touches everything from commercial property law and transport enforcement to planning powers and public health obligations.
At its core, the Act formalises the concept of Strategic Authorities in law, creating a faster mechanism for devolving powers out of Whitehall. Those with elected mayors will gain enhanced control over transport, planning, housing and economic regeneration, with a statutory duty to develop local growth plans that align regional economic strategies with national policy priorities.
A new right for communities
One of the more immediately tangible measures is the Community Right to Buy, which grants local people the first right of refusal when valued community assets, such as shops, pubs and community centres, are placed on the market. The provision is intended to slow the attrition of assets that anchor local identity and economic activity, offering communities a practical mechanism to intervene before such properties pass into other hands.
The Act also introduces Gambling Impact Assessments, giving councils the power to prevent new gambling premises from opening in areas where saturation is already a concern. The measure addresses a pattern that has seen betting shops cluster on high streets where footfall is high and property costs are relatively low, a dynamic that local authorities have previously had limited tools to manage.
Commercial leases and the high street
A long-standing grievance for businesses operating in commercial premises has been the upwards-only rent review clause, which prevented rents from decreasing even when market rates fell. The Act bans such clauses in new and renewal commercial leases, a reform that introduces a degree of fairness into the landlord-tenant relationship and removes a structural disadvantage that has disproportionately affected smaller businesses during periods of economic softening.
The practical effect for retail and hospitality operators, sectors that have faced sustained pressure in recent years, could be meaningful. A lease structure that allows rents to move in both directions in line with market conditions reduces the risk profile of long-term tenancy commitments and may encourage investment in premises that businesses might otherwise have avoided.
Transport, roads and local enforcement
The Act introduces national standards for taxi drivers for the first time, enabling enforcement officers to suspend licences issued by other local authorities when a driver is operating outside their licensed area. The measure closes a regulatory gap that has allowed drivers with problematic records in one area to continue working in another.
More local transport authorities will also receive new powers to enforce against dangerous pavement parking, including through fixed penalty notices. Separately, new licensing powers for rental e-bikes will allow local authorities to set specific requirements on parking, safety and accessibility standards, addressing the disorder that has accompanied the rapid expansion of dockless schemes in urban centres.
Mayoral powers and local scrutiny
Elected mayors gain several new planning-related powers under the Act, including the ability to intervene in planning applications of potential strategic importance, make mayoral development orders, and charge a mayoral community infrastructure levy on developers. These tools strengthen the capacity of mayoral authorities to shape development in their regions rather than simply responding to applications as they arise.
To balance the expanded powers, the Act establishes Local Scrutiny Committees for mayoral authorities, providing formal oversight of local public spending and decision-making. A new Local Audit Office will also be created to manage council finances more efficiently, ensuring that the increased autonomy granted by the legislation is accompanied by transparent and timely auditing. Mayors and Strategic Authorities will additionally be required to formally consider local health improvement and health inequalities when making policy decisions, embedding public health considerations into the fabric of regional governance.