In England and Wales, yes. Two consenting adults can lawfully exchange company, or sex, for money. What the law prohibits is the activity around it: soliciting in public, running a brothel, and controlling or exploiting someone else’s work.
The short answer
The Crown Prosecution Service sets it out plainly in its published guidance: sexual activity between consenting adults where one person is paid is not itself a crime. That covers booking an escort, working as one, and the arrangement between them. It does not cover any of the offences below, and it does not cover anyone who has been forced, threatened or deceived into it.
What is illegal in England and Wales
- Soliciting in a street or public place. An offence for the buyer (section 51A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) and for the seller, who commits an offence by persistently loitering or soliciting (section 1 of the Street Offences Act 1959).
- Keeping or managing a brothel. Section 33A of the Sexual Offences Act 1956, with a maximum of seven years. A brothel is premises where two or more people offer sexual services at the same time.
- Controlling someone else’s prostitution for gain. Section 53 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, maximum seven years. Causing or inciting someone to become a prostitute for gain (section 52) carries the same maximum.
- Paying for the sexual services of someone who is being exploited. Section 53A of the 2003 Act. This is strict liability, which means it is no defence that you did not know.
- Paying for sex with anyone under 18. A serious offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
- Trafficking for sexual exploitation. Section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a maximum of life imprisonment.
Why two people in one flat is a problem
The brothel rule catches people who think they are doing nothing wrong. One person working alone from a flat is lawful. Two or more offering sexual services from the same premises at the same time can make that flat a brothel, and the person who keeps or manages it commits an offence. It is why independent incall flats are normally used by one person at a time.
What this means if you are booking
Booking an adult who is working independently and in private is lawful. The risk to avoid is the one you cannot see: paying someone who is being controlled by another person. Signs worth taking seriously include someone who seems frightened or coached, who cannot speak freely, who hands money to a third party in front of you, or who looks younger than you were told. If you have any such concern, leave and report it. In an emergency call 999. Otherwise call the police on 101 or contact the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland follows a similar approach to England and Wales: selling and buying sex in private is not an offence, while street soliciting and kerb crawling are. Northern Ireland is different. Paying for sex has been an offence there since 1 June 2015, under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015.
What changed in 2026
During the passage of the Crime and Policing Bill, amendments were put forward that would either have decriminalised sex work or made buying sex an offence. Neither was adopted. The Crime and Policing Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, leaves the law on buying and selling sex unchanged. Its only provision on the subject extends the scheme that disregards old convictions, so that a conviction for loitering or soliciting committed under the age of 18 can now be wiped.
For visitors
The same law applies to everyone in the country, tourists included, and not knowing it is not a defence. Visitors from the United States will notice the contrast: in nearly every American state both buying and selling are criminal, while England and Wales treat the exchange itself as lawful. The visitor guide covers the practical side.
Sources and limits
This is general information, not legal advice, and the law can change. It is based on the Crown Prosecution Service guidance on prostitution and exploitation of prostitution and the text of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, and was last checked on the date shown at the top of this page. If a decision matters, take advice from a solicitor.