Gambling premises licence

A Premises Licence is required for any premises where an individual or company wants to offer premises-based gambling. The licences are issued in respect of specific premises.

What licences are there?

The types of Licence available will be:

Casino Premises Licence
Bingo Premises Licence
Adult Gaming Centre Premises Licence (enabling Category B gaming machines to be made available for use at the premises)
Family Entertainment Centre Premises Licence (enabling Category C gaming machines to be made available for use at the premises)
Betting Premises Licence (enabling the provision of facilities for betting, by making or accepting bets or by acting as a betting intermediary)

Who can apply?

An application for a Premises Licence may only be made by persons (this includes companies or partnerships):

who have the right to occupy the premises
who have an Operating Licence which allows she or he to carry out the proposed activity, or have applied for an Operating Licence (the Premises Licence may only be issued once the Operating Licence has been issued) from the Gamblng Commission.

An applicant for a Premises Licence must be over the age of 18.

Except in the case of a track, a Premises Licence may not authorise the use of premises for activities of more than one of the types listed above. A Licence may not be issued in respect of premises if those premises already have a Premises Licence in effect.

Fees

There are fees for this process.

Provisional statements

Section 204 of the Act provides for a person to make an application to us for a Provisional Statement in respect of premises that she or he:

expects to be constructed
expects to be altered
expects to acquire a right to occupy.

Unlike a Premises Licence application, a person can apply for a Provisional Statement without having an Operating Licence from the Gambling Commission or a right to occupy the premises.

As well as providing a level of assurance to the outcome of a subsequent Premises Licence application, a Provisional Statement also provides the holder with some protection against representations when they make an application for a Premises Licence in relation to the premises for which they hold a Provisional Statement.

Fees for provisional statements

There are fees for this process.

Transitional arrangements

To operate any of the above types of gambling premises after 1 September 2007 you will need:

an Operating Licence (apply to the Gambling Commission between 1 January 2007 and 27 April 2007
a Premises Licence: apply to us between 21 May 2007 and 30 July 2007
any Personal Licences appropriate to your business: apply to the Gambling Commission between 1st January 2007 and 27th April 2007.

Application forms

Please see our Application Forms page to download relevant application forms for gambling licences.

Compulsory advertisement

Please note that if you are applying for the grant, variation or non fast-track conversion of a Premises Licence, or for a Provisional Statement, you MUST advertise your application.

You will find forms for display of a public notice at the premises,and a list of acceptable newspapers for advertising your application,on our Application Forms page.