UK Pet Food’s 2026 Pet Population Survey, based on 8,951 online interviews carried out in January 2026, estimates 15.5 million dogs in UK households, against 12.5 million five years earlier. Commercial dog day care has been a licensable activity in England since 2018, and the licence sets the number of dogs the premises may take. This article sets out what opening one involves.
Day care for dogs sits inside the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, alongside kennel boarding, home boarding and cat boarding. Those regulations cover England only. Scotland and Wales license boarding, including day care, under the older Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963, and Northern Ireland runs a separate system again. Tax, wages, National Insurance and company registration are UK-wide. The sections below flag which nation each point applies to.
What is a dog day care business?
A dog day care business, often called doggy day care, provides daytime housing and supervision for other people’s dogs at a fixed premises, without overnight stays, and in England it requires an animal activity licence from the local authority before it trades. Defra’s statutory guidance is explicit that keeping dogs overnight is not allowed under a day care licence and that the premises must be a fixed site. That single line separates day care from boarding: an operator wanting both needs both licences.
The activity is licensable when it is carried on commercially. Defra directs local authorities to HMRC’s badges of trade in deciding whether an operation is a business, and states that someone trading below the HMRC trading income allowance does not need a licence.
How to open a dog day care in the UK, step by step
In England, a day care cannot legally take its first dog until the licence is granted. Local authorities are told to aim for a decision within 10 weeks of receiving a new application, and the inspection happens before the grant, so the premises has to be finished and the paperwork written before any income arrives.
What a day care in England needs in place before it opens:
- An animal activity licence for day care for dogs, displayed on the premises and with the licence number shown on the website
- Planning consent for the use, where the change of use is material
- Registration with a vet, and a preventative healthcare plan agreed with that vet
- Written procedures for feeding, cleaning, transport, disease control and emergencies
- An insurance certificate, which councils ask for with the application
- Trained staff, with a written training policy and records
Check which licence applies
The instrument depends on the nation. In England the activity falls under the 2018 regulations and the licence runs from one to three years. In Scotland and Wales, boarding and day care are licensed as animal boarding establishments under the 1963 Act, and that licence is renewed annually. In Northern Ireland, animal boarding premises are licensed separately again, and the day care and home boarding categories used in England do not map across.
Work out what the site can hold
Capacity is not a commercial decision in England. The licence states the maximum number of dogs allowed on the premises, and exceeding it breaches the licence. Defra’s guidance tells inspectors to allow six square metres of space per dog, counting inside and outside space, and to expect each member of staff to have 10 dogs or less to care for. Resident pet dogs count towards the number.
Good to know
The space and staffing standards set a ceiling on turnover before a single dog arrives. At six square metres per dog, a unit’s usable area fixes the maximum headcount, and the one to 10 staffing expectation fixes the wage bill that goes with it. Defra’s optional higher standard is tighter still, at one full-time member of staff per eight dogs.
Settle the planning position
Local planning authorities in England commonly treat dog day care as sui generis, a use of its own kind outside the classes of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, and applications are routinely registered as a change from an industrial or commercial class to a sui generis use. Where that view is taken, a material change of use needs planning permission. Councils differ, so the position is confirmed with the local planning authority before a lease is signed. Planning consent and the animal activity licence are separate regimes: neither grants the other.
Choose a structure and register
Operators trade as sole traders registered with HMRC or through a limited company registered at Companies House. One point is specific to this sector: the animal activity licence is granted to an individual operator, not to a company. The regulations carry a procedure for what happens when a licence holder dies, under which the personal representative has 28 days to notify the local authority and the licence then runs for three months.
Apply for the licence and take the inspection
The application goes to the council covering the premises, with the fee. The council appoints a suitably qualified inspector, who visits, reports, and forms a view on whether the conditions will be met. The council then decides the star rating, the licence length and any additional conditions, such as an unannounced visit within 12 months. A refusal can be appealed to the first tier tribunal within 28 days, and a star rating can be appealed to the council within 21 days.
Understand the star rating
Ratings run from one to five stars and combine two judgements: risk, and welfare standards. Defra’s guidance states that new applicants with no compliance history with a local authority or a UKAS accredited body must automatically be rated as high risk. A high risk business meeting the minimum standards gets two stars and a one year licence; meeting the higher standards gets four stars and two years. The five star, three year outcome sits in the low risk row, which a first licence cannot reach.
Register with a vet and write the procedures
The licence requires a registered vet whose details are displayed for staff, including an out of hours number, and a preventative healthcare plan agreed with that vet. Written procedures are required for feeding, cleaning, transport, disease control, health monitoring and the death or escape of an animal, plus an emergency plan acceptable to the council. A designated key holder must be able to reach the premises, which the guidance interprets as no more than 30 minutes travelling time in normal conditions.
Recruit and train the staff
Staff must either hold a relevant qualification, such as an Ofqual regulated Level 2 appropriate to the role, or demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience. Anyone working towards a qualification has to show progress within 12 months and finish within two years. The licence holder provides a written training policy, reviewed annually, covering appraisal, continued professional development and knowledge gaps, and keeps the records.
Set up the register and admissions
Every dog on the premises goes in a register covering attendance dates, microchip number, owner and emergency contacts, the dog’s own vet, insurance details, medical and behavioural history, diet, consent forms and vaccination, worming and flea treatment dates. Dogs are screened before admission to check they are not fearful or a danger to others, and each screening is recorded. Primary vaccination courses must be completed at least two weeks before a dog is accepted.
Types of dog day care business
The model decides the licence, and in England some closely related services are outside the regime altogether.
| Model | Licence position in England |
|---|---|
| Day care at commercial premises | Licensable as day care for dogs. No overnight stays |
| Day care in the operator’s own home | Licensed as home boarding, not as day care |
| Overnight boarding in kennels | Separate licensable activity |
| Arranging care by third party hosts | Licensable: arranging the provision of boarding is in scope |
| Dog walking, and sitting in the owner’s home | Not licensable under the 2018 regulations |
| Grooming | Not a licensable activity in its own right |
The walking exemption has a condition attached where walks form part of a licensed day care: Defra’s guidance states a dog walker may take no more than six dogs at the same time, with the owner’s consent and after the dogs have been familiarised with each other.
How much does it cost to open a dog day care in the UK?
Licence fees are set by each council on a full cost recovery basis under regulation 13, so they differ sharply between areas and several councils charge vet inspection fees on top. Councils report their average fees to the Secretary of State each year, but no national figure for this licence was found published. Fees for a new application, as published by five English councils and read on 16 September 2026:
| Council | Published fee, new day care licence |
|---|---|
| Bristol City Council | £96 application, then £247 a year |
| Horsham District Council, 2026/27 | £429 in two parts, vet fees in addition |
| Shropshire Council, 2026/27 | £562 up to 10 dogs, £634 for 11 or more |
| Derby City Council, 2026/27 | £689 at commercial premises |
| Guildford Borough Council, from 1 April 2026 | £1,164.50 in two parts, vet fees in addition |
Beyond the licence, the lines that move a start-up budget most are:
- The site and the lease terms, including any premium and the rent deposit
- The fit-out: secure fencing, two physical barriers between dogs and any exit, drainage, non-slip floors and ventilation
- Business rates, charged in England as rateable value multiplied by the multiplier, 43.2p for small business and 48.0p standard in 2026/27, with Small Business Rate Relief giving 100% relief at a rateable value of £12,000 or less
- Staff, at a National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026, employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year, and pension contributions
- Planning fees and any professional support for the change of use application
- Company registration, £100 to incorporate online on the Companies House fee schedule in force from 1 February 2026
- Vehicles, where dogs are collected and delivered, with crates, harnesses or dog guards
VAT registration becomes compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000, which is UK-wide. Below it, VAT on the fit-out is not recoverable.
Dog day care franchise opportunities in the UK
UK pet care franchising is built mainly around territory and home based services rather than day care centres at commercial premises. Of the networks checked for this article, the published models cover dog walking, pet sitting, home boarding and arranging care through hosts. None of the three publishes a package for a premises based day care centre, so anyone wanting to start a dog day care at commercial premises is building the site rather than buying into one, unlike most of the personal services franchises recruiting in the UK.
- Petpals, multi-service pet care across pet sitting, dog walking, dog home boarding and pet transport, franchise package stated on its own site at £12,500 plus VAT, page updated 26 August 2026
- We Love Pets, dog walking, day care, home boarding and grooming through local branches, franchise investment stated on its own site at £12,995 plus VAT, with more than 100 franchisees claimed
- Barking Mad, home from home dog boarding arranged through host families rather than kennels, franchise stated on its own site at £9,995 plus VAT, with staged options from £4,995 plus VAT of the franchisee’s own funds. Part of Franchise Brands plc
Figures come from each brand’s own franchise pages. There is no UK disclosure filing for franchising and no public average start-up cost, so any number not published by the franchisor itself cannot be checked, and a stated package is an entry fee rather than the total set out in what it costs to open a franchise in the UK.
Editor’s tip
A brand name does not travel into the licence. Defra’s guidance states that each facility has its own licence and star rating, naming franchise model businesses as the example, and that new applicants with no compliance history are automatically rated high risk. A new franchised site therefore starts on the same footing as an independent one, whatever rating the network holds elsewhere.
The practical difficulties operators report
Most of the friction in this sector comes from the licence rather than the market.
- Capacity is fixed by the licence. Taking more dogs than the stated maximum is a breach, so growth means a variation, a bigger site or a second premises
- The first licence is short. Automatic high-risk status at entry caps a new business at four stars, and a two-year licence at best
- Renewal starts early. The renewal application is due at least 10 weeks before expiry, and councils write to licence holders three months out
- No overnight income. A day care licence does not allow overnight stays, so holiday boarding needs a separate licence
- Reinspections are paid for. A business that improves and wants a higher rating pays for each reinspection visit, at full cost recovery
- Two consents, two timetables. Planning permission and the animal activity licence are decided separately, and one does not secure the other
The bottom line
Opening a dog day care in England turns on a licence that fixes the number of dogs, the space each one gets and the staffing behind them, granted only after an inspection of finished premises. Fees vary by council from a few hundred pounds to over a thousand, with vet fees on top in some areas. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland license the same activity under different instruments. The franchise networks in UK pet care are built largely around home-based services, not day care centres, and the brands recruiting in the sector can be compared across the UK franchise directory.
Frequently asked questions about opening a dog day care in the UK
Yes. In England, commercial day care for dogs is a licensable activity under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, and the licence comes from the local authority after an inspection. Scotland and Wales license boarding and day care as animal boarding establishments under the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963, renewed annually. Northern Ireland operates its own system. Operating without a licence is an offence.
There is no national fee. Councils set their own on a full cost recovery basis, and published 2026/27 fees for a new day care licence range from £429 at Horsham District Council to £1,164.50 at Guildford Borough Council, with some councils charging vet inspection fees on top. Many split the fee into an application part and a part payable on grant.
In England, a business looking after dogs in the business owner’s own home is licensed as home boarding rather than as day care, according to Defra’s statutory guidance. Looking after dogs in the owner’s home, as a dog sitter or dog walker does, is not licensable at all. Several councils publish separate fees for day care at domestic and at commercial premises.
