A Gambling Commission operating licence application takes 16 weeks on the Commission’s published average, counted from a complete, paid application, and its operating-licence page warns it can take up to 6 months and in some cases longer. Once the application is assigned, a caseworker can give an indicative timescale. Personal licences average 8 weeks; changes of control, 12.
Updated 4 October 2026: new summary and opening answer; personal licence fee, 8-week caveat and DBS times added; stale trading-name fee line removed.
This desk read the five-row table on the Commission’s licence application processing times page on 23 September 2026 and re-read it unchanged on 4 October 2026; the page says it was last updated on 8 November 2024.
How long does a Gambling Commission licence application take, row by row?
Here is the Commission’s table, word for word on the application types and figures, with the launch situation each one maps to added by this desk.
| Application type | Commission’s stated timescale | Where it shows up in a casino launch |
|---|---|---|
| Operating licence application | 16 weeks | A company with no licence that wants to run its own casino |
| Change of control application | 12 weeks | Someone buys or takes control of an existing licensee |
| Application to vary an operating licence | 8 weeks | A licensee changing what its existing licence covers |
| Personal licence application | 8 weeks | Individuals in key roles at the operator |
| Application to vary a personal licence | 2-4 weeks | Changes to an individual’s existing personal licence |
The 16-week figure is the one that gets quoted. For a launch, most of the practical detail sits in the four rows after it.
Is 16 weeks a promise?
No, and the Commission says so directly. Under the table, the page states that the timescales “are not guaranteed”, that they assume the application was complete when it was submitted, and that they reflect the Commission’s average time to reach a decision.
It then lists six things that can move the date:
- Quality: the application leaves out information the Commission needs.
- Complexity: for example, a complex corporate ownership structure or complex funding arrangements.
- Suitability: concerns about the applicant or people relevant to the application.
- Links to other applications: the application is tied to another application or to an existing licence holder.
- Demand: a lot of applications arrive around the same time.
- Licence reviews: someone linked to the application holds a licence under review under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005. The page says Licensing will not make a final decision until that review’s outcome is known, and may not be able to start on the application at all, depending on what led to the review.
Why does another Commission page say 6 months?
Because it does, and the two pages should be read side by side rather than blended. The Commission’s operating licence applications page, read by this desk on 23 September 2026 and last updated on 25 July 2022, says operating licence applications can be complex and “can take up to 6 months and in some cases longer”.
The same page sets the starting line. The Commission will not start processing an application unless the fee has been paid and the application is complete, and it may reject an application. So the 16-week average runs from a complete, paid submission, not from the day a company first opens the form.
We are not going to reconcile the two figures beyond what the pages say. One is an average from the timescales table; the other is a plain warning about the upper end. Anyone quoting “16 weeks” as the time a new casino will take is quoting the first and leaving out the second.
Which application does a new casino actually need?
This is the part the timescales table does not spell out, and it is where launch announcements get muddled. There are three common routes to a new casino name appearing in the UK, and they sit in very different queues.
A brand-new operator
A company with no Commission licence that wants to run a casino itself needs an operating licence. That is the 16-week row, subject to the six factors above and the “up to 6 months and in some cases longer” warning. Individuals in key roles may also need personal licences, which is the 8-week row.
Personal licences: the 8-week row
The Commission’s Personal Functional Licence page, read on 4 October 2026, says processing can take up to 8 weeks “if there are no issues with the application”. The PFL fee is £231, paid by card before you submit and non-refundable; the page says new fees came into effect on 1 October 2026. Electronic DBS checks can take 1 to 7 days; standard checks, up to 3 weeks.
A takeover of an existing licensee
When control of a licensed company changes hands, the Commission’s change of corporate control page (read by this desk on 23 September 2026, last updated 6 June 2024) sets two deadlines before the 12-week row even starts:
- the change must be reported as a key event within 5 working days of the licensee becoming aware of it;
- within 5 weeks of the change, the licensee must either surrender the licence or apply for it to continue to have effect, or it may be revoked.
Incoming controllers the Commission has not already approved must submit an Annex A or a Personal Management Licence application.
A new brand on an existing licence
Many new UK casino names are not new licences at all. They are a new website on a licence that already exists, often run under a white label arrangement. None of the Commission pages this desk read describes that as an application to vary the licence, and we will not attach the 8-week figure to it.
What the Commission’s key events guidance does say (read on 23 September 2026, last updated 23 October 2024) is this. Key Event 18, licence condition 15.2.1 (18), applies to all remote licences. When a licensee starts or stops providing gambling facilities on a website domain, mobile site or app, including domains under white label arrangements, it must submit a key event report within five working days of finding out, giving the domain name and the date it started.
The licensee must also update the “Domain names” section of eServices, and the guidance gives the reason: domain names appear on the licence’s record on the Commission’s public register. That is the step a player can see.
The Commission’s “changes you can make online” page, read on 23 September 2026 and last updated 6 July 2026, says that a holder of a non-remote operating licence only who wants to add remote activities must apply for a new operating licence, which puts that route back in the 16-week queue.
What should a player check while a casino is “coming soon”?
The timescales matter to operators; the register matters to you. Whichever route a new name took, the finished result should be checkable:
- a licence number in the site footer that you can look up yourself, as set out in our guide to checking a casino licence number on the UKGC register;
- the site’s domain listed against that licence on the register;
- if the licence belongs to a platform company rather than the brand, a clear white label relationship, explained in what white label means on the register.
A pending application is not a licence. This post does not set out the legal position on operating while an application is pending, because we did not source it this run; what we can say is that our launch checklist starts at the register, and a name that is not on it does not get past the door here.
Questions readers ask
How long does it take to get a UK gambling licence? For a new operating licence, the Gambling Commission’s published average is 16 weeks to a decision, assuming the application was complete when it went in. Its separate operating-licence page says the process can take up to 6 months and in some cases longer, and that processing does not start until the fee is paid and the application is complete.
How long does a Gambling Commission personal licence take? The Commission’s timescales table gives 8 weeks for a personal licence application and 2-4 weeks to vary one. Its Personal Functional Licence page, read on 4 October 2026, says up to 8 weeks if there are no issues with the application, and a DBS check inside that process can take 1 to 7 days electronically or up to 3 weeks for a standard check.
How much does a UK Gambling Commission licence cost? The Commission’s operating-licence page does not print one price: the fee depends on the licence and the activities applied for, is paid by card on submission, and is worked out with its online fees calculator, which this desk has not run. For a Personal Functional Licence, the Commission’s page read on 4 October 2026 gives £231, non-refundable, paid before you submit.
How long does a change of control application take? The Commission’s table gives 12 weeks for a change of control application. The clock that matters first is shorter: the change must be reported as a key event within 5 working days of the licensee becoming aware of it, and within 5 weeks of the change the licensee must surrender the licence or apply for it to continue, or it may be revoked.
The clipboard
Sixteen weeks is the Commission’s average for a complete operating licence application, not a launch date, and on the Commission pages read here, a new domain on an existing licence is a reporting job, not a fresh grant. Either way, the register has the last word, and nothing gets checked in on a press release. 18+. UKGC-licensed operators only. GambleAware. Please gamble responsibly.