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Tower Hamlets Council > Business > Licences and street trading > Alcohol and entertainment licence > Premises licence

Premises licence

The sale by retail of alcohol, the provision of regulated entertainment and the provision of late night refreshments requires a premises licence.

A licence is required for the following premises:

Pubs and night-clubs
Off licences and shops selling alcohol
Restaurants serving alcohol
Businesses selling hot food and drinks between 23:00 hours and 05:00 hours
Hotels, guest houses and other places that sell alcohol
Theatres and amateur dramatic clubs
Cinemas
Venues with Indoor sporting events
Temporary entertainment of music or dancing or where alcohol is sold.

Charities, a proprietor of educational establishments, health service bodies and a chief officer of police can also apply for a premises licence.

Eligibility criteria

Any of the following may apply for a premises licence:

anyone who carries on a business in the premises to which the application relates
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

Applicants must not be under 18 years of age.

You can read a summary of the regulation relating to this licence on OPSI's website.

Application process

Applications must be sent to the licensing authority for the area where the premises are located.

Apply online for a premises licence through Businesslink (See note below).

Note:

When making an application on Businesslink, please ensure that the payment is approved and authorised. You can do this by login into your “My Business” account.

If no payment has been authorised, this may lead to your application being rejected. If you are in any doubt please contact the Licensing Team on our hotline 020 7364 5008.

What fee do I pay?

You need to know the business rate for your premises, otherwise you cannot calculate the correct fee. Contact your local office on 020 7441 7000 for help with this.

See an explanation of the fees regime and worked examples: Appendix 1 (pdf, 54 kb).

Online payments can be made on http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/content_pages/pay_it.aspx

What information do I need to put on the application form?

Complete all of the application form (pdf, 221 kb).
Don’t forget to fill in the operating schedule-make clear licensable activities and any limitations.
Detail how you will ensure compliance with the four licensing objectives. All the responsible authorities will look at this and you should discuss any problems with them before you make an application.
You must nominate a premises supervisor if you are selling alcohol. This person must hold a personal licence by the time that you want to supply alcohol on the second appointed day. They must sign a DPS licensing consent form(pdf, 45 kb).
Don’t forget to (all) sign the application form where required

You are also normally expected to have planning permission for your proposal, so we suggest you speak to our planning colleagues if you are at all unsure on this point on 020 7364 5009.

Where do I send the forms?

To us and all the responsible authorities - see Appendix 2 (pdf, 25 kb) for a list of responsible authorities.

Metropolitan Police Service
Tower Hamlets Division
Licensing Office
Bow Road Police Station
111 Bow Road
London E3 2AN

Tel: 020 7275 and 020 7275 4950
Fax: 020 7275 4943
Email: HT-LicensingOffice@met.police.uk

Is there any other information I must send with the forms?

For the licensing authority you must enclose the correct fee. Cheques to be made payable to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. See Appendix 1 for information on the correct fee (pdf, 54 kb).

For both the licensing authority and all the responsible authorities you need to send a plan of the premises. We would request the scale of 1:100. The plan must show the following:

the extent of the boundary of the building
external and internal walls of the building if relevant
if different from above, the perimeter of the premises
the positions of access to and egress from the premises including escape routes
if the premises is used for more than one existing licensable activity, the area within the premises used for each activity
in a case where an existing licensable activity relates to the supply of alcohol, the location or locations on the premises used for each activity
fixed structures (including furniture) or similar objects temporarily in a fixed location (but not furniture) which may impact on the ability of individuals on the premises to use exits or escape routes without impediment
where a stage or raised area exists, the location of the steps, stairs, elevator or lifts
in a case where the premises includes any room or rooms containing public conveniences, the location of the room(s)
the location and type of any fire safety and any other safety equipment
the location of a kitchen, if any, on the premises
the plan may include a legend through which the matters mentioned or referred to above are sufficiently illustrated by the use of symbols on the plan

Do I need to do anything else apart from completing the form?

Yes, you must advertise the application. You need to display a notice for not less than 28 consecutive days, starting on the day after the application was given to the licensing authority. You must also publish a notice on at least one occasion in a local newspaper, during the period of ten working days starting on the day the application was given to the relevant licensing authority. The advert can be any size or colour but must be readable.

The notice must be prominently displayed at the premises to which it relates, where it can be conveniently read from the exterior of the premises. In the case of a premises that cover an area of more than 50 metres square, a further similar notice must be displayed every 50 metres along the external premises abutting any highway.

You must produce your notice comprising of the following: (to assist you the this example premises licence notice (pdf) can be used. Please note that it must be printed on pale blue paper)

equal to or larger than A4
pale blue in colour
printed legibly in black ink or typed in black in a font of a size at least equal to size16
Briefly describe the proposed application / variation - eg, the sale of alcohol, and/or regulated entertainment and/or late night refreshment, with hours specified, that is, Monday to Sunday from 11am to 11pm. If there are non-standard hours, such as Bank Holidays, then this should be briefly mentioned. The hours the premises are open to the public are not required to be shown. Where the variation is not for the hours then briefly explain what the variation is for. If you are removing an existing licence condition then briefly describe the condition.
the name of the applicant
the postal address of the premises
Our address, where the register is kept and when the record of the application can be viewed from 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday inclusive, at: Licensing Section, Mulberry Place (AH), 5 Clove Crescent, E14 1BY.

Evaluation process

The licensing authority must grant the application, which can be subject to conditions. A hearing must be held if any representations are made in respect of the application. If a hearing is held the licence can be granted or granted subject to additional conditions, licensable activities listed in the application can be excluded or the application can be rejected.

The licensing authority will serve a notice of its decision on the applicant, any person who has made relevant representations (ie representations that were not deemed frivolous or vexatious) and the chief of police.

Applications can also be made to vary or transfer a licence. Again, a hearing may have to be heard if representations are made.

We must approve your application before the licence is granted.

Premises variation

The procedure to vary the premises licence is the same as a new premises licence, however the forms are different:

Premises variation licensing application form (pdf, 215 kb)
Vary premises notice (pdf, 95 kb)

Where you want to substantially vary the physical premises, you should apply for a new premises licence. Please note that the procedures for a minor variation are different.

There is a separate application to vary a premises licence to specify the designated premises supervisor.

Transfer a premises licence

Download the application forms:

Transfer premises licensing application form (PDF, 79kb)
Consent of premises licence holder to transfer licensing application form(PDF, 30k)

The fee is £23.