Why do councils approve so many vape shops on the high street?

[JoyousOpalLemur]

Am I the only one completely baffled by this? I walked down my high street yesterday and another new vape (and sweets) shop has opened. There are now four vape shops that have opened in the last two years! They all seem to be permanently empty.

Why are councils granting planning permission for these shops?

One of the lead stories on the BBC last week was about how at least half of vape shops are linked to organised crime, particularly people and drug smuggling, and money laundering. Apparently many of the vapes they sell are also illegal and many sell tobacco to children.

It's not just the vape shops, three Turkish barbers have opened in the last decade (usually half empty), and three nail bars (to be fair, they tend to be quite busy) since Covid, which also have well known links to laundering the money made from people smuggling.

If councils are so keen on regeneration and local economies, why approve change-of-use for businesses that research shows are disproportionately tied to serious crime? Legitimate businesses are struggling, while these cash-heavy operations seem to get a free pass.

With also several young male Uber Eats riders parked down the high street, it doesn't feel a particularly safe space anymore.

Do councils even consider the crime angle when approving these applications, or is it just about filling empty units at any cost?

TIA for any insights or experiences.

Lots of shops are for money laundering. There is one in our area selling DIY stuff - they literally sell 3 bags of sand and few wooden pallets per day but have at least 7 staff members driving brand new Range Rovers. Lots of complaints from local residents- zero response from Council.

My DS used to go to a barbers. There was a lad there who was on a college course for barbering who was actually pretty decent. How he managed to get a student visa for that I have no idea. He then managed to 'buy' the business from the owner, left college and just does barbering. He's also half trained and made a dog's dinner of DS's hair so he won't be going back! But there's a lot of dodgy stuff like that going on.

Most landlords just care about getting paid rent and don't care where the money comes from. The Police don't have the resources/care enough to investigate potential 'fronts'. The Government has made it so prohibitively expensive for small retail businesses to continue to trade and the big chains are moving to online, so there's increasingly more empty units. I'm not sure who's left to come forward to rent these shops?

Calling Mr Farage the dear leader- I think the leader of North Korea would be insulted by the comparison, as he does a day's work.

They will be set up as a business and have a card machine and product/someone with scissors on hand.

If the owner’s sister turns up with dodgy cash, she can pretend to buy a vape, he can give her a receipt if they want, but the cash goes into the till with no product going out of the door. Even easier if it’s a haircut as there’s no stock to track.

Where is reform going to find all these would be grocers and bakers who want to compete with Tesco and their low overheads and vast supply chains?

That's true about barbers in general, but OP is talking about the proliferation of "Turkish barbers" that never seem to have any customers. Just like the vape shops and the places that mend phones, and the "candy" shops. They're well known fronts for money laundering.

Because if there's loads of one type of business to the point it's detrimental you could imagine that someone running these businesses might be close with someone at the council, do eachother favours etc?

Maybe I'm cynical to believe it's possible for council workers to be corrupt. I didn't say I knew they were.

I still don't know whether they are meant to licensed or not.

Maybe I'm cynical to believe it's possible for council workers to be corrupt. I didn't say I knew they were.

You aren’t cynical to believe it, it was just that so many subsequent posts explained that this wasn’t a change of use ( like a bookshop to a takeaway would be) and you still thought it was possible evidence of corruption.

I still don't know whether they are meant to licensed or not.

LMGTFY.

The Tobacco and Vapes bill became law in april 2026. This allows - but does not, I believe, mandate - a licensing scheme for tobacco and vape retailers.

www.gov.uk/government/news/tobacco-and-vapes-bill-becomes-law

The attraction of barbers, nailbars, massage shops etc, is that they are businesses with very low input costs who primarily deal with cash so it is hard to say that they are involved in money laundering. Minimarts buy some stock, to give the impression they are legitimate, while selling dodgy cigarettes,smuggled booze and recreational pharmaceuticals, the proper stock they just dispose of, if they manage to sell a packet of crisps it's a bonus.

A lot of the dodgy vape shops are selling illegal tobacco. We know it goes on but there aren't enough officers to investigate each one.

It's similar where I live. The first barbers was busy, but every couple of years a new one opens and now it's typically one person having their hair cut while at least two other members of staff are doing spins in the chairs whenever you walk past.

I doubt any of them have ever had as many customers at any one time as they have staff.

I'm genuinely unsure how the council could get involved? If it's fraud/crime then it's one for the police

How exactly do you imagine reform will do that?

Firstly I am pretty sure the venn diagram of money laundering criminals and reform candidates/voters would make two almost entirely overlapping circles. So I very much doubt they will want to do anything

Secondly I fail to see what they could do. I mean yes they could bring in a law that bans vape shops. But barbers/minimarts would be harder to ban. And even if they did clear the streets of dodgy businesses they can hardly round people up and force them to become the exact type of shop you happen to feel nostalgic for . ...

Betting shops used to be a special category and had to be in side roads then Tony Blair changed them to the same as building societies so you can have them anywhere. I think vape shops should need a licence like tobacco

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-laws-to-shutdown-dodgy-high-street-shops-in-crime-crackdown

https://www.gbnews.com/news/british-high-street-ban-vape-turkish-barbers

@KeepPumping seems like those are not new powers, particularly, but extend existing powers of closure and investigation.

The new measures will be taken forward following a consultation with interested parties, with regulations to extend closure orders expected to be laid by the end of 2026.

But good news! You don’t have to vote reform now if these measures are being implemented by Labour and you are happy with them.

100% agree - I counted 24 in my local area- I'm in a relative business and 10 years ago we had only 5/6. Most are empty. All foreign, bar one or two that have been around for over a decade. Why the police don't investigate is beyond me and I agree with PP and shall start reporting to Crimestoppers and HMRC too. They also look so tack7 and being a nice area down.

As pp posted, the new Tobacco and Vapes Act gives the government powers to introduce a licensing scheme for any business selling tobacco or nicotine products, although there is currently no timetable for its introduction.

We've got a proper old school vape shop in our town that stocks mods, tanks, coils, a wide variety of eliquids, spares, accessories and batteries. It's a poky little place run by two old blokes who can advise on the pros and cons of various setups and can help if your kit malfunctions. They've been there about ten years and have a steady stream of customers and people just popping in for a vape and a chat.

Then we have three 'vape shops' which are big, empty, garishly lit and stock nothing but rows and rows of near identical pod systems - disposables in all but name. I've never seen any customers in any of them.

So hopefully when the new licensing scheme comes in the old blokes will be able to get a licence and the new bogus places won't.

But they'll just switch to 'American candy' or 'Turkish barbers' or whatever the latest wheeze is. It's not particularly a vape shop problem it's a fake shop problem. I don't understand how it works but there's got to be some highly organised criminal activity behind it.

This is from September last year, did anything further come of it?

In short, it's better to have an occupied premise rather than an unoccupied premise for a host of reasons.

Councils do not control what shops go where. They just approve licenses. it’s not illegal to sell vapes.

if you want more centralised planning then that requires a more involved government. People moan about that.

There’s not a host of lovely little ironmongers and sugar crafters panting to take over the “fake shops” even if they could all be closed.

If you want any real shops to remain on the high street, you have to use them. Even if it’s more expensive and less convenient than the online alternatives.

Ultimately, if we want thriving high streets we need to stop ordering so much online and actually go out and support (genuine) local businesses. There's less choice and it will cost us more, both in time and money, but that's the payoff - use it or lose it.

X post @SheilaFentiman , I agree!