Remedy
Start free

Section 37: Use of premises

Gambling Act 2005 · 2005 c. 19View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 3: General offences

A person commits an offence if he uses premises, or causes or permits premises to be used, to—

operate a casino,
provide facilities for the playing of bingo,
make a gaming machine available for use,
provide other facilities for gaming, or
provide facilities for betting (whether by making or accepting bets, by acting as a betting intermediary or by providing other facilities for the making or accepting of bets).

Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the use of premises by a person if the use is authorised by a premises licence held by him.

Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the use of premises by a person if he acts in the course of a business carried on by another person who holds a premises licence authorising the use.

Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the use of a track by a person for accepting bets if the use is authorised by a premises licence (whether or not held by him).

Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the use of a casino for the provision of facilities for bingo or betting in accordance with an authorisation under section 174(3).

Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the use of premises to provide facilities which are to be used only by persons who—

are acting in the course of a business, or
are not on the premises.

Other exceptions to subsection (1) are provided in—

sections 39 and 40,
section 214 (temporary use notice),
sections 247, 248 and 249 (gaming machines),
sections 269, 271 and 273 (clubs and miners' welfare institutes),
sections 279, 282 and 283 (premises with alcohol licence),
section 287 (travelling fairs),
sections 289 to 292 (prize gaming),
section 296 (private gaming and betting), and
section 298 (non-commercial gaming).

A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to—

imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks,
a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
both.

In the application of subsection (8) to Scotland the reference to 51 weeks shall have effect as a reference to six months.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.