Premises Licence

If you want to provide Licensable Activities at a premises, or in a part of a premises, you must apply for a Premises Licence from the Licensing Authority.

Premises Licences are suitable for people wanting to provide activities at a premises on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, if you wish to provide activities on a very short term basis, a Temporary Event Notice may be more appropriate.

Licensable activities include the sale or supply of alcohol, provision of regulated entertainments such as live or recorded music, dancing, plays, films etc and the provision of hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am the following day.

Full details of The Licensing Act and Licensable Activities

If your application is successful, your premises licence will include a number of conditions. There are three categories of conditions:

Mandatory Conditions

These are conditions that are, as their name suggests, mandatory and must be applied to all licences authorising certain activities. The conditions are set out in law and currently relate to licences that permit the sale of alcohol and / or allow the exhibition of films and / or require security or door supervisors to be present.

Conditions Consistent with the Operating Schedule

The application form includes space for you to include details of how you will ensure that the Licensing Objectives are promoted. The information you give will be converted into conditions that reflect your intentions and will be included on your licence.  

Conditions attached following a Hearing

Where your application attracts representations that result in a Hearing of our Licensing Sub-committee, the committee may decide, if it grants your licence, to apply conditions. These will also appear on your licence.

Applications can be made online, in which case we will send a copy of your application to all the Responsible Authorities on your behalf.

Alternatively, you may also download a copy of the application form from the Liquor and Entertainment Webpage, which you can print out, sign and post or hand deliver to the Guildhall and the Responsible Authorities. Paper copies of the application forms are also available from the Licensing Team on the contact details below.

If you intend to sell or supply alcohol, you must identify a Personal Licence holder who is willing to act as your Designated Premises Supervisor [DPS]. They will have to confirm their willingness to act as your DPS by completing a form which you must also submit with your application. Note: your proposed DPS does not have to hold a personal licence at the time you apply, however you will not be able to sell alcohol under the licence until such time as your DPS holds a Personal Licence – details of how to apply for a Personal Licence are available on our website, however applications for Personal Licences cannot be made online.  

As part of your application process, you must advertise your application at the premises you want to be licensed. You must also, at your own expense, advertise your application in a local newspaper. We will contact you shortly after we receive your application to explain these requirements more fully, however further details are available on our Premises Licence webpage.   

Your application is open to representations for a period of 28 calendar days beginning with the day after you submit the application to us. Suring this period the responsible authorities, members of the public and / or local businesses have an opportunity to comment upon your application before we consider it.

Apply for a Licence

Yes. The law states that if your application does not attract any representations, the licence is automatically granted on the 29th day after the day on which it was submitted.

However, if the application attracts representations, it will be heard by a licensing sub-committee within 20 working days of the 29th day. In this case, you will know if your application is successful or not within 60 days from the day you submit your application.

The application fee is set in law.

The fee payable varies according to the non-domestic rateable value of the premises. Further details are available on our Application Fees webpage:

Licensing Act 2003 – Fees and Charges

You must complete all relevant pages of the application form, and in the case of an application to authorise the sale of alcohol, include the DPS consent form.

You must submit a plan of the premises to which the licence relates. The plan must be clear and legible. We recommend that you include a scale and legend on your plan to assist people to understand the size of your proposed business.  When submitting your plan electronically, you must ensure that it will be clear and legible if it were printed out.

There are no programmed or specific inspections made as part of this process, however during the consultation period, Licensing Officers or representatives of the Responsible Authorities may wish to meet you at your premises to check whether the plan submitted is accurate or, perhaps, to discuss your intentions in more detail.  

However, you should note that Officers of the Licensing Authority and Police Officers have a right under the Licensing Act 2003 to enter and inspect premises that benefit from a Premises Licence.

If your application does not attract any representations, a premises licence will automatically granted on the 29th day after the day on which your application was submitted.

However, if the application attracts representations, it must be heard by a licensing sub-committee (except where negotiations mean this is unnecessary). The hearing will be held within 20 working days of the 29th day, and you will be notified of the date, time and location of the hearing at least 10 working days in advance.

Where your application is heard at a Hearing, you will be given details of the decision within 5 working days from the date of the hearing.

.If your application is rejected, or if you are unhappy with any decision made at a sub-committee hearing, you have the right to appeal.  You may also appeal against any condition applied to your licence if you feel it to be unreasonable or unfair.

Appeals must be made to the local Magistrates' court within 21 days of the decision being notified to you. A fee may be payable. Further information on the appeal process is available from Kingston Magistrates Court.

Unless you specify an end date on your application, Premises Licence's last indefinitely.

However, an annual fee is payable on the anniversary of the date that the licence was first granted. We will invoice you in advance of the due date. Whilst not a formal renewal procedure for your licence, you may be subject to legal action if you fail to pay the annual fee on time.

Immaterial changes, such as a change in the address of the licence holder, or a change of trading name, can be made by writing or emailing the Licensing Authority via the contact details given below. A small fee applies, see what does it cost? for more information.

Separate application forms and procedures exist for more substantial changes to the terms and conditions of a Premises Licence or the premises to which it relates.

For further information please contact the Licensing Team in Environmental Health:

Email: licensing@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Telephone : 020 8547 5002

Useful websites:

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

British Institute of Inn keeping

Please note, we are not responsible for the content of external internet sites, nor do we recommend or endorse any product or service offered therein. Websites are provided for information only and other sites or organisations may also be able to assist you.

A record of all applications made and details of all licences issued is maintained. The register can be accessed online by following the link below. There is no charge for accessing the register.

Online Public Register