Be Wise › Be Contract Wise (Scotland) guides › Venue / event hire agreement
A venue hire agreement fixes the terms for hiring a venue for an event, whether a wedding, a party, a conference or a meeting. It addresses which date, times and spaces are booked, the deposit and hire fee, charges on cancellation, capacity, licensing and alcohol, insurance, damage, and the venue's own rules. Legally it gives a licence permitting use of the venue, not a lease.
You need one for every event booking, whether you operate the venue or hire it. Where the hirer is a private individual, consumer law demands fair terms.
Date, times, rooms and maximum numbers.
Hire fee, deposit and payment dates.
Charges matching the venue's genuine loss.
Responsibility for any licence for alcohol or entertainment.
Responsibility for damage, and public liability insurance.
Rules on noise, suppliers, decorating and tidying up.
Different rules can apply elsewhere in the UK: see the England and Wales version of this guide.
View a specimen venue hire agreement, which briefly shows the structure and main clauses in the layout the app uses.
It may retain a reasonable amount reflecting the genuine loss it suffers. Against a consumer, a term letting it hold on to large payments whatever the timing of cancellation may be unfair and unenforceable.
No. A hire agreement usually amounts to a licence allowing use of the venue for the event, with no exclusive possession.
Be Contract Wise (Scotland)'s powerful, carefully prepared drafting tools turn a short set of plain-English questions into a venue under Scots law, laid out to a professional standard, with an explanation of every clause. Simple or complex, export to Word or PDF.
Start drafting — freeBrowse all guidesReviewed 2026-09-24. General legal information about Scots law, not legal advice.
