Pubs and restaurants for sale rise 22% in the UK
Christie & Co counts more than 360 sale instructions since January, with deals agreed up 12.5% and completion prices climbing for both freeholds and leaseholds.
Christie & Co recorded a 22% rise in pubs and restaurants brought to market across Britain between January and August 2026, compared with the same period last year.
The commercial property adviser logged more than 360 sale instructions over the eight months, with over 230 deals agreed, a 12.5% increase year on year. Average completion values rose by £105,000 on freeholds and £87,000 on leaseholds.
Stephen Owens, managing director at Christie & Co, put the rise down to confidence rather than distress sales: "We have seen a more dynamic property market in 2026, driven by resilient trading performance, motivated buyers, and sustained demand."
We have seen a more dynamic property market in 2026, driven by resilient trading performance, motivated buyers, and sustained demand.
Pubs sell wet, restaurants rent
The two trades are moving through different doors. Pub sales ran 79% freehold, 12% leasehold and 9% new lease, the classic bricks-and-stock transaction. Restaurants inverted that pattern: 44% changed hands as new leases, 37% as leaseholds and only 19% as freeholds, a sign that operators still want the flexibility to walk away from a site that stops working.
Christie & Co also points to a shift in how people eat out: dining is increasingly planned rather than spontaneous, and value-led and quick-service formats are outperforming the mid-market. Wet-led pubs, selling drink over food, are faring better than food-led ones in the same deal flow.
Rates and VAT weigh on the upside
The report sits alongside a harder year for parts of the trade. Several Michelin-starred restaurants closed in 2026, and operators continue to push the campaign for a cut in hospitality VAT from the standard 20% rate, under the banner #VATsTheProblem. Rising business rates liabilities sit on top of that, alongside the staffing and cost pressures that have run through 2026.
None of that has slowed the property market itself. Whether it slows the businesses now changing hands is a question the 2027 accounts, not this report, will answer. For now, brokers say viewings are running ahead of last year's pace in every region Christie & Co tracks.
