To get a pub licence in England or Wales, you need two things under the Licensing Act 2003: a premises licence attached to the building and a personal licence held by whoever authorises alcohol sales there. You apply to the local council, pay a fee set by your property’s rateable value, and go through a 28-day public consultation before the licence is granted. Operating without proper authorisation can cost up to £20,000, six months in prison, or both.
The Two Licences You Actually Need
A premises licence authorises a specific building to carry out licensable activities: selling alcohol, providing late-night refreshment after 11pm, and hosting regulated entertainment such as live music.1GOV.UK. Alcohol Licensing It stays with the building, not the owner, and lasts indefinitely so long as the annual fee is paid.2GOV.UK. Main Fee Levels
A personal licence attaches to a person and allows that individual to authorise the sale of alcohol. Every premises licence that includes alcohol sales must also name a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS), who must hold a valid personal licence and takes day-to-day responsibility for the venue. No alcohol can be sold at any time when the DPS position is vacant or the named individual’s personal licence is suspended.3Legislation.gov.uk. Licensing Act 2003 – Section 19 The DPS does not need to be present for every sale, but every sale must be made or authorised by someone holding a personal licence.
Every licensing decision is judged against four statutory objectives: preventing crime and disorder, protecting public safety, preventing public nuisance, and protecting children from harm.4Legislation.gov.uk. Licensing Act 2003 – Section 4 These are the legal test your application and your operating schedule will be measured against, and anyone who thinks your pub undermines one of them can object or force a review later.
Getting Your Personal Licence First
You cannot run a pub without a personal licence holder in place as DPS, so this is usually the first step. To qualify you must pass the Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH), an accredited qualification offered by various training providers. You also need a DBS criminal record check and two passport-sized photographs. With those in hand, you apply to your local council and pay a £37 fee.1GOV.UK. Alcohol Licensing
Personal licences in England and Wales no longer expire. Since the Deregulation Act 2015 removed the old ten-year renewal, the licence stays valid indefinitely unless surrendered, suspended, or revoked.
Preparing the Premises Licence Application
The application itself is available through your local council’s licensing portal or via GOV.UK.5GOV.UK. Premises Licence (England and Wales) Three documents do most of the work.
The strong>operating schedule is the centrepiece. It sets out the licensable activities you want to carry out, the hours for each, and the steps you will take to promote the four licensing objectives. This is where you describe your security, staff training, noise controls, and policies for preventing underage sales. Licensing officers and responsible authorities read this closely, and vague or generic statements invite objections. Tailor it to your building and neighbourhood.
You must include a scaled floor plan, drawn at 1:100 unless the licensing authority agrees to a different ratio. It has to show entry and exit points, the location of any bars, and the areas where alcohol will be consumed.6GOV.UK. Premises Licence Guidance Include outdoor areas if they will be used.
You also need written consent from your proposed DPS, confirming they will take the role and understand what it involves. Missing or inaccurate paperwork is the most common reason applications stall, so it is worth getting all three of these right before you file.
What It Will Cost
Fees for the premises licence are set by the non-domestic rateable value (NDRV) of the property, split into five bands. Look up your rateable value on the Valuation Office Agency website. Properties with no rateable value default to Band A.6GOV.UK. Premises Licence Guidance
Application fees for a new premises licence:
- Band A (NDRV up to £4,300): £100
- Band B (£4,301 to £33,000): £190
- Band C (£33,001 to £87,000): £315
- Band D (£87,001 to £125,000): £450
- Band E (£125,001 and above): £635
Annual fees follow the same bands but at lower rates, from £70 for Band A up to £350 for Band E. Pubs that exist primarily to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption pay a multiplier on the top two bands: double for Band D (£640) and triple for Band E (£1,050).2GOV.UK. Main Fee Levels Most neighbourhood pubs fall into Bands A through C, so a typical annual charge lands between £70 and £295. Failing to pay the annual fee on time can result in your licence being suspended.
Add £37 for each personal licence application on top of the premises fees.
The 28-Day Consultation
Filing the application is only the start. On the same day you submit it to the licensing authority, you must send copies to every responsible authority in your area. The list is longer than most applicants expect: police, fire and rescue, environmental health, the local planning authority, trading standards, the health and safety enforcing body, the child safeguarding authority, the director of public health, and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.1GOV.UK. Alcohol Licensing Any of them can object if they believe the application threatens a licensing objective.
You must also display a notice at the premises for 28 consecutive days. It has to be on pale blue paper, at least A4 size, in black ink no smaller than 16-point font. Within ten working days of filing, a notice must also appear in a local newspaper, or in a local circular where no newspaper exists.7Ealing Council. Premises Licence Application These notices give residents and nearby businesses the chance to submit representations.
If nobody objects during the 28-day window, the licensing authority grants the licence as applied for. If relevant representations come in, the authority must schedule a hearing before a licensing sub-committee, which must begin within 20 working days after consultation closes. The sub-committee can grant the licence as requested, grant it with modified conditions, or refuse it.
Conditions You’ll Operate Under
Once granted, a premises licence authorising alcohol sales carries a set of mandatory conditions imposed by national legislation, on top of anything specific to your operating schedule. In summary, you must:
- Operate an age verification policy that requires photo ID with a date of birth and holographic mark from anyone appearing under 18 (most pubs use Challenge 25 as a wider safety margin).8GOV.UK. New Conditions for Licensed Premises in England and Wales – Age Verification and Smaller Measures
- Avoid irresponsible drink promotions, including unlimited-for-a-fixed-price offers, drinking games that push rapid consumption, and dispensing alcohol directly into a customer’s mouth.9GOV.UK. Guidance on Mandatory Licensing Conditions
- Provide free tap water on request, and offer smaller measures (half pints, 25ml or 35ml spirits, 125ml wine) on your menu and price lists.
- Display a summary of the premises licence prominently, and keep the full document on site for inspection.
If your local council has adopted a late night levy, you will also pay an extra annual charge for holding a licence that authorises alcohol sales between midnight and 6am, whether or not you actually open in those hours.10UK Parliament. Alcohol Licensing – The Late Night Levy Check with your council before you set your proposed hours.
If You’re Taking Over an Existing Pub
You don’t have to start from scratch. If the pub already holds a premises licence, you apply to transfer it into your name for £23, with written consent from the current holder and proof of your right to work in the UK. The police have 14 days to object; if they don’t, the transfer is granted automatically. If they do, a sub-committee hearing decides the outcome. You will also need to apply separately to change the DPS if the previous supervisor is leaving.
Small changes to an existing licence can go through a minor variation process for £89, decided within 15 working days and without a full 28-day consultation. This covers things like small layout changes, adding regulated entertainment, or updating conditions. It cannot be used to add alcohol sales to a licence that doesn’t already include them, to extend alcohol hours into the late-night period, or to change the DPS. Those need a full variation, which follows the same procedure as a new application.
One-Off Events Instead of a Full Licence
If you only want to run a single event with alcohol rather than a permanent pub, a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) may be enough. A TEN covers up to 96 hours with fewer than 500 people at any one time, needs at least ten working days’ notice to the licensing authority, and requires a 24-hour gap between events at the same venue.11Legislation.gov.uk. Licensing Act 2003 – Explanatory Notes A personal licence holder can give up to 50 TENs a year; someone without a personal licence is limited to five. No single premises can host more than 12 temporary events or 15 total days per year, so TENs cannot substitute for a proper premises licence if you are actually running a pub.
Keeping the Licence After You Have It
A premises licence is granted indefinitely, but not without accountability. Any responsible authority or member of the public can apply for a formal review at any time, on grounds tied to one of the four licensing objectives.12Legislation.gov.uk. Licensing Act 2003 – Review of Licences A review can lead to modified conditions, activities being stripped from the licence, the DPS being removed, a suspension of up to three months, or full revocation.
Reviews are not common for well-run pubs. They are the mechanism through which persistent noise complaints, underage sales, or violent incidents get addressed, and the police are the most frequent initiators. Taking the four objectives seriously in your operating schedule, documenting your compliance, and responding quickly when problems arise is what keeps the licence you have worked to get.