New research links betting shop locations with higher crime in England's most deprived communities
Exploring how betting shops and crime co-locate in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, research at Nottingham Trent University is helping to uncover the relationship between gambling environments, crime and community wellbeing.
By Dr Oluwole Adeniyi and Professor Andy Newton | Published on 14 August 2026
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Across England, betting shops are disproportionately concentrated in many of the country's most deprived communities. Alongside convenience stores, takeaways and pubs, they are a familiar feature of many high streets.
Researchers have long debated whether this pattern simply reflects wider social and economic inequalities or whether the concentration of betting shops also shapes life in these communities.
By examining betting shop locations across England, our study, in collaboration with Bournemouth University, found their location was consistently associated with higher levels of several types of police-recorded crime, even after accounting for neighbourhood characteristics such as deprivation, housing tenure and ethnic diversity.
Our research suggests gambling harm is shaped not only by individual behaviour but also by the environments where gambling opportunities are concentrated.
Why researchers looked at betting shop locations
Gambling harm is increasingly recognised as a public health issue with consequences that extend beyond financial loss. It can affect mental health, family relationships and community wellbeing.
While much research has focused on individuals, less attention has been given to the environments where gambling opportunities are concentrated.
To address this, our research group analysed the relationship between betting shop locations and 10 categories of police-recorded crime across England, including antisocial behaviour, shoplifting, theft from the person, public disorder, burglary, robbery and vehicle crime.
The aim was not to determine whether betting shops cause crime, but rather to better understand whether there is a relationship between gambling environments and patterns of offending.
What the research found
Our study found that betting shops were frequently located in neighbourhoods with higher levels of recorded crime.
The strongest associations were with shoplifting, theft from the person, public disorder and antisocial behaviour – offences that have a direct impact on people's everyday experience of their communities.
The association between betting shop locations and crime remained statistically significant after accounting for deprivation, housing tenure and ethnic diversity. We also found that betting shops often sit alongside other busy destinations, including pubs, fast-food outlets and bus stops. In criminology, these are sometimes described as "crime attractors" because they increase footfall and create more opportunities for offenders and potential victims to interact.
Taken together, the findings suggest that betting shop locations may form part of a wider set of environmental factors associated with crime and community safety.
These findings challenge the idea that gambling harm should be understood solely as an individual issue, demonstrating that the spatial distribution of gambling opportunities, particularly betting shops, seems to have structural and environmental consequences.
Neighbourhoods experiencing higher levels of educational deprivation, social renting and lone-parent households were also more likely to experience elevated crime rates, highlighting the influence of wider social and environmental conditions.
Rather than viewing gambling harm only through individual choices and behaviours, where gambling opportunities are located may also influence community wellbeing.
These findings align with Social Disorganisation Theory, which suggests that weakened community structures and informal controls lead to higher crime. Betting shops, by their very presence, may exacerbate these vulnerabilities, undermining efforts to build resilient and safe communities. This broader perspective encourages policymakers, planners and public health professionals to consider how the built environment can shape opportunities for harm.
What this could mean for communities
The research raises important questions about how betting shops are considered within planning and licensing decisions.
Local authorities could adopt more place-based approaches when assessing new betting shop applications, particularly in neighbourhoods already experiencing high levels of deprivation or crime. Community impact assessments, zoning measures and limits on the concentration of gambling venues are among the approaches that could be explored.
Reducing gambling-related harm may require collaboration beyond the gambling sector, involving planners, developers and others who influence how local environments are designed and managed.
Future research
Our study identifies correlations rather than proving that betting shops directly cause crime. Other factors not captured by the analysis may also contribute to the patterns observed.
Future research could examine how online gambling interacts with local environments, explore the experiences of individuals affected by gambling harm, and investigate how commercial and planning decisions shape gambling landscapes. As debates about gambling regulation continue, understanding where gambling takes place – and how those places interact with wider social inequalities – may become just as important as understanding who gambles.
This article is based on research by Dr Oluwole Adeniyi and Professor Andy Newton from Nottingham Trent University, and Dr Ferhat Tura and Professor John McAlaney from Bournemouth University.