Bricks and mortar sex shops need a licence if either:
They sell R18 hardcore VHS/DVDs/Blu-rays (Mail order sales are not allowed even with a sex shop licence) OR
A significant percentage of stock or sales is sex related. The local council decides the percentage, typically 10-30%, or else is
decided on case by case basis.
Council
Council Licensing Fees & Restrictions
Aberdeen
News
December 2017: Fees reduced
The council reduced licence fees by 20% to make an application fee £4200 and a renewal £2520
Andover
News June
2016: Fees
A proposal has been submitted reducing the current sex shop licence fee of £1,460 to £478. However there is also a very a dodgy idea to charge an additional fee of £785 should one or more objections be lodged. Surely a
red rag to anti-sex shop campaigners.
Ashford Borough Council (Kent)
News October 2013: Fees
Ashford council charges £3095 for a new application
and £565 for an annual renewal
Aylesbury
News 23rd July 2011: Lap Dancing Fees
Aylesbury has set an annual licence fee of £2,200. This
is discounted to £600 for uncontested renewals.
Basildon
News March 2014: Fees reduced
Basildon Council has said that the fee for a new sex
establishment licence would drop from £2,000 to £1,000
Barrow
News February 2014: Fees reduced
Barrow Council has said that the fee for a new
sex shop would drop from £2,529 to £197.64
Basingstoke
News January 2013: Nil Policy
Basingstoke Council is still pushing
for a nil policy on morality grounds. Set to be discussed by the full council in March 2013.
News 8th May 2012: Nil Policy
Basingstoke wanted a general nil policy. They were advised that
this would be illegal and so have adapted the plan to be a nil policy in the town centre and nearly impossibly restrictive rules outside of the town centre. The plan will be open to public comment in June 2012.
Bath
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Bath Council has reduced licensing fees. Fees are now £3,695 previously £3,995
Bedford
News April 2013: Nil Policy
Bedford Council moralises that there is not a single spot in town that is suitable for an adult business. However the Council are not proposing to closed
existing businesses.
Birmingham
News October 2013: Fees
Birmingham charges £7585 for a new application and £4070 for an annual renewal
Blackpool
News 30th June: £5,000 Proves Taxing
The Rouge club on Clifton Street, Blackpool, was one of five venues granted licences by
Blackpool Council in January to operate as sex entertainment venues.
The permission was subject to the payment of the £5,000 licence fee by Monday, April 30. While £1,000 was paid on April 25 an agreement was reached that owner Pauline
Lai would pay the £4,000 balance by June 1. After hearing £2,500 was still owed, the council's public protection sub-committee agreed to give Lai until August 23 to pay the rest.
News 18th October 2011:
Lap Dancing Restrictions
After a 6 month study it looks likely that Blackpool will consider 4 as the maximum number of lap dancing venue. But all applications will be considered on their individual merits. There are currently 7 clubs
operating in Blackpool.
Venues will also have to comply with miserable rules. Nudity will continue to be banned while customers must sit down throughout performances and will be forbidden from touching dancers. Clubs will have to adhere to a total
of 47 licensing conditions which also include strict controls on publicising premises.
Bournemouth
News September 2016: Further openings to be banned
Bournemouth has proposed a ban on additional sex shops and lap dancing clubs in the town.
The current licence feers are:
Sex shops £3678 (£1866 renewal)
Sex entertainment venues £7000 (£3000 renewal)
News 16th April 2011: Lap Dancing Fees
Bournemouth has granted all it's lap dancing clubs new licenses while raising the annual fee from £150 to £7,000.
Braintree
News January 2014: Proposed Licence Fees
A licence is set to cost a new applicant £2,136.
Bradford
News August 2013: Reduced Fees
Bradford Council plans to cut the amount it will charge for the licensing of sex shops and zoos, following a Court of Appeal ruling. The cost of a licence for a sex shop, sex cinema
or strip club is likely to be reduced from £5,658 to £1,928.
Breckland (Norfolk)
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Breckland Council has reduced
licensing fees. First application, now £1,541 previously £3,000. Renewals are now £813, previously £3,000
Cambridge council has launched a public consultation about its sex establishment licensing policy. The policy covers sex shops and sex cinemas and sex
entertainment venues , which refers to places offering activities such as lap dancing, topless bars and strip shows.
Yvonne O'Donnell, environmental health manager at the council, said the review did not stem from new applications, but from
the need to ensure the current policy was fit for purpose .
The consultation will run until August 21, after which responses will be considered and taken to the licensing committee meeting in October.
News January
2014: Proposed fee reduction
Under the proposals, the cost of a sex entertainment venue licence would drop by 45%, from £4,916 to £2,700. The licence fee for a sex shop or cinema would drop by 49%, from £4,916
to £2,500.
News 6th July 2011: Nil Policy
Cambridge Council is moving for a 'nil policy' on adult entertainment. Repressive rules have forced the existing club to not reapply for a licence.
Chichester
News October 2013: Fees
Chichester charges £1906 for a new application and £953 for an annual renewal
Coventry
News October 2019: Fees
Coventry charges £5750 for SEV licences
News May 2013: Just 1
Coventry has now adopted a
monopolistic policy of only allowing 1 table dancing bar (there is only 1 in Coventry)
News 9th August 2011: Room for 4
Coventry looks set to limit lap dancing clubs to 4.
Derby
News July 2013: Refunds
Derby City Council will repay nearly £9000 each to the 2 licensed sex shops in the town. A recent High Court
judgement ruled this over charging to be illegal and that councils are only allowed to charge licence fees in line with administration expenses.
In 2010-11, the council had charged £1,500 for a licence renewal for each shop and, in 2011-12
and 2012-13, £4,380. But, following the key legal test case, it reduced that fee to £495. The council is paying back the excess totalled over 3 years.
Doncaster
News October 2013:
Licence Fees
Doncaster council charges £2840 for new licences and renewals
Dudley
Update 2018: Fees
Sex Shop licence fees are set at £2994
per annum.
East Northamptonshire
News October 2013: Licence Fees
East Northamptionshire council charges £1109 for a new application and £295
for an annual renewal
Gloucester
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Gloucester Council has reduced licensing fees. First application, now £4420.
Renewals are now £2810. Previously all licences were £10700
News 12th May 2011: Lap Dancing Licensing
Gloucester has opted out of the optional licensing scheme for lap dancing clubs
and licences will be granted similarly to any other licensed premises
Grimsby
News September 2015: Licence Fees
The fee for a sex shop licence renewal is
£1032.
Hartlepool Borough Council
News 4th April 2011: Lap Dancing Fees
Officers also discussed proposed new licensing requirements for
premises that offer “sexual entertainment”.
If councillors do introduce the new controls, at a meeting of the next full council, then there would be a fee for any premises applying for a Sex Entertainment Venue (SEV).
The proposed fee
structure for a new application is either £500 or £850, depending on the rateable value of the premises, while a renewal application would range between £100 and £450.
Havering
News February 2014: Nil Policy
Havering Council have announced a zero tolerance policy to sex shops and table dancing clubs. There are no such businesses currently operating in the area.
Hillingdon
News 16th April 2011: Lap Dancing and Sex Shop Fees
Licence fee set to £2,300
Isle of Wight
News October 2013: Licence Fees
Isle of Wight council sets licence fees at £3500
Kirklees
News
September 2013: Fees reduced
There are only three sex shop licences issued in Kirklees, all in Huddersfield, and they will benefit from a cut. The £2,575 licences falls to £750.
Leeds
News March 2013: Council moralists recommend that 3 lap dancing clubs should be shut down
A new draft policy recommends that Leeds City Council imposes a limit of
four lap dancing clubs, three fewer than are currently operating. It also suggests banning strip joints from sensitive locations , for example near schools and religious buildings. The policy is up for public consultation.
News 16th April 2011: Lap Dancing and Sex Shop Fees
Leeds has reduced it's fee from £3,271 to £2,300 after petitioning from a sex shop chain.
Leicester
News 2nd January 2011: 3 clubs closed
Leicester morality council decided that 3 clubs should be closed whilst leaving 2 to continue operating.
News
24th July 2011: 5
Leicester city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and his cabinet colleagues are expected to agree a limit of five lap dancing clubs in the city. There are currently five adult entertainment venues in the city.
Each club
will be required to get a £6,000 licence to operate. These will be granted to venues that meet strict restrictions to ensure not too much fun.
Lichfield
News February
2016: Fees reduced
Lichfield Council has reduced sex shop licensing fees from £3,000 to £1,650 for first application.
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Lichfield Council has reduced
licensing fees. Now £3,000 for first application and £1,750 for renewals
London: Bexley
News 26th May 2011: Lap Dancing Restrictions
A spokesperson for Bexley council said: Bexley has decided at present not to have a policy. Setting a nil policy does not prevent applications being made or authorities having to consider such applications.
On March 29th 2011
Bexley Council dropped the price of a sex establishment licence from £22,537 to £8,995 after they carried out a study into licence charges. The EU Services Directive which came into affect on December 28, 2009, requires that councils only
charge for the admin cost of the licence and the required inspections and not the enforcement work carried out on unlicensed businesses.
London: Camden
News
5th August 2011: Nil Policy
Camden is proposing a nil policy for new lap dancing venues, sex shops and sex cinemas.
London: City of London
News January 2012: Nil Policy
The City of London has capped its quotas for new clubs at zero,
London: Enfield
News 2nd December 2011: Nil Policy
Strip shows, lapdancing and pole dancing are to be banned by a council, even though there is not a single adult entertainment venue or sex shop in the borough.
Launching its campaign under the slogan of No Sex please, we're Enfield , the borough council is adamant it wants to continue to provide a haven for fair-minded people .
Chris Bond, cabinet member for the environment, said:
We have no sex establishments in Enfield and that's the way we want to keep it.
Residents are now being nominally asked for their views.
London: Greenwich
News 26th May 2011: Licence Fees
A sex shop licence costs £20,360
London: Hackney
News 2011: Nil Policy
Started off proposing a 'nil policy' for lap dancing and sex shops. After effective opposition from the Shoreditch strip pubs, the policy was changed to 'nil new businesses', but existing businesses are to be allowed to remain.
London: Hammersmith & Fulham
News February 2014: Fees Reduced
It is proposed to slash fees for new sex shops and cinemas by 70%t, from £16,668 down
to £4,947. The annual licence new grant fees for sex entertainment venues were proposed to be cut by 58% from £16,668 to £6, 983.
News February 2012: Licence Fees
Hammersmith's annual
licence renewal fee is nearly £17,000
London: Haringey
News January 2012: Nil Policy
Haringey has capped its quotas for new clubs at
zero,
Hounslow have launched a consultation in support of a nil policy for both lap dancing clubs and sex shops. The council is doing nothing to encourage public responses though, just providing an email address.
London: Islington
News January 2012: Nil Policy
Islington is looking to set its quota for new clubs at zero. (But is appears that gay clubs
are somehow excused from the 'nil' policy).
Licences cost £14,000
London: Newham
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Newham has reduced
licensing fees. First application, now £2000. Renewals are now £1285. Previously £7500 and £2000
London: Richmond
News January 2012:
Nil Policy
Richmond set its quota for new clubs at zero, whilst tolerating the continued licensing of the Private Shop. The nil policy is discretionary and new applications will be considered.
London: Tower Hamlets
News October 2013: Morality Fee
Tower Hamlets are currently proposing an increased immorality charge of £9,000. There has been debate as to whether
this can be justified under the law that it should cover admin only
News October 2011: Nil Policy
Another borough going through the process of imposing a 'nil policy' towards adult businesses via a
token public 'consultation'. The council is keen to close the 11 clubs currently operating in the borough.
London: Westminster
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Westminster has reduced licensing fees. First application, now £5,479, and renewals are now £3,863.
News 7th January 2012: Licence Fees
A sex shop licence costs
£29,102. Adult retailers are seeking a Judicial Review as councils are supposed to only charge costs incurred, not use the fee as a revenue earner.
In a bid to restrict the number of sex shops in Soho, the council has limited the number of
licences issued to venues in the area to just 16 at any given time.
Luton
News October 2013: Fees reduced
Luton has reduced licensing fees. First
application, now £5,000, previously £9,300. Renewals are now £2,000, previously £4,000
Manchester
News February 2014: Review
Manchester town hall is reviewing its policy. Currently a permit to open a new sex shop in Manchester costs £4,625. A new lap dancing club costs £4,425.
Medway
News 19th October 2012: Restrictions
Medway has set a limit of 2 lap dancing clubs in Rochester but doesn't seem to have such a
restriction in Chatham. Seems to be more to do with irritation with licensing controls than a properly justified policy.
Middlesbrough
News October 2013: Fees
Middlesbrough charges £2475 for a new application and £1500 for an annual renewal
Newcastle
News October 2013: Fees
Initial applications are charged at £6956. Renewals and variations are £2026.
News January 2012: 15 clubs to lose strippers
Newcastle has set a maximum limit of 5 clubs leaving 15 part time clubs foundering
Newmarket
News May 2012: Licence Fees
A Sex Entertainment Venue licence costs £2,572 for the first year and £1,262 a year thereafter, in accordance with the sex establishment policy of
Forest Heath District Council.
North Lincolnshire
News November 2013: Licence Fees Reduction
Scunthorpe's only sex shop Pulse and Cocktail took its case
to the Civic Centre and the council agreed the sex shop's fees should be cut by £ 1,220 a year. Councillors agreed that the processing work involved did not warrant the present £
3,620 a year fee for renewing the licence. So now the fee is £ 2,400
Northumberland
News 20th July 2011: Sex
Shop Fees
Although no such venues are currently in the county, councillors are keen to maintain this, as they set in place a new licensing policy. At a recent full council meeting, members at Northumberland County Council backed
proposals for a licence fee of £6,500, including a non-refundable administration fee of £1,500.
They were told that the fee was based on what nearby local authorities were charging and set to dissuade people from opening any
establishments in Northumberland.
Nottingham
News August 2020: Free refund
More than £30,000 will be refunded to sex shops in Nottingham after it was
revealed that shops were being overcharged for their licenses.
It comes after the council was challenged on the price it charges for sex shops to renew their licences. Previously, uncontested applications for licence renewals had to be heard by a full
committee, and the costs involved were passed on to the applicant.
However, since 2017, decisions have actually been taken by an officer, at a lower cost, but the applicants were still being charged the costs for the committee.
As a result,
Nottingham City Council has decided to refund the additional costs, backdated to 2016 when the challenge was lodged. It means in total £30,876 will be paid back to three sex shops in the city.
News July 2016: Easier renewals
The Council noted a change of procedure such that future sex shop licence renewals will not require council meetings or officer visits unless issues arise.
News March 2013: On a mission from the god of
gender equality
The deputy police commissioner Ms Chris Cutland seems to think her job means that she can impose her particular morality on the people of Nottingham and has called for a ban on table dancing clubs and sex shops.
News 17th March 2012 : Extortionate Fees
The closure of the Adult Gift Shop was attributed to an extortionate increase in licence fees to £11,000.
Oldham
News February 2014: Fees reduced
Oldham has already cut its charges from £4,000 to just £325
News October 2013: Fees
Oldham charges
£5125 for a new application and £4000 for an annual renewal
Oxford
News August 2013 : Extortionate Fees
Oxford sex shops
are milked with licence fees set at more than £8000 per year
Plymouth
News August 2019: Update
The fee for
a licence renewal is £3022
News 8th February 2012: Miserable Plymouth
Plymouth Council has approved the policy that only one sex shop or cinema and two lap dancing venues will be allowed in
Union Street. The city centre will be allowed just one sex shop and no lap dancing venues. All other parts of the city will be generally considered out of bounds but any application will be considered on their merits.
A one-year licence will cost
£3,900, and the annual renewal fee will be £3,200.
The policy will apply from March 2012.
News 9th August 2011: Room for 3
Plymouth is looking to set a maximum of 3 lap
dancing clubs paying £3,200 each
Portsmouth
News 2nd March 2012: Miserable Portsmouth
Portsmouth Council have proposed a repressive
policy banning any new strip pubs, lap dancing clubs or sex shops.
The proposal is now open for a six-week consultation. To share your views email licensing@portsmouthcc.gov.uk by April 12 2012.
Rotherham
News June 2019: Fees
The annual fee for a new sex establishment licence is £7,560
Rushmoor
Surrey
News July 2018: Licences reduced
The council has taken the decision to drastically lower the cost of maintaining and applying for a licence.
From June 1 2018r, the cost of a new sex
establishment licence application cost £1,115, 84% lower than the £6,925 it previously cost.
Where it once cost £3,200 to renew that licence, the charge will now be £270 meaning the cost has been reduced by over 90%.
Salford
News February 2014: Fees maintained
Salford, which currently has no licensed sex premises, will continue to charge £4,500
Salisbury
News September 2014: Licence fees
In a news article about the Weymouth Erotica Belle shop, it was noted that the licence fee renewal for Salisbury was just £10.50.
Sefton
Southport
News December 2018: Licence Fees
The cost of renewing or transferring sex shop licences fall £80 from £500 to £420, a fall of 16%. The cost of applying for a sex establishment licence rises 3% from
£1,354 to £1,395.
Sheffield
News 10th April 2011: Lap Dancing Policy and Licence Fees
Sex entertainment venues in Sheffield are angry about
planned new charges and conditions set to be imposed by the council. Licence charges will be set to £1,335 per venue, annual renewal fees of £1,000, and levies of £1,000 to vary licences or £500 to transfer them.
Julian Skeens, lawyer for Spearmint Rhino which has a lap dancing club on Brown Street, criticised a clause allowing advertising within 440 yards of a venue with council permission - but forbidding advertising elsewhere in the city:
This would appear to be a severe restraint on trade as it would cover magazine and newspaper adverts, even within a national publication.
And Scores lap dancing club on Charter Square said whilst the council's fees were acceptable ,
conditions such as a requirement to have a register containing personal details of staff, and a signing-in book for workers open for inspection by police and council officials, appear to propagate a fictional and untrue image of the industry as a
criminal and dishonest business .
Shropshire
News, December 2013: Licence fees reduced
A first time application will drop from £2,025
to £1,159, with a renewal falling from £1,755 to £997.
News, September 2013: Licence Fees
Sex Entertainment Venue licence Fees are currently £2,025 for a new application or
£1,755 for a renewal
News 14th January 2012: Proposed Licence Fee Increase
The proposals include raising the cost of sex shop licences by £500, from £2,025 to
£2,531. The cost of a licence was just £1,350 in the 2010/11 financial year.
South Lanarkshire
News September 2017: Licence fees increase
Sex
shop licence applications rise from £652 to £672
Southampton
News October 2013: Licence Fees
Southampton council sets licence fees at £3500
Southend-on-Sea
News May 2013:
The Council have put up its adult entertainment tax to £6420 per licence
Stockport
News February 2014: Fees reduced
Back in 2007 Stockport had one of the cheapest sex shop licenses in the region. Town hall bosses then hiked the charge to bring it in
line with other authorities - but from April are now having to cut it again, from £4,823.50 to £1,655 .
Stoke
News April 2015: Reduced
Stoke-on-Trent City Council had previously charged premises selling adult toys, books or DVDs more than £7,000 for a licence. But following a review of licensing procedures, the authority has now reduced the licence fee for sex shops to around £400.
Swansea
News July 2013: Still considering a ban on table dancing
Swansea is considering implementing a morality policy of banning table dancing from the
town.
News 3rd November 2012: Lap Dancing Banned
Sex entertainment venues in Swansea have been banned by the local council following a decision to cap their number at nil . It covers lap dancing, pole dancing, table dancing, strip shows, peep shows and live sex shows.
A report to the
cabinet, which made the decision said:
Members have requested that the current policy is reviewed with a view to introducing an appropriate number of nil for sexual entertainment venues in the city centre. It is not
proposed that an appropriate number will be considered for the other types of sex establishments and any such applications will continue to be dealt with on their merits.
Telford and Wrekin
News October 2013: Licence Fees
Tewkesbury council charges £3000 for a new application and £1500 for an annual renewal
Tewkesbury
News October 2013: Licence Fees
Tewkesbury council charges £2500 for a new application and £1800 for an annual renewal
Torbay
News 10th April 2011: Lap Dancing Policy and Licence Fees
Torbay could have two lap dancing clubs after a new sex trade licensing policy was adopted by councillors.
The policy says there
could now be two sex shops, two sexual entertainment venues but no sex cinemas.
Owners will have to pay a £5,697 application fee.
Under the policy, performers have to cover up after each performance and are banned from working
intoxicated or under the influence of any illegal substances. They are also prohibited from taking contact details from customers. The only physical contact allowed between a customer and the performer is the exchange of money or tokens at the start of
the performance.
Torfaen
News 5th March 2011: License Fee
An annual sex shop licence costs £1,103.
Trafford
News February 2014: Fees increased
Trafford, which currently has no licensed sex premises, is actually putting its charge up by 5% to £1,478.
Wakefield
News 28th March 2012: License Fee
The Wakefield licence tax for adult entertainment venues is £2,934. Wakefield are also imposing a
business killing 30cm distance rule on lap dances
Walsall
News October 2013: Licence Fees
Walsall council charges £4500 for a new application and
£2500 for an annual renewal
Warrington
News March 2019: Fees
Sex shops licences in Warrington will cost £1,900 in fees. The council's licensing
committee has approved the charging structure for non-statutory licences for the trading period between 2019-20 and 2021-22.
Watford
News 6th July 2011: Town
Centre only for Kids
Watford Council are consulting on plans to ban lap dancing from the town centre
Wellingborough
News 28th February
2012: Nil Policy
Wellingborough Council have adopted a nil policy towards lap dancing and also want to reduce the amount of events allowed under the 'less than monthly' exemption to the lap dancing prohibition law.
Welwyn and Hatfield
News, January 2014: Licence fees reduced
The cost of licensing a sex shop or cinema will fall from £6,000 to £1,400 and the fee for
launching a sexual entertainment venue will drop from £3,000 to £630.
Weymouth
News September 2014: Licence fees
In a news article about the
Weymouth Erotica Belle shop, it was noted that the licence fee renewal for Weymouth was £2400.
News 12th May 2011: Lap Dancing and Sex Shop Fees
Licence fee set to £3,500
Worcester
News 26th February 2013. Out of line with other licences
Sex shops need to stump up £3,798 as a new business or £1,813
for a renewal for licenses granted on 2013/4.
This compares with licences in the range £118 - £688 for other businesses, namely pet shops, riding establishments, zoos, dog breeders, boarding kennels, massage centres, and tattoo shops
York
News from Jim, August 2014: Unreasonably high
The sex shop licence fees are still unreasonably high, £8,000 for a new licence
and £4,000 for a renewal.