Many people working within the public sector will be familiar with the term Martyn’s Law, or at the very least would have heard it in discussions. With new legalisation coming into place next year, now is the time to refresh your knowledge and start determining how this will affect your estate.
What is Martyn’s Law?
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 places requirements on those responsible for certain premises and events to consider the risk of terrorism and to take steps to reduce harm. It is expected to come into force in spring 2027, and section 27 statutory guidance was published in April 2026.
It applies across the sectors most estates teams work in: higher education, health, local government, retail, hospitality, and entertainment.
Which premises are in scope?
Scope depends on the use of the premises and on how many people may be present. The Act establishes a tiered approach, with a lighter set of duties for smaller qualifying premises and enhanced duties for larger ones, alongside requirements for qualifying events.
The practical implication for a large, mixed estate is significant. A university, hospital trust, or council will typically hold a portfolio in which some buildings qualify, some do not, and some move between categories depending on how they are used on a given day.
Why this is an estate data question first
Before any procedures can be written, three things have to be established for every building: what it is used for, how many people may be present, and who is responsible for it.
That sounds elementary, and for a single building it is. Across several hundred buildings with mixed and changing use it is not, particularly where capacity figures were recorded for fire safety purposes at different times and to different standards.
This is a familiar pattern. A new obligation arrives, and the first cost is not the compliance work itself but the effort of establishing what you have.
What are the consequences of getting it wrong?
The Act provides for substantial penalties for breaches of the enhanced duty, and the reputational exposure for a public institution is significant in its own right.
The more likely failure mode is not deliberate non-compliance but an incomplete inventory: a building omitted, or a capacity figure carried forward from a previous use.
What should teams do now?
Establish a complete premises inventory with current use and capacity. Determine which premises fall into which tier, and record the basis of that determination. Identify the responsible person for each. Then build the procedural work on top of a foundation that can be evidenced.
The deadline is fixed and the first stage is the slowest, which is the argument for starting on the inventory rather than the procedures.
Where this connects to wider estate work
Organisations that already hold a single, current view of their estate will find this obligation absorbable. Those assembling it for the first time will find that the same baseline serves condition planning, compliance, space management, and capital prioritisation as well. The work is rarely wasted.
Frequently asked questions
- When does Martyn’s Law come into force?
- It is expected to come into force in spring 2027. Statutory guidance under section 27 was published in April 2026.
- What are qualifying premises under Martyn’s Law?
- Premises that meet the criteria set out in the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, determined by the use of the premises and the number of people who may be present, with a tiered set of duties applying accordingly.
- Who is responsible for compliance?
- The person who has control of the premises in connection with their relevant qualifying use. For complex estates this needs to be determined and recorded building by building.
- What is the first step for a large estate?
- A complete and current inventory of premises, their use, and their capacity, since tier determination and every subsequent duty depends on it.
