New premises licence

Information about premises licences, and how to apply for one

A premises licence

Your premises will require a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 if you:

• sell alcohol (by retail)
• have regulated entertainment (which may include plays, films, indoor sporting events, boxing or wrestling entertainment, live music, recorded music, performance of dancing)
• sell hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am (known as late night refreshment)

One off events likely to have more than 500 people, too many people for a temporary event notice, will also need to apply for a premises licence.

Who can apply?

You must be aged over 18 years to apply. You must also be in one of the following categories:

• anyone who carries on a business in the premises to which the application relates
• a recognised club
• a charity
• a health service body
• a person who is registered under the Care Standards Act 2000 in relation to an independent hospital
• a chief police officer of a force in England and Wales
• anyone discharging a statutory or function under Her Majesty's prerogative
• a person from an educational institute
• any other permitted person

How to apply

We can only process applications if your premises is in our area.

Application forms are specific in their requirements; please see our guidance on how to complete the form.

Each premises licence we grant (unless it is a community premises with no alcohol sales) will need to pay an annual fee. We'll invoice you annually on the date when the first licence was issued.

If you're unsure of your current Non Domestic Rateable Value, you should be able to confirm this on the Valuation Office website.

If you're unable to apply online, you can complete our paper premises licence application form.

What's next?

After you have put your application in, you'll then need to:

• place a public notice on your premises to allow for 28 days consultation
• place the same public notice in a local newspaper within ten working days of submitting the application

If we issue a premises licence you can expect to receive this one month after your application. The 28 day consultation period allows consultees and members of the public time to consider your application, and raise any concerns under the licensing objectives. Once the period has expired, we'll issue your licence shortly after.

A hearing must be held if any representations are made, in respect of the application. If a hearing is held, depending on the results, the licence can:

• be granted
• be granted subject to additional conditions
• have licensable activities listed in the application be excluded
• be rejected

A premises licence lasts for an unlimited time unless the licence lapses, or is revoked, suspended or surrendered.

Remove the requirement for a DPS

For premises such as Churches, Community Centres and similar who hold a premises licence, they can apply to have the requirement for a DPS on the licence removed. The effect is to make a management committee collectively responsible for the sale of alcohol. This can be done:

• at the start of a new application (no additional costs apply if requested at the same time as a new application)
• anytime within the licence lifetime (in this case the fee is £23.00)

Apply for a DPS to be dis-applied

Other applications

Other relevant applications are:

• interim authority notice application - following the death, incapacity or insolvency of a licence holder (within 28 days)
• application for a provisional statement - to be used to gain permission for an intended development
• notification of interest - to notify us of an interest if a legal right is held to do so
• variations to premises
• change of personal details
• change of DPS