Tattoo law in United Kingdom
What the law requires of a tattoo studio here, and how to check one yourself. We list 1,244 studios in United Kingdom.
Checked against primary sources on 21 July 2026. Laws change — the sources are linked at the bottom so you can verify anything here.
Is this studio licensed?
Licensed locally
In England and Wales, anyone carrying on a business of tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing or electrolysis must be registered with their local authority, and the premises must be registered too. Operating unregistered is a criminal offence carrying a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale. One important detail that is usually left out: these provisions are not automatic everywhere — a local authority has to pass a resolution adopting them for its area first. So the right question is not "is this studio licensed?" but "does this council register tattooists, and is this studio on that register?" Ask the council, not the studio. Scotland runs a different scheme under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, and Northern Ireland differs again.
Check the official register →Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, Part VIII, ss. 13–16 (England and Wales)
How old do you have to be?
It is a criminal offence to tattoo anyone under 18 in the United Kingdom. This is an absolute prohibition and this is where most people are misinformed: a parent CANNOT consent on your behalf. There is no permission slip, no accompanied exception, no "with a guardian present" route — no one is legally able to give that consent. The only exception in the Act is a tattoo performed for medical reasons by a registered medical practitioner, or by someone working under their direction. A studio that offers to tattoo you at 16 or 17 with a parent signing is not bending a rule, it is committing an offence. Note this covers TATTOOING; body piercing of minors is dealt with separately and differs across the UK.
If a studio breaks this: Tattooing a minor: fine up to level 3 on the standard scale on summary conviction. Operating an unregistered tattooing business in England and Wales: fine up to level 3; a court may also suspend or cancel a registration for byelaw breaches.
Tattooing of Minors Act 1969, s. 1
Inspections, and what to do if something goes wrong
Environmental health at the local council registers and inspects tattoo premises in England and Wales, and is the right first contact about hygiene, unregistered operation, or a studio tattooing minors.
https://www.gov.uk/find-local-councilWhat we have not confirmed
Ink rules are left blank on purpose. Great Britain is no longer under EU REACH — it operates UK REACH, while Northern Ireland continues to follow EU rules under the Windsor Framework. We have not yet read the UK REACH position on tattoo pigments directly, so we are not going to state one. Scottish and Northern Irish registration rules are also not yet recorded here; the under-18 tattoo ban above IS UK-wide.
Sources
- Tattooing of Minors Act 1969 — retrieved 2026-07-21
- Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, Part VIII — retrieved 2026-07-21
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it can go out of date. Every source above is linked so you can check the current position yourself.