A free house is a pub that isn't tied to a brewery or pub company for its beer, so whoever runs it can buy from any supplier at whatever price they can get. That's the meaning. In practice the words on the sign cover four quite different set-ups, and only some of them are free in the way that matters to your margin.
The difference is worth real money. On one big pub company's published price list this year, a 50 litre keg of Carling was £218.65. On a free-trade wholesaler's website the same keg was £165.72. That's about 60p a pint before anyone pulls one. So when someone tells you a pub is a free house, it's worth asking what they actually mean.
Free house vs tied pub, in one table
| Free house | Tied pub | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you buy beer from | Anyone | The landlord (brewery or pub company), or suppliers they approve |
| Price you pay | Whatever you negotiate | The landlord's list price, usually above free trade |
| Rent | None if you own it, open-market rent if you lease it free of tie | Usually lower, because the landlord also earns on the beer |
| Who checks your stock | You, and your accountant at year end | Often the pub company too, with flow monitoring or audits |
| Legal protection | Ordinary contract law | The Pubs Code, if the pub company has 500 or more tied pubs in England and Wales |
The four things people mean by "free house"
1. The freehold free house. The licensee or a small owner owns the building and buys from whoever they like. This is the original meaning and the one most people picture: a local owner, a few guest ales, no brewery name on the sign.
2. The free-of-tie lease. The building belongs to a pub company, but the lease has no beer tie, so the tenant pays rent and buys freely. Since 2016 tied tenants of the big pub companies have had a route to this called Market Rent Only, or MRO. It's free of tie, but you still have a landlord, a rent review and a repairing lease to worry about.
3. The company pub with "free house" on the sign. Some large operators describe their pubs as free houses because no brewery owns them. That's true as far as it goes. A CAMRA branch magazine pointed out in 2025 that Wetherspoon advertises its pubs as free houses while its managers "order from a changing list compiled by head office". The pub isn't tied to a brewer, but the person behind the bar isn't choosing the beer either.
4. The free house with strings. The owner is free on paper but has signed a supply deal: a discount, cellar equipment or a loan from a brewer or wholesaler in return for buying their beer. Nothing wrong with that if the numbers work. Just know that it's a tie by another name, with its own exit terms, and it won't be covered by the Pubs Code.
There's no single legal definition of "free house" that I can find. The law defines tied pubs instead. The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 set up the Pubs Code for pub companies with 500 or more tied pubs, and that's where your rights come from if you're tied.
Where free houses came from
For most of the last century the big brewers owned most of the pubs, and those pubs sold the owner's beer. In 1989 the Beer Orders made brewers with more than 2,000 pubs sell or free part of their estate and let tied tenants stock a guest beer. Lots of pubs were sold off, a good few became genuine free houses, and a lot of the rest ended up with the new pub companies, which is roughly where today's tied estate comes from. The Beer Orders were revoked in 2003.
The tied estate is shrinking. The Pubs Code Adjudicator says pubs covered by the Code fell from 10,099 in 2018 to 8,331 at the end of March 2026. Some of that is pubs sold, some is pubs moved onto franchise-style deals, and some is tenants going free of tie through MRO.
What "free" is worth per pint
I compared 18 kegs from one pub company's published April 2026 price list with a free-trade wholesaler's prices for the same beers. The tied price was between 17p and £1.01 a pint dearer, depending on the brand. Carling was 60p a pint. Peroni was £1.01. The full list is in my tied vs free-trade prices guide.
| Pints a week | Gap of 40p a pint | Gap of 62p a pint |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | £160 a week, £8,320 a year | £248 a week, £12,896 a year |
| 800 | £320 a week, £16,640 a year | £496 a week, £25,792 a year |
| 1,200 | £480 a week, £24,960 a year | £744 a week, £38,688 a year |
That's the headline everyone quotes, and it's only half the story. A tied tenant usually pays less rent than a free-of-tie tenant would, because the pub company makes its money on the beer as well. The principle written into the Pubs Code is that a tied tenant should be no worse off than if they were free of tie. Whether that's true for your pub is a sum, not a feeling, and the tied vs free of tie guide walks through it with real keg prices.
The catch with being free: nobody makes you shop around
This is the bit I don't see anyone write about. A free house is only worth the gap if the person running it actually uses the freedom. It's very easy for a free house to buy from the same wholesaler, at the same prices, for years, because ringing round is a faff and the rep is a nice bloke. At that point you're paying free-house rent or a mortgage and getting tied-house prices.
If you're free, put a date in the diary twice a year and get two other quotes on your top ten lines. Use your own invoices as the starting point. The supplier price rise guide shows how to spot the creep, and the price rise guide covers what to do with your own prices when costs move.
The other catch is control. A tied pub often has a pub company stocktaker or flow monitoring, which nobody loves, but it means someone is looking. In a free house, nobody counts unless you do. That's freedom too, and it's how a free house can lose 2% of its wet sales for a year without anyone noticing. A monthly count is the cheapest insurance a free house has. The how often to stocktake guide has the cadence by takings.
Buying or taking on a "free house": seven questions to ask
If a pub is being sold or let as a free house, these are the questions that tell you which of the four it really is.
- Who owns the freehold, and is there a lease? If there's a lease, read the supply clauses, not the brochure.
- Is there any supply agreement, with any brewer or wholesaler, and how long has it got to run?
- Is there a loan from a supplier, and what happens to it if the pub changes hands?
- Who owns the cellar kit: the coolers, the fonts, the python? Often it belongs to a brewer, and it can go back with them.
- Are there any restrictive covenants on the title about what can be sold?
- What do the last 12 months of invoices show? A free house buying almost everything from one supplier at list price is free in name only.
- When was the last proper stocktake, and what was the variance? If nobody knows, assume there's one waiting for you. My taking over a pub guide covers the first count.
Going free from a tied pub
If you're tied to one of the regulated pub companies in England or Wales, Market Rent Only is the main legal route. The trigger points are things like a rent review, a renewal or a significant price increase. The PCA's figures show 1,703 valid MRO requests between 2016 and April 2026, that about 20% of tenants serve an MRO notice when they get a rent review or renewal, and that of those, about 35% end up free of tie. The steps are in my MRO step-by-step guide, and the government's review of the Code is in the Pubs Code review guide.
Tied but want just one line of your own? The guest beer right guide covers what Scottish tenants already have and what the Budget said about England.
This is a licensee's plain-English reading, not legal advice. If you're signing a lease or buying a pub, get a solicitor who does licensed property to read the supply clauses.
Common questions
What is a free house?
A free house is a pub that is not tied to a brewery or pub company for its beer, so whoever runs it can buy from any supplier at whatever price they can negotiate.
What does free house mean on a pub sign?
Usually that no brewery owns the pub. It does not always mean the licensee chooses the beer: some large operators call their pubs free houses while managers order from a head office list.
Is a free house better than a tied pub?
Not automatically. Free-trade beer is often 17p to £1 a pint cheaper than tied prices, but a tied tenant usually pays lower rent. The Pubs Code principle is that a tied tenant should be no worse off than if they were free of tie, so compare the whole sum, rent and beer together.
Can a tied pub become a free house?
Tenants of pub companies with 500 or more tied pubs in England and Wales can ask for a Market Rent Only (free of tie) option at trigger points such as a rent review or renewal. Between 2016 and April 2026 there were 1,703 valid MRO requests.
Do free houses pay rent?
A freehold free house pays no rent, though the owner carries the mortgage, repairs and insurance. A free-of-tie lease pays an open-market rent to the landlord but buys its beer freely.
Sources
- "Free house" as used by large operators, Wetherspoon managers ordering "from a changing list compiled by head office", and the approved guest lists at other pub companies: Dave Richardson, So when is a free house not a free house?, Oxford Drinker (CAMRA), 5 June 2025.
- Pubs Code for pub companies with 500 or more tied pubs: Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, Part 4.
- The Beer Orders (brewers with more than 2,000 on-licensed premises) and their revocation: The Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) (Revocation) Order 2002, SI 2002/3204.
- Pubs covered by the Code 10,099 (2018) and 8,331 (end of March 2026), 1,703 valid MRO requests 2016 to April 2026, about 20% serving notice and about 35% of those going free of tie: Pubs Code Adjudicator, via the Morning Advertiser, 5 November 2026, with full sources in my Pubs Code review guide.
- Tied and free-trade keg prices (Carling 50L £218.65 vs £165.72, 18 kegs 17p to £1.01 a pint): a pub company's published April 2026 list and a free-trade wholesaler's website, sources in my tied vs free-trade prices guide.
- The four kinds of free house, the cost table and the seven questions are mine.