Transfer, variation and review for the Gambling Act 2005

If you are taking over ownership of a licensed premises, you'll need to apply to transfer the current licence.

• bingo halls
• betting tracks
• betting shops
• adult gaming centres
• family entertainment centres
• casinos (although The Gambling Act 2005 prevents the council from accepting new applications)

Legislation summary

View the Gambling Act 2005.

Licensing policy 

View the policy ^{(PDF, 1.4mb)}

Eligibility criteria

To apply for a transfer or variation of a premises licence you must:

• be 18 years of age or over
• be authorised to make such an application, if applying on behalf of a company or partnership
• hold or previously applied for an operator’s licence from the Gambling Commission for that gambling activity
• ensure that the annual fee is payable on the anniversary of the grant of the licence (even though the licence is valid for an indefinite period)

Information to include

• the existing premises licence
• written consent to the transfer from the existing licence holder
• the appropriate application fee

Application to transfer a premises licence

Give notice to other authorities

There are two types of notices forms depending on whether you're an individual or you're applying as a company or with others.

If you're an individual applicant, download the notice of application to transfer a premises licence Form A  ^{(docx, 14kb)} 

If you're a company or applying with others, download the notice of application to transfer a premises licence Form B ^{(docx, 14kb)}

You'll need to send a copy of your application form within 7 days of applying to each authority listed in the list of responsible authorities ^{(PDF, 1.4mb)}.

Vary a gambling premises licence

What you need to do if you want to add, amend, remove an authorised activity to an existing gambling premises licence.

When to apply for a variation

You will need to apply to vary a premises licence if you want to:

• add, amend or remove an authorised activity
• amend another detail of the licence
• exclude a default condition
• add, amend or remove a condition imposed or excluded by the licensing authority

This refers to licences for casinos, bingo, betting, adult gaming machines and family entertainment centres.

Vary a gambling premises licence

Application to vary a premises licence

Give notice to other authorities

There are two types of notices forms depending on whether you're an individual or you're applying as a company or with others.

If you're an individual applicant, download the notice of application to vary a premises licence Form A ^{(docx, 14kb)}

If you're a company or applying with others, download the notice of application to vary a premises licence Form B ^{(docx, 20kb)}

You'll need to send a copy of your application form within 7 days of applying to each authority listed in the list of responsible authorities ^{(PDF, 1.4mb)}.

Review of gambling premises licence

Application for a review of a premises licence

A responsible authority or interested party may apply to the licensing authority for a review by the authority of a premises licence.

Any application to have a premises licence reviewed must clearly show how the operation of the individual premises has not promoted, or has worked against, one or more of the following objectives:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime and disorder, or being used to support crime
• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling

All premises licences are subject to mandatory conditions and in some cases default conditions, which restrict the operating hours under the licence. Mandatory conditions may not be varied or removed from the licence, however, application can be made to remove or vary the default conditions. Please refer to the Gambling Act 2005 (Mandatory and Default Conditions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 for details of the mandatory and default conditions which apply to the various licences. 

Once an application for a premises licence to be reviewed has been made the licensing authority may start a review in relation to a particular premises licence or a particular class of premises licence.

Any person or body making the initial application for the review of a premises licence must serve notice of the application on the Licensing Authority, the holder of the premises licence and each of the Responsible Authorities. Please refer to the licensing policy.

Page last updated: 16 March 2021