The government is moving to close a long-standing planning loophole that has allowed pubs across England to be converted into flats, shops or demolished entirely without so much as a planning application. Under the proposed change, pubs would lose their permitted development rights, meaning any change of use or demolition would require a full planning application - giving local authorities, communities and, crucially, city region mayors such as Andy Burnham a formal say before a much-loved local disappears. For Liverpool, where dozens of historic pubs have shut in the past five years amid rising costs and changing drinking habits, this is being seen as a potential lifeline for a sector that has had almost no legal protection against opportunistic redevelopment.