# Do you need an office to run a private hire firm?

> You don't need a high street office, but you do need an address inside the area of the council that licenses you. Bristol, Birmingham and Liverpool only license operators based within their boundary. Transport for London accepts a home as an operating centre with planning permission or written confirmation it isn't needed, and Birmingham wants booking records kept at your premises for 12 months.

By Joe, founder of Dispatch AI. Updated 2026-10-17. The web page: https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/private-hire-operator-premises-requirements/

Before you sign a lease or put a desk in the spare room, check what your council expects of the place you'll run the business from. The rules cover where the base is, whether it needs planning permission, what the public see if they walk in, and where your records live. This guide uses the published rules of five licensing authorities, so you can compare them with your own.


## Do you need an office to get a private hire operator licence?

You need premises, but not always an office. Each authority below asks for an address inside its own area where you'll take bookings, and what that address has to be varies.

Bristol City Council won't issue an operator licence until you give it a physical address within the Bristol boundary. Birmingham's licence conditions say operators may only operate from premises within the city boundary, and Liverpool will only approve an operating address inside its area. GOV.UK tells you to apply to the licensing authority where your private hire business will operate.

London is explicit about what counts. Transport for London requires at least one operating centre in London, which it describes as the premises where you take bookings, and says it could be an office, a high street unit or your home address. For an address outside Greater London, TfL says you need a licence from the local council instead.

Here's how the five compare:

| Authority | Where the base must be | Planning evidence | If the public visit | Records and bookings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | A physical address in Bristol | Not on its operator page | £5,000,000 public liability for a public waiting area | Booking register kept 12 months |
| Birmingham | Premises within the city boundary | Not in its conditions | Licence and conditions on display | Booking records kept 12 months |
| Liverpool | An address in Liverpool, listed on the licence | Valid planning consent, even at home | Licence on display, a clean, heated, well-lit waiting area | Booking records kept 12 months |
| Sheffield | Premises suitable for business use | Planning permission, or a letter saying none is needed | £2,000,000 public liability | Not stated on its operator pages |
| London (TfL) | At least one operating centre in London | Planning permission, a certificate of lawful use or written confirmation | Not stated on its operator page | Bookings only at the centres on the licence |


## Can you run a private hire firm from home?

Yes, in many places, as long as planning allows it and the neighbours don't suffer for it. TfL accepts a home address as an operating centre. Liverpool says you need planning permission even when the business runs from home, so that it doesn't cause nuisance or obstruction to your neighbours.

The Planning Portal says working from home doesn't always need planning permission, and sets four questions. If you answer yes to any of them, you'll probably need it:

1. Will the home no longer be used mainly as a private residence?
2. Will the business bring a marked rise in traffic or people calling?
3. Will it involve activities unusual in a residential area?
4. Will it disturb the neighbours at unreasonable hours, or cause noise or smells?

A private hire firm can trip question 2 or 4 easily if drivers come and go from the house. Bristol's operator conditions ban causing nuisance to neighbours, and name multiple vehicles parked in residential areas, engines left running and cars leaving and returning at unsociable hours.

If you're unsure, the Planning Portal suggests asking your council for a Certificate of Lawful Use, which confirms the activity isn't a change of use.


## Do you need planning permission for a taxi office?

Often, yes. In England, the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 puts a taxi business in no use class at all: article 3(6) lists "a taxi business or business for the hire of motor vehicles" among the uses that stand on their own. So turning a shop, an office or a unit into a taxi base is a change of use that needs your council's planning view.

Licensing teams ask to see it. Sheffield wants a copy of your planning permission or, where none is needed, a letter from its planning department saying so, which you get through its paid pre-application enquiry service. Liverpool makes valid planning consent a condition of the operator licence, and if you move, you get planning consent for the new address before you apply to change it. TfL asks for planning permission, a certificate of lawful use or written confirmation from the local authority, clearly linked to the address, and warns that a breach of planning law can lead to enforcement action.

Sort planning before you commit to a lease. A licensing team that won't accept the address leaves you paying rent on a base you can't use.


## What rules apply if the public can visit your office?

The rules get stricter once customers can walk in to book. Liverpool's conditions say that where the public can visit to make a booking, the operator licence must be on display, and there must be a waiting area that's clean, comfortable, heated and well lit. The waiting area has to be separate from any drivers' rest area and from the office or operations room. Birmingham requires the licence and its conditions to be displayed where the public have access.

Insurance follows the same line. Sheffield asks for public liability insurance of at least £2,000,000 where the public use your premises, and lists no public access, no employees and nobody working from the premises as the cases where you don't need it. Bristol asks for a minimum of £5,000,000 where the premises include a public waiting area.

If you employ anyone at the base, GOV.UK says you need employers' liability insurance of at least £5 million from the day you become an employer. Bristol also bans radio scanner equipment from the premises an operator works from. More on cover in [taxi business insurance](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/taxi-business-insurance-uk/).


## Where do your booking records have to be kept?

Usually at the licensed premises, and ready to show an officer. Birmingham's conditions say booking records, whether in a book or on a computer, must be kept at the licensed premises for at least 12 months and be available to an authorised officer or police constable at any time during the hours you operate. Bristol says the register of bookings stays at the premises for at least 12 months from the date of the last entry.

Software is allowed, with conditions. Birmingham accepts a proprietary computerised booking and dispatch system if it can print any record an officer asks for, and Bristol wants computerised records backed up. So if your records sit in cloud software, make sure whoever is at the base can bring up and print any booking on request.

TfL inspects every proposed operating centre before granting a London licence, and its officers check you have the systems to keep records properly. The full list of what to record is in [operator record keeping](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/private-hire-operator-record-keeping/).


## Can you have more than one base, or move to a new one?

Yes, but each base has to be approved first. Liverpool says operators may only operate from the premises listed on the licence. In London you can only accept bookings at the operating centres on your licence, and TfL charges £300 to add or change an operating centre and £50 to remove one, inspecting each new centre before it's added.

Manchester charges £2,790 for an additional base, the same fee as a new five-year operator licence. In Liverpool, a move starts with planning consent for the new address. Birmingham's conditions give a company 7 days to tell the licensing office about a change to its registered office.


## Do your phones have to be answered at the premises?

Not in every case. In London, TfL's voice contact requirement means a person must be available for passengers to speak to during your operating hours and while a journey is under way. That person can be at the operating centre or at any other premises with a fixed address, in London or elsewhere, and TfL asks how you'll cover nights and weekends.

Outside London, the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards say operators may outsource booking and dispatch, but can't pass on their duty to protect children and vulnerable adults. Bristol's operator checklist asks for evidence that any company you outsource bookings to applies comparable protections. Liverpool wants every phone number, email address and website you'll take bookings through listed on your application.

That's where an answering service or a phone agent fits. An AI phone agent answers your booking line when your office doesn't, quotes your own fixed prices and books the job into your Dispatch AI account. Whoever answers, the booking is still yours under your licence, so check the record it creates meets your council's conditions. More in [how to get a private hire operator licence](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/private-hire-operator-licence-uk/) and [how to start a taxi company in the UK](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/how-to-start-a-taxi-company-uk/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can you share premises with another business?

Possibly, but expect questions. TfL asks for more information where an operating centre's main use is another business, and says an application to share premises with a third party serving the public, such as a nightclub or bar, is unlikely to be accepted. Ask your council before you agree anything.

### Can your operating base be outside the council's area?

Not at the councils checked here. Bristol, Birmingham and Liverpool all require the base to be inside their boundary. TfL says that for an address outside Greater London you apply to the local council for that area instead.

### Do you need a waiting room for customers?

Only if the public come to your premises to book. Liverpool then requires a clean, comfortable, heated and well-lit waiting area, separate from the drivers' rest area and the office. Bristol asks for £5,000,000 of public liability insurance where there's a public waiting area.

### Will the council inspect your premises?

TfL does for every London application: compliance officers visit the proposed operating centre and check it complies with local planning conditions. Outside London, ask your licensing team, and have your planning evidence and records ready either way.


## Sources

- [Apply for an operator licence (Bristol City Council)](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/licences-permits/apply-for-an-operator-licence) address within Bristol
- [Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2021 to 2026 (Bristol City Council)](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/536-hackney-carriage-and-private-hire-licensing-policy) operator conditions: records, nuisance, insurance, scanners
- [Private hire operator checklist (Bristol City Council)](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/5786-operator-checklist) outsourcing evidence
- [Private hire operator conditions (Birmingham City Council)](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/822/private_hire_operator_licence_conditions.pdf) premises in the city, records, display
- [Licences for taxi operators (Liverpool City Council)](https://liverpool.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/taxi-licences/licences-for-taxi-operators/) address and planning permission
- [Private hire operator standard licence conditions 2026 (Liverpool City Council)](https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/aaghcopt/private-hire-vehicle-operator-conditions-2026.pdf) premises, waiting areas, change of address
- [Private hire operator planning permission (Sheffield City Council)](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/taxi-licensing/private-hire-operator/new-private-hire-operator-licence/planning-permission) planning evidence
- [Private hire operator insurance (Sheffield City Council)](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/licences-permits-registrations/taxi-licensing/private-hire-operator/applying-new-private-hire-operator/insurance) public liability
- [Private hire operator licence (Transport for London)](https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/private-hire-operator-licence) operating centres, planning, variations, voice contact, inspection
- [Private hire operator fees (Manchester City Council)](https://www.manchester.gov.uk/taxis-and-private-hire/taxi-and-private-hire-drivers-information/taxi-licence-fees/private-hire-operator) additional base fee
- [Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, article 3 (legislation.gov.uk)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/764/article/3) taxi business is sui generis
- [Working from home: planning permission (Planning Portal)](https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/working-from-home/planning-permission) the four questions
- [Employers' liability insurance (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/employers-liability-insurance) £5 million minimum
- [Operator licences for private hire vehicles (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/operator-licence-private-hire-vehicle) where to apply
- [Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards (Department for Transport)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards) outsourcing booking and dispatch

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