Alcohol Licensing

Premises Licence: What It Covers, How to Apply and What It Costs

The premises licence explained: licensable activities, the application, the operating schedule, fees by rateable value, variations and reviews

A premises licence is the authorisation for a place to carry on licensable activities: selling alcohol, providing regulated entertainment such as live or recorded music, and supplying late-night refreshment, which is hot food or drink between 11 pm and 5 am. It attaches to the building and is held by the operator, and it runs indefinitely as long as the annual fee is paid. Every pub, bar, restaurant that serves alcohol, hotel bar, nightclub and late-night takeaway needs one, and the conditions written on it are the rules the venue is inspected against. This article explains what the licence covers, how to apply, what it costs and how it changes.

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Key takeaways

The premises licence attaches to the building and authorises alcohol sales, regulated entertainment and late-night refreshment on the hours and conditions written on it.

Applications need an operating schedule, a scale plan and a 28-day public consultation with the responsible authorities.

Fees run from £100 to £635 to apply and £70 to £350 a year, set by rateable value, with multipliers for alcohol-led premises in the top bands.

Minor variations take 15 working days; hours changes need a full variation; the annual fee date matters because non-payment suspends the licence.

What a Premises Licence Authorises

The licence lists the licensable activities the premises may carry on, the hours for each, and the conditions attached. Conditions come from three places: the mandatory conditions every alcohol licence carries (a DPS must be named, no irresponsible promotions, age verification policy, free tap water, small measures available), the conditions the applicant offered in the operating schedule, and any conditions imposed by the licensing authority after a hearing. A licence for a restaurant might authorise alcohol sales 11 am to 11 pm with the condition that alcohol is served only to seated diners; a pub's might run to midnight with door supervision conditions on Fridays. Reading the licence and its plan is the first job for any new operator, because the conditions bind the premises regardless of who wrote them.

Applying: The Operating Schedule and the Plan

You apply to the licensing authority for the council where the premises sits. The application needs the operating schedule, which describes the activities, the hours, the DPS, and the steps you will take to promote the four licensing objectives; a plan of the premises to scale showing the licensed area, exits, fixed furniture and where alcohol is sold; the DPS consent form; and the fee. You must advertise the application with a blue notice on the premises for 28 days and in a local newspaper within 10 working days, and serve copies on the responsible authorities: police, fire, environmental health, planning, trading standards, the health body, child protection and the licensing authority itself. If nobody makes a relevant representation in the 28 days the licence is granted as applied for; if the police or a resident objects, it goes to a hearing before the licensing sub-committee.

Fees and Rateable Value Bands

Fees are set nationally by the non-domestic rateable value of the premises. Band A (rateable value up to £4,300) pays a £100 application fee and £70 a year; Band B (£4,301 to £33,000) £190 and £180; Band C (£33,001 to £87,000) £315 and £295; Band D (£87,001 to £125,000) £450 and £320; Band E (over £125,000) £635 and £350. Premises in Bands D and E that are primarily or exclusively used for alcohol sales pay a multiplier of two or three on both fees. Large venues with capacity over 5,000 pay additional fees. The annual fee falls due on the anniversary of the grant and non-payment leads to suspension of the licence, which stops trading, so it is one of the dates worth tracking.

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Variations, Transfers and Reviews

A minor variation, fee £89, covers small changes that could not affect the licensing objectives: a small layout change, removing a condition that no longer makes sense, adding a licensable activity in a limited way. It takes 15 working days and there is no hearing. A full variation, at the same fee as a new application, covers extending hours, adding alcohol sales or changing the licensed area, and follows the full 28-day consultation. A transfer, £23, moves the licence to a new holder when the business is sold. A DPS variation, also £23, names a new supervisor and can take immediate effect. A review is the process anyone can trigger when a premises is causing problems, and at its most serious can end in revocation.

What to do next

Read the licence and plan before you open

The conditions bind the premises whoever wrote them. Check the hours, the licensed area and every condition against how you intend to trade.

Diarise the annual fee date

Suspension for non-payment stops all licensable activity. Put the anniversary of the grant in the licence tracker with a 30-day warning.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake

Trading outside the licensed area on the plan

Instead

A new terrace or a pop-up bar in the car park needs the plan varied first. Selling alcohol outside the licensed area is an unauthorised licensable activity, an offence carrying up to six months and an unlimited fine.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a premises licence application take?

The consultation runs 28 days from the day after the authority receives a complete application. With no representations the licence is granted at the end of that period; with representations a hearing must be held within 20 working days after the consultation closes.

How much does a premises licence cost?

Between £100 and £635 to apply and £70 to £350 a year, depending on the rateable value band, with a multiplier for alcohol-led premises in Bands D and E. Legal and plan-drawing costs are extra.

Does a premises licence expire?

No. It continues indefinitely as long as the annual fee is paid, unless it is surrendered, revoked at review, or lapses because the holder dies, becomes insolvent or loses the right to work.

What is the difference between a premises licence and a personal licence?

The premises licence authorises the place; the personal licence authorises the person. A venue needs a premises licence to sell alcohol and must name a personal licence holder as its DPS.

Alcohol Licensing