In accordance with section 150 of the Gambling Act 2005, premises licences can be issued to:
- adult gaming centres
- betting premises
- bingo halls
- casinos
- family entertainment centres
Limitations
Applications can be made by any person aged 18 or over (this includes companies and partnerships), who has a right to occupy the premises.
Applicants must hold an operating licence, which authorises them for the proposed activities.
Track owners who wish to offer betting facilities themselves, rather than through an on-site betting operator, must apply for an operator’s licence.
Only one premises licence may be issued for any particular premises at any time, although the licence may authorise more than one type of gambling.
Tracks have an exemption to this rule, as they may be subject to more than one premises licence, as long as the licence applies to a specific area of the track. In this instance, the owner of the track does not have to apply for an operator’s licence.
How to apply
An application for a premises licence must be made on the correct form and forwarded to the licensing authority for processing. Online applications are currently unavailable, but will be added at a later date.
Applications are subject to certain conditions and provisions – see Gambling premises licence: Conditions. They must be accompanied by:
- a completed gambling premises licence application form [RTF, 0.3MB]
- the correct fee – see Gambling licences and permits: Fees [PDF, 18Kb]
- a plan of the premises drawn on a scale of 1:100 to which the application relates – see Gambling premises licence: Plans
You must give notice to any relevant responsible authorities at the same time as submitting your application, and advertise your application in a local newspaper and by displaying a notice on the premises the licence application relates to.
Other application forms
- Gambling premises licence: Application for a provisional statement [RTF, 0.3MB]
- Gambling premises licence: Application for reinstatement [PDF, 68Kb]
- Gambling premises licence: Application to transfer [PDF, 68Kb]
- Gambling premises licence: Application for transitional conversion [PDF, 0.1MB]
- Gambling premises licence: Application to vary [PDF, 69Kb]
- Gambling premises licence for vessels: Application [RTF, 0.3MB]
- Gambling premises licence for vessels: Application for a provisional statement [RTF, 0.3MB]
- Gambling premises licence for vessels: Application for transitional conversion [RTF, 0.3MB]
- Gaming machine permit for unlicensed family entertainment centres: Application [PDF, 0.1MB]
- Prize gaming permit: Application [PDF, 0.1MB]
