Anyone wishing to board dogs at their home will require a boarding licence which would allow you to provide day care and overnight boarding for dogs at your property.
In order to be able to board dogs in your home, you must meet the minimum welfare standards which can be found on the Gov.uk website. Your home will need to be inspected to ensure that it meets the required standards. The inspector will be looking to make sure the applicant has the following:
- A specialist knowledge in the species they are caring for and a clear understanding of its needs and welfare - i.e. mental and physical health, feeding, and knowledge of environmental enrichment.
- Comprehensive records that contain all the information required by the conditions that apply to their activities.
- An understanding of risks involved in caring for the animal, including an extensive risk assessment and written policies and procedures that are reviewed regularly.
- Training procedures in place to make sure staff know what is expected of them, and clear evidence of good supervision of staff.
We contract our inspections to the City of London, and they can take up to 20 days from receiving a valid application to arrange a visit to your premises. Before we can send your application to the inspection team, we need a copy of your procedures and associated documents. We will also need a plan of the premises; accurate measurements of rooms are not required but the plan needs to show rooms and other areas to which the dogs will have access.
The duration of your licence will depend on the level of compliance that is achieved at inspection and a 'star rating' system is used to show your level of compliance. Therefore, the fee is split into 2 parts, A and B. The part B fee cannot be determined until the inspection has taken place and the level of compliance has been ascertained.
Part A is payable before the veterinary inspection takes place and is made up of the following:
Admin fee (see fee list) This covers the cost of the authority processing your application and the associated documents that must be provided)
Plus, the inspection fee. (The inspection covers all the points listed under 'General conditions' and 'Specific Conditions' of the minimum standards as detailed in the guidance notes
The remainder of the fee, part B, will be determined after the inspection takes place and depends on the risk rating that the premises is given at inspection, and is made up as follows:
Council admin charge for a 1,2 or 3 year licence (see fee list) plus the fee for a midterm inspection (see fee list)
The midterm will be carried out before the expiry of your licence.
We will inform you of the star rating and duration of the licence once the inspection has taken place.
Costs
Schedule of animal activity licensing fees
Guidance notes
FAQs for new animal activity licensing regulations (PDF - 335.75 KB)
Guidance: Boarding for cats (PDF - 1.22 MB)
Guidance: Boarding in kennels for dogs (PDF - 457.45 KB)
Guidance: Home boarding for dogs (PDF - 598.69 KB)
Guidance: Day care for dogs (PDF - 461.71 KB)
Apply
Download and complete the animal boarding licence application form and return to the licensing team, by email with the required written procedures.
Please contact us by email if you wish to be provided with a pre- inspection information sheet.
Only the Part A fee is payable when you submit your application.
Payment can be made through our licensing payments form.