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Premises Licencing Costs

All services provided by Napthens LLP are subject to VAT at the current rate of 20%

Our charges for dealing with a new premises licence application or a full variation to an existing premises licence can range between £600 and £1,200 (plus VAT) depending upon the amount of time which we anticipate will need to be spent on the case for you.  That depends upon the complexity of the matter and is affected by things such as the type of premises, how controversial the proposed application is anticipated to be and the content of the application (for example, the number of licensable activities, complexity of conditions, etc.)

Our charges are based on an initial assessment of the time which is likely to be required in dealing with the application for you. Matters of this type are generally dealt with by a partner (hourly rate £200.00) and assistant (hourly rate £85.00) and in most cases, having spoken with you about what is required.

Simple application: £600 – £750 plus VAT & Disbursements*
Medium Complexity: £750 – £900 plus VAT & Disbursements
High Complexity: £900 – £1,200 plus VAT & Disbursements

* In addition to our fees there are some expenses which we need to incur on your behalf (such as the application fee) and the anticipated disbursements and the amounts involved are currently as follows:

i. Application fee, payable to Local Authority: ordinarily between £100 and £635 depending upon the rateable value of the property (for full details see (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/79/made); and,

ii. Fee for advertising the application in a local newspaper: this can vary significantly depending upon the newspaper, but on average is £100 – £200 including VAT.

Our fees include:

  • Taking your instructions and advising you as to how you can promote the licensing objectives within your application;
  • Advising you in relation to the content of the application form and drafting this on your behalf.
  • Advising you as the type of plans you are required to submit with your application;
  • Completing the application form (including the operating schedule) in accordance with your instructions and submitting this to the local licensing authority along with suitable plans (where required). You must provide suitable plans.
  • Consulting with those authorities considered most likely to object to your application in an effort to alleviate any concerns they may have prior to submission of the application.
  • Providing guidance on the fee levels payable to the licensing authority.
  • Preparing copies of the premises licence application for disclosure to the responsible authorities and serving copies of the application on the responsible authorities;
  • Drafting the notices advertising the premises licence application and submitting the notice to the local newspaper.
  • Arranging with you the display of notice(s) advertising the premises licence application and advising as to where and how this should be done by you in order to comply with the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003.
  • Providing a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) consent form for signature by a personal licence holder proposed by yourself.
  • Checking the licence once granted and correcting any errors with the licensing authority.

You should note that the fees outlined above do not include:

  • Obtaining suitable plans;
  • Attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities, nor their fee for this meeting;
  • Dealing with or advising you in relation to queries or representations received from either the responsible authorities or other interested parties;
  • Attendance at or representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing. If representations are received and attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee is required then we will provide a separate fee estimate for this work which will be charged at an hourly rate.

Typical timescales

Applications for new premises licences and full variations to existing premises licence are required to be advertised for a period of 28 days. Where there are no objections, such an application is deemed granted on expiry of the 28-day period, but where objections are received a hearing may be required and that normally takes place around four weeks after the expiry of the 28-day period. Ordinarily therefore, subject to prompt receipt of all the necessary information and documentation, new licence applications and full variations to existing premises licences usually take between five weeks and nine weeks from instruction to grant.

Who will be dealing with my case?

Your case will be handled by a trusted member of our experienced team. Full details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available on our website including the types of work normally undertaken.