Hotel and B&B TV Licence Cost 2026
HARC scheme: £180 for first 15 rooms, then £7.50/room beyond 15. Covers guest rooms, bars, restaurants, communal areas, staff zones.
Minimum HARC fee
£180
covers first 15 rooms
Each additional room
£7.50
beyond first 15
50-room hotel total
£442.50
£180 + (35 x £7.50)
What HARC is and why it exists
HARC stands for Hotel and Mobile Units Communications Television Licence. It is the concessionary TV licensing scheme for commercial hospitality accommodation with guest TVs. It covers hotels, B&Bs, hostels, pubs with letting rooms, holiday-park lodges, university summer-let accommodation, holiday-let management companies running multiple properties, and similar arrangements.
HARC exists because the standard per-address licence model would be economically unworkable at hotel scale. A 200-room hotel could not realistically buy 200 standard licences (£36,000/year), and the legal fiction that each guest room is a separate household would be administratively absurd. HARC replaces this with a per-room fee schedule that grows much more slowly than the standard per-licence cost would.
The scheme is set out in the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004 as amended. The per-room fees are set by DCMS as part of the periodic funding settlement, with the per-room rate reviewed less frequently than the standard fee.
HARC cost calculator
| Property size | Calculation | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1-15 rooms (B&B, small hotel) | £180 flat | £180.00 |
| 20 rooms | £180 + (5 x £7.50) | £217.50 |
| 30 rooms | £180 + (15 x £7.50) | £292.50 |
| 50 rooms | £180 + (35 x £7.50) | £442.50 |
| 100 rooms | £180 + (85 x £7.50) | £817.50 |
| 150 rooms | £180 + (135 x £7.50) | £1,192.50 |
| 200 rooms | £180 + (185 x £7.50) | £1,567.50 |
| 300 rooms | £180 + (285 x £7.50) | £2,317.50 |
Calculation: £180 (first 15 rooms) + £7.50 per additional room. Per-room rate unchanged since 2024-25. Source: TV Licensing business pricing schedule.
Properties that qualify for HARC
The HARC scheme applies to any commercial hospitality accommodation with guest TVs. The category is intentionally broad and includes:
- • Hotels: Of all sizes, from boutique to large chain. The full range of branded hotels and independents.
- • B&Bs and guest houses: Even small operations with 3 or 4 rooms.
- • Hostels: Including dorm-style hostels where TVs may be in shared areas only.
- • Pubs with letting rooms: The classic country pub with rooms above (HARC for the rooms; separate Business TV Licence for the pub).
- • Holiday-park lodges: Where the operator manages a park of holiday lodges or static caravans with TVs.
- • University summer-let accommodation: Halls of residence used for summer conferences and short-stay bookings.
- • Holiday-let management companies: Some larger holiday-let operators have HARC-equivalent arrangements covering their portfolio.
- • Serviced apartments: If operated at scale by a single business entity.
Single-unit holiday lets (a private owner renting out one cottage or apartment via Airbnb) typically pay a single standard licence rather than HARC, because the per-unit calculation does not generate savings. See our landlord TV licence guide for the holiday-let breakdown.
What HARC covers
A HARC licence covers all TVs at the licensed property, including:
- • TVs in guest bedrooms (the primary basis for the fee calculation)
- • TVs in lounges, lobby areas, and waiting rooms
- • TVs in bars, restaurants, and breakfast rooms
- • TVs in conference and meeting rooms
- • TVs in spa, gym, and pool areas
- • TVs in staff break rooms and back-of-house areas
- • Public-display screens that show live broadcast TV (sports bar setups, for example)
The fee calculation is based on the guest-room count only; communal and back-of-house TVs are covered at no additional cost. This is one of the practical advantages of HARC over a per-TV licensing model: a hotel does not need to count its communal TVs or worry about TV installations in staff areas.
Applying for HARC
Apply via TV Licensing's business team on 0300 555 0286 (ask for the HARC team) or through the business section of tvlicensing.co.uk. The application asks for: the business legal entity name, the property address (including any multi-property arrangements), the number of guest rooms equipped with TVs, the business's billing contact, and the preferred payment method.
The licence is renewed annually. The room-count basis is reviewed at renewal, so any addition of new rooms (an extension, conversion, or new wing) is picked up at the next renewal. Vacant rooms permanently removed from service can be excluded from the count on evidence.
Larger hotel groups operating multiple properties under one ownership typically establish a multi-property HARC account, with a single billing relationship covering all sites. This is more administratively efficient than per-site licences for groups operating 5 or more properties.
Not legal advice
For your specific situation, contact TV Licensing's business team directly. UK hospitality trade bodies including the British Hospitality Association and UKHospitality can also advise members on licence questions.