Premises licence

The licensable activities that a premises licence can authorise are:

  • the sale by retail of alcohol
  • the supply of alcohol by a club to club members and guests
  • the provision of regulated entertainment, including plays, films, indoor sports, music and dancing
  • the provision of entertainment facilities
  • the sale of late-night refreshments (hot food or drink supplied between 11.00pm and 5.00am).

Premises licences can also be used for one-off events at which more than 500 people are expected to attend. For smaller one-off events, it may be more appropriate to apply for a temporary event notice.

Licensing objectives

All licensable activities in Lambeth should contribute to and not have a negative impact on our four objectives:

  • preventing crime and disorder
  • public safety
  • preventing public nuisance
  • protecting children from harm.

See the licensing frequently asked questions (FAQs) document for answers you may have about licensing and deregulation changes:

Application process

What you need to know...

Applications for licences will normally be refused if they lie within the defined area of the special policy on cumulative impact. The applicant will need to demonstrate, within their operation schedule and to our satisfaction, that there will be no negative cumulative impact on the licensing objectives.

You must also register your premises with the Lambeth Food, Health and Safety team. This service is free of charge. For information, please see Register a food premises.

Costs

Premises licence application fees depend on the non-domestic rateable value of the premises. This value, which is also used to calculate business rates, can be found through the Valuation Office Agency's search engine. Premises that do not have a rateable value, such as schools, church halls, open spaces or residential properties, automatically fall into the lowest fee band.

Do it online

You will then be directed to the online payment portal.

Next steps

Notify the police

When you have submitted your application, please send an email to the licensing police at Licensing-LX@met.police.uk. Please provide:

  • your full name
  • your date of birth
  • your place of birth
  • the name of the premises
  • the type of application submitted.

An applicant will always be required to give notice of their application to one or more responsible authorities, such as the Police, Fire Service, Environmental Health and/or Trading Standards.

Advertise your application

All applications must be advertised in order to allow local residents and businesses to review your proposals and make a representation if they wish.

There are two ways in which you must advertise your premises licence notice:

  • By displaying a statutory notice at your premises for 28 consecutive days, starting on the day after you submitted your application. This notice must be printed on blue paper and be displayed clearly at all times.
  • By publishing a single public notice in a local newspaper within 10 working days of submitting your application.

Failure to advertise your application in accordance with the legal requirements will invalidate your application. It could mean that you have to start the entire application process again.

There is a 28-day period during which any representations in respect of the application may be made. This is from when an application is made for a new licence, or to vary or review an existing licence. Representations may support or oppose the application.

Confirmation of a decision

The licensing authority will usually be able to confirm whether an application has been granted shortly after the end of this period. However, in situations where an objection has been made, the application will usually be referred to a sub-committee hearing to be decided.

Any licence granted may be subject to several conditions, including:

  • mandatory conditions which are set out within the legislation - these apply if the licence allows the supply of alcohol or exhibition of films, or if security staff are employed at the premises
  • conditions consistent with any special measures set out in the application form
  • any further conditions imposed by the sub-committee following a hearing.

Public register

We are required to maintain a public register giving details of the premises licences that we have issued. These details can be found through our search.

Comment on a licence application

When a premises first applies for a licence (or if they apply to vary their licence, or if the licence is reviewed), you can comment on the application to support or oppose it.

What you need to know...

If you wish to comment on an application, you must do it in writing by the advertised date. This is usually 28 days after the application was made.

Representations (comments) will usually be expected to relate to at least one of the licensing objectives. The objectives are:

  • preventing crime and disorder
  • public safety
  • preventing public nuisance
  • protecting children from harm.

There are two ways that you can make a representation on an application:

  1. Through our Public Access page. You can also view current licences and applications in progress.
  2. By submitting your representation via our online form.

Provisional statements

Provisional statements are effectively provisional licences. These allow an operator to assess the likelihood of obtaining a full licence before committing to the costs of developing a site.

They can be obtained in situations where the premises have not yet been constructed, extended, or altered for use for licensable activities.

Provisional statements do not in their own right allow licensable activities to be carried out. However, if a statement has been granted, the licensing authority is obliged to disregard any representations we receive against a subsequent premises licence application. We will do this as long as the details of the application are substantially the same as when the statement application was made.

 

Making changes to the licence

As time goes by, it is possible that the licensed business may need to make changes to the licence to reflect its current circumstances.

Applications can be made to vary the licence for things including:

  • changing the layout of the licensed premises
  • providing further licensable activities at the premises
  • increasing the times during which licensable activities can be provided
  • adding, changing or removing conditions imposed upon the licence
  • changing the name or address of the premises licence holder.

Smaller changes that will not have a negative impact upon the licensing objectives may be made using a minor variation application. If, however, the premises licence holder has changed their name or address, you can notify us of this.

Larger changes that may have a negative effect upon the licensing objectives must be made using a full variation application. This must also be used if you wish to increase the hours during which alcohol can be sold, or wish to make substantial changes to the premises.

If the changes are exceptionally substantial, and will completely change the nature of the business, we may instead ask you to apply for a new licence.

Change of ownership

If the business is sold to a new owner, an application can be made to transfer the licence. The previous owner will usually be required to provide a signed form showing that they consent to the transfer of their licence.

Where the business changes hands following the death or insolvency of the previous owner, the transfer application must be made within 28 days to prevent the licence from lapsing. Or, you can submit and interim authority notice. This allows for a further three months for a buyer for the business to be found.

 

Designated premises supervisor

Every premises licence that allows the supply of alcohol is required to specify an individual as the designated premises supervisor (DPS). The DPS will usually be the person in day-to-day control of the premises and must hold a licence to sell alcohol. The DPS also authorises other members of staff to sell alcohol.

If the individual specified as the DPS stops working at the premises, it will be necessary to apply to change the DPS's details.

  • The current premises licence holder must apply for the variation.
  • The nominated DPS must complete a consent form.
  • The leaving DPS must complete the request to be removed.

How to apply to change the DPS details

Alcohol cannot be sold from the premises if there is no DPS listed on the licence.

Some 'community premises' are able to apply to remove the requirement to specify a DPS on their licence. The premises must satisfy several conditions in order to remove the requirement, and an application must be granted before the change can be made.

Please contact us for further details, or to discuss whether a particular premises is eligible to remove this requirement.

Contact the Licensing Team

 

Other information about premises notices

Pay the annual fee for a premises licence
 

Cumulative Impact Zone — Clapham High Street

A special licensing policy on cumulative impact covers part of Clapham High Street. This creates a ‘rebuttable presumption’ of refusal to applications for new premises licences or club premises certificates or variations to existing licences.

What this means is that applications for licences within the defined area will normally be refused unless the applicant can demonstrate, within their operation schedule and to our satisfaction, that there will be no negative cumulative impact on the licensing objectives.

However, residents, local businesses and responsible authorities still need to make representations in relation to applications they have concerns for. If a satisfactory application does not receive any representations, it will automatically be granted.

Current licence holders within the defined area are not affected, unless a licence holder seeks to vary their licence in a manner that would cause negative cumulative impact.

 

Contact us

If you have a query or want to find out more, please get in touch.

Contact details for Lambeth Licensing Team