Premises Licences

What is a Premises Licence?

If you wish to run a premises selling alcohol, providing regulated entertainment and / or providing late night refreshment in the Maidstone Borough, you will need to be licensed under the Licensing Act 2003 by Maidstone Borough Council.

You must apply for a premises licence if you wish to hold a large-scale event in the Borough likely to attract more than 500 people (which is outside the limits set for a normal Temporary Event Notice/TEN).

Please consider which, if any, licensable activities you would like included on your licence, as changing this after your licence has been granted could cost you considerable time and money. To add or remove a form of entertainment or change your hours of operation, you will need to apply to vary your licence (see below).

You must be over 18 years old to apply for a premises licence.

Legal Regulations

View a summary of the legal regulations relating to Premises Licences.

How do I apply for a Premises Licence?

To make an application, please send us:

a completed application form, available for download – if you have a full operating schedule of your proposed business activities already prepared, you can attach that in place of Part 3 of the form,
a detailed plan of your premises. A guidance sheet for this is available,
a signed consent form from the person designated to be your DPS (see below “Nominate your Designated Premises Supervisor”),
the appropriate fee (cheques made payable to Sevenoaks District Council).

Please post applications to:

The Licensing Partnership

PO Box 182

Sevenoaks

Kent

TN13 1GP

A comprehensive guidance document on filling in the downloadable forms is available.* If you apply in writing by post, you MUST also provide copies of your application to the seven responsible authorities.

Alternatively, you can complete your application for a Premises Licence online. You can attach electronic copies of the relevant documents or post hard copies in, and you will be redirected to the online payment screen at the end of the form.

*The online and postal forms are not identical, but the guidance document still gives definitions and explanations which are helpful for filling in the online forms.

How much do I need to pay?

The fee schedule for Premises Licences varies widely depending on the Rateable Value of your premises. Fees are set by national law.

The licence fee is payable annually. You can do this by cheque, made payable to Sevenoaks District Council, or you can fill in the necessary form and pay online.

What else do I need to do?

Nominate your Designated Premises Supervisor

If your premises sells or supplies alcohol, you must nominate a Personal Licence-holder to act as your Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) and be the first point of call for issues concerning the management of alcohol sales.

Please note: your proposed DPS does not have to hold a Personal Licence at the time you apply. HOWEVER, you will not be able to sell any alcohol under the licence until such time as your DPS holds a Personal Licence. A licensed premise can have more than one Personal Licence holder working there, but only needs to have one DPS.

More information on how to apply for a Personal Licence.

If you already hold a licence and wish to vary your nominated DPS, please Apply to Specify a New DPS here. More information is available under ‘Keeping us up to date with your business’.

Your DPS must also give their consent to be nominated – this is free. A DPS Consent Form is available to download and post in to us. Alternatively your DPS can fill in the form for free online.

Your application will not be complete until we receive a completed DPS Consent Form. It is your responsibility to ensure your DPS completes it.

On the first day that we receive your complete application, you must put up a notice at your premises advertising your Premises Licence application. This must state the last date when representations can be made, which is 28 days from the date on which we receive your application.

Within 10 days of us receiving your application, you must place an advertisement in the local newspaper – there is a guidance note available on this, and a list of newspaper contacts. This must also state the last date for representations.

You MUST submit a confirmation of advertisement with your application form, either by post, or as a scanned attachment to your online form.

How long will it take to process my licence?

It takes 56 calendar days to process a new Premises Licence application from the time that we receive all the relevant paperwork and payment. A consultation period with all relevant authorities and with the public is included in this time.

Can I consider my licence granted afterwards?

If you do not hear back from us after this time has expired, you can consider your application granted. However, the “clock” can stop if we need to ask you for any further information – so please stay in touch with us during the application period.

What happens next?

Once we have received everything necessary from you and the proper assessment procedures have taken place, we can grant the application if there is no need for a hearing.

If any representation is received regarding your application, we must hold a hearing. We will then either grant or refuse your licence, or grant it subject to additional conditions, or with certain licensable activities excluded from the licence.

Maidstone Borough Council will serve a notice of its decision on you as the applicant, on the Chief of Police, and on anyone who has made relevant representations.

For more information on this, please read “What happens if there are problems with my Premises Licence Application?”.

Keeping us up to date with your business

You must inform us in any of these circumstances:

Your personal details or company address changes
Your DPS leaves, and you need to specify a new one
The licence-holder has been incapacitated or has died

Online forms to do this and other information is available under "Keeping us up to date with your business".

Making changes to your Premises Licence

If you wish to make any changes to your hours of business, the regulated activities you provide, or substantial changes to the layout of your premises, you need to apply to us. If you are in any doubt as to whether the change you would like to apply for is a major variation to your licence or a minor change, please contact the Licensing Team using the details to the right of this page and they will be able to advise you.

If any representations are made concerning an application to vary or transfer a licence, or the conditions of the licence transfer are not met, we must hold a public hearing.

To vary your licence, or apply for a minor change, you will also need to advertise in a local paper and/or at your premises. Please call the Licensing Team on 01622 602000 to discuss your plans and find out which procedure applies.

Varying a Licence

For any substantial variation to your licence, a similar procedure to a new application is involved, and you will need to pay a similar fee. Major variations take 56 calendar days to process. To apply for a major variation, there is a form available to download and post in to us, or you can apply online.

Minor Variations

For minor administrative changes, or minor changes of layout, there is a fee of £89.00. It will take 15 days to update your licence. A form is available for download or you can apply online.

Transferring the licence

You can transfer your Premises Licence to a new licence-holder. There is a fee of £23.00 for this procedure. It will take 14 days to process your application. There is a form available to download or you can apply online.

The current licence-holder must also give their consent to the transfer – this is free. The consent form is available for download or can be completed online.

Other options

I’m applying on behalf of my local Community Centre – do the same rules apply?

If your organisation is a community premises, such as a village hall, you can apply to be exempt from the need to have a Designated Premises Supervisor. There is a fee of £23.00 for this procedure, which will take 56 calendar days. Please contact the Licensing Team in the first instance using the details to the right of this page.

Afterwards, you can apply online.

The premises I want to license are under construction – what do I do?

If you want to get the licensing-process started for Premises that are still being built, you can make a provisional statement. There is a fee of £315.00 for this procedure, which will take 56 calendar days.

A form is available to download or alternatively you can apply online.

Other useful forms and information

If you’re having trouble filling in your application forms, please contact us in the first instance using the details on the right hand of the page. However, here is some information which may answer your questions.

What do I need to include in my operating schedule?

You should give the following information:

Which licensable activities you want to offer at your premises,
The times when the licensable activities will take place,
Any other times when the premises will be open to the public,
The period the licence is required for, if you are applying for a limited licence (i.e., for an event),
The details of your designated premises supervisor,
Whether any alcohol sold will be for consumption on or off the premises, or both,
What steps you will take to promote the licensing objectives,
Any other information required.

What do I do if I need a new copy of my Premises Licence or a Summary of the conditions?

An application form for a copy of your licence is available for you to download, print and post in to us. There is a fee of £10.50 for this. (Cheques made payable to Sevenoaks District Council.)

What if I want to surrender my Premises Licence?

If you need to give up your licence, you should return the Notice of Surrender to us. This is free.

Trade Associations

What if I need to complain?

The council operates a complaints procedure if you are unhappy with the service you have received. View Maidstone Borough Councils complaints policy or make a complaint online.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your licence application, please see “What happens if there are problems with my Premises Licence Application?”.

If you have a complaint relating to a licensed premises or suspect a premises is operating without the required licence please contact the Licensing Team using the details to the right of this page.

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