Pavement licences

What is a pavement licence?

You must have a valid pavement licence if you have a business, selling food and drink, and you provide an outdoor seating area on the public highway.

Pavement licences are valid for two years.

Businesses that can apply for a licence include:

Furniture that you can licence must be removable, and related to serving, selling or consuming food or drink. This includes:

counters or stalls for selling or serving food or drink
tables, counters or shelves to place food or drink
chairs, benches, or other forms of seating
umbrellas, barriers, heaters and other furniture related to outdoor consumption of food or drink

If you want to add permanent furniture to the highway, you must apply for permission under the Business and Planning Act 2020.

As part of your application, you will need to provide:

a plan that shows the location of the premises, outlined by a red line
a plan that shows the proposed area and furniture covered by the licence, in relation to the highway. This must be to scale - or measurements should be included
a copy of your public liability insurance, with a minimum cover of £5 million
pictures that show the proposed types of furniture
full measurements for all furniture you are using
information that shows how the furniture will be placed within the area
evidence of consent from neighbouring frontage(s) to use footway space outside their property (if applicable)
evidence that you have provided a public notice of the application
the application fee

You must also display a public notice in a prominent position next to the highway.

During this process, we have up to 28 days to make a decision about an application. This includes a mandatory 14 day public consultation period.

The fee for a new pavement licence is £500 for first time applications.

The fee for a renewal is £350.