Private members club fees, as published

01/ What you pay

A joining fee, then a subscription.

The joining fee (also called an entrance fee or initiation fee) is paid once, when you are elected or accepted. The annual subscription is paid every year you stay a member, often with a monthly option.

Clubs then vary the subscription by age, by where you live and by who joins with you. The Oriental Club, for example, prices by age and by Town, Country or Overseas residence (Oriental Club rates).

Food, drink, bedrooms and events are almost always charged on top. A subscription buys access, not consumption.

Some clubs also set rules on when you pay. The Army and Navy Club runs its membership year from January to December, charges pro rata for those joining from July, and does not allow cancellation mid-year (Army and Navy Club rates 2026).

03/ Standard subscriptions compared

Same kind of club, a wide spread.

Six of the clubs publish a single standard annual subscription for an adult in London. The highest is more than three and a half times the lowest.

The spread follows the offer. A club with bedrooms, a gym and a full events programme costs more to run than a dining club with a library and a bar.

Soho House is left out of the chart because it publishes a monthly “from” figure rather than one annual rate.

04/ Under-27 and age-banded rates

Younger members pay a fraction.

The Oriental Club publishes the most detailed ladder: a Town member aged 18–24 pays £670, rising year by year to £2,680 from age 35 (Oriental Club rates 2026).

The cut-off varies. Soho House uses under 27 (Soho House), the Army and Navy Club under 29 (Army and Navy), Home House and Century under 35 (Home House; Century).

Some clubs also waive the joining fee for the young. The Royal Over-Seas League waives it for 17–25s (ROSL); the East India Club’s J7 one-off payment “does not require payment of an additional entrance fee” (East India Club).

For an operator, the logic is the pipeline: a member who joins at 24 may stay for decades at the full rate.

05/ Which rate might apply

Check the discounts before the headline rate.

Headline rates assume an adult living near the club. Many applicants qualify for something lower.

Run the check, then read the club’s own category definitions: “Town” and “Country” are defined by distance, and each club draws the line differently.

The Oriental Club’s Town category covers those living within 100 miles of the clubhouse or with a regular place of business in London (Oriental Club); the Royal Over-Seas League uses a 50-mile radius of Charing Cross (ROSL).

06/ Couples, family and corporate rates

Joint, family and corporate rates.

Joint rates are usually less than two singles. The Twenty Two charges £4,000 a year for Joint Patrons, against £2,750 for one Patron (The Twenty Two); Century charges £1,500 for two (Century).

Family packages go further. The Army and Navy Club’s package covers a lead member, spouse and any number of children up to 35 for £1,895 a year (Army and Navy 2026). The Royal Over-Seas League charges only one joining fee per household (ROSL).

Corporate membership usually needs a minimum group. Home House offers it to groups of five or more at £1,575 per person a year plus the joining fee (Home House); Century’s needs at least four members from one company (Century).

Corporate schemes for associations generally are covered under corporate membership.

07/ How operators set club fees

How clubs set their fees.

If you run a club, the published fees above show the levers most operators use. The level is only one of them.

The joining fee filters for commitment and funds the clubhouse; waiving it for young members trades short-term income for a longer member life.

The subscription has to cover fixed costs that do not move with usage: rent or upkeep, core staff, insurance and licensing.

Bands by age, distance and household let a club widen its membership without discounting its core rate.

Fee-setting for membership organisations in general, including fee increases and the letter that announces one, is on our membership pricing guide.

08/ If you run a club

Fees are part of the offer you market.

How a club presents its fees affects who applies. Clubs that publish rates clearly, with their bands, let applicants qualify themselves before the membership team spends time on them.

Every club in the table above publishes at least its standard rate. That openness is itself a choice.

We help clubs set out their categories and fees, then market them to the right applicants. See our private members club marketing service, and the private members club application process for what happens after someone applies.