Licensing

Our licensing lawyers advise on:

• licensing applications and temporary event notices
• licensing club premises
• certificate applications and amendments
• personal licence applications
• entertainment venue licences
• due diligence on property transactions including hotels, public houses and other licensed premises
• appeals to the local Magistrates Court
• appeals to the High Court via a judicial review
• licensing reviews and enforcement

Pricing transparency

Licensing

Quality assured: Wright Hassall is Lexcel accredited, the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for practice management and client care.

What is involved in making a premises licence application?

The submission of a licensing application will normally involve:

• Taking your instructions and checking your proposed plan.
• Drafting an application form which includes an operating schedule setting out how you will promote the licensing objectives.
• Drafting a newspaper notice publicising the application and arranging publication of the same.
• Producing a “blue notice” for display at the premises during the statutory consultation period.
• Submitting the application to the Licensing Authority.

The example fees set out below cover the average cost of applying for a new premises licence (under Section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003), or to vary a licence (Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003), to allow an ‘average’ business to carry out one or more licensable activities.

What your fees include

• Taking your instructions.
• Advising you how to promote the licensing objectives within your premises licence application.
• Advising on the type of plans required to accompany your application and the fee levels payable to the licensing authority.
• Completing and submitting the application along with suitable plans (provided by you).
• Arranging for the advertising of the application in the local newspaper.
• Advising you on where the notice advertising the application needs to be displayed in compliance with the Licensing Act 2003.
• Providing a designated premises supervisor (DPS) consent form for the personal licence holder to sign.
• Checking the licence for accuracy and sending it to you after it is granted.

The fixed fees set out below are based on a licence application being run with a combination of junior and senior lawyers whose time will be apportioned depending on the complexity of the case.

We generally assess whether  a premises licence application is simple, medium, or high complexity according to the following criteria:

• The size, type, proposed opening hours and activities of the premises.
• The location of the premises, e.g. a site within a Cumulative Impact Area or a sensitive residential area is likely to qualify as medium or high complexity.
• Any other factors that mean that the application is likely to be controversial or attract objection.

For medium and high complexity applications we will provide a bespoke fee proposal based on our hourly rates of:

Partner: £325

Associate Solicitor: £230

Trainee or Paralegal: £130

The fees above assume that you have the correct type of planning permission for the use of the premises) and do not include any costs payable to a third party which may include the following:

• Premises Licence application fee (the minimum cost is £100 but varies according to property’s rateable value)
• Minor Variation of Premises Licence Fee - £89
• Variation of Licence to specify new DPS fee - £23
• Transfer of Premises Licence fee - £23
• Personal Licence Application fee - £37
• The cost of a public notice in the local press - variable
• Travel expenses - variable
• Temporary Event Notice - £21

Timing

Timing will depend, largely, on the complexity of the matter. If you can supply all the necessary documents, a straightforward premises’ application or variation will take around six weeks; a minor variation will take less. A more complex application, or one that receives objections from other parties, will take longer.

Exclusions

The fees outlined do not include:

• Obtaining suitable plans
• Attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities, nor their fee for this meeting.
• Attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing of the responsible authority. 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 based on our hourly rate.