Premises licence transfer: why the licence may not come with the pub

People ask whether a licence "comes with" a business. It is the wrong question, and the wrong question is why people get caught.

A premises licence in England and Wales is not attached to the building and it is not attached to the trading name. It is held by a person or a company.

That distinction has a consequence most buyers never hear about.

The licence can simply stop existing

The Licensing Act says a premises licence lapses if the holder dies, loses capacity, becomes insolvent, is dissolved, or — for a club — stops being a recognised club.

And "insolvent" for a company is defined broadly: a voluntary arrangement approved, an administrator appointed, an administrative receiver appointed, or going into liquidation.

Read that again with a purchase in mind.

If the company that holds the licence goes into liquidation, the permission to sell alcohol does not transfer to anybody. It ends.

You can be buying a pub, a shop or a restaurant whose licence is about to evaporate for reasons that have nothing to do with you.

There is a way back, and it has a clock

The Act provides for reinstatement in certain circumstances — there are routes designed exactly for the case where a licence lapses and someone with an interest in the premises needs it back.

They are time-limited. Miss the window and you are applying for a new licence from scratch, in public, with objections possible — for premises that were trading last week.

⚠️ We are not going to set out those routes here, because getting them wrong is expensive and the details matter. This is the point at which you call a licensing solicitor, not the point at which you read a blog.

What to actually do

Before you agree a price:

1. Ask who holds the licence. A named person? A company? Which company — the one you are buying, or a different one?
2. Check that company on the register. Is anything running against it? Insolvency, liquidation, strike-off?
3. Ask the council for the licence record. Licensing authorities keep a public register of premises licences. Ask what it shows for that address: who holds it, what it permits, what conditions are attached.
4. Ask what happens on completion — who applies for what, and when. Get it in the contract, not in conversation.

The wider version of this question

Alcohol is the clearest example because the rule is written down plainly. But the shape repeats across almost every regulated trade.

Some permissions belong to premises. Some belong to a person. Some belong to a company. Some need a fresh inspection when anything changes hands.

For anything you need in order to trade — food registration, waste carrier registration, a taxi or gambling permission, a childcare registration — ask the same three questions: who holds it, what happens to it on a sale, and who has to apply.

Ask the authority that issued it. Not the seller.

What it costs not to look

A business without its permission to trade is a lease and some equipment.

The check is a phone call to the council and five minutes on the company register.

If you are not in England or Wales

Scotland, Northern Ireland and every other country do this differently — the names and the routes change. What does not change: a licence belongs to somebody, and you need to find out who, and what happens to it when they stop existing.

Sources: Licensing Act 2003, section 27 — "A premises licence lapses if the holder of the licence — (a) dies, … (c) becomes insolvent, (d) is dissolved…", with subsection (4) defining insolvency for a company, and subsection (2) making the section subject to sections 47 and 50 on reinstatement. Text current on legislation.gov.uk as at 8 September 2026.