Pavement licences

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About pavement licences

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2024 came into effect on 31st March 2024, meaning that the pavement licences scheme is now permanent according to law.

Pavement licences give permission for cafés, restaurants and bars to place furniture on the pavement.

Once we have granted a pavement licence, it is valid for 1 year. If you want to to continue with the licence past this date, you will need to apply for a renewal.  

Apply for a new pavement licence or renew an existing pavement licence

Apply for a pavement licence (PDF, 179 KB)

Apply to renew a pavement licence (PDF, 202 KB) 

When you will need a pavement licence

You will need a pavement licence if you:

  • are a business that sells food and/or drink to the public and;
  • want to place removable furniture on part of the pavement outside your premises, for either or both the use of:
    • the licence-holder to sell or serve food or drink supplied from, or in connection with relevant use of, the premises;
    • other persons for the purpose of consuming food or drink supplied from, or in connection with relevant use of, the premises

 “Relevant use” means:

  • use as a public house, wine bar or other drinking establishment, and/or
  • other use for the sale of food or drink for consumption on or off the premises

Any premises that does not sell food or drink to members of the public, that does not currently hold a street trading licence can apply for a 6 month Temporary Street Trading licence

Who can get a pavement licence?

You must meet the following criteria to be able to apply: 

  • you must be a business that sells food and/or drink to the public and;
  • the trader must not have been, or be in the process of being prosecuted by the licensing authority for unlicensed street trading activities.
  • have not had a street trading revoked by the London Borough of Barnet’s Licensing Authority
  • have enough space on the public highway to enable them to place their display of goods or tables and chairs leaving a minimum of 2 metres between the trading area and the curb (or any street furniture)
  • have Public Liability Insurance cover in place for the premises

 Existing street trading licence holders

If you are the holder of a current Temporary / Permanent Street Trading licence and you sell food and / or drink to members of the public then you can opt to ‘Suspend’ your current licence and apply for a Pavement Licence.  You do this by completing the Voluntary suspension form (PDF, 64 KB) and returning it to us with your pavement licence application form.

Once you have applied for and been granted the Pavement Licence (including the payment of the relevant fee) your existing licence will be placed on hold and restarted after the Pavement Licence period has expired.

If you are a Food & Drink business and have made an application for a Temporary or Permanent Street trading licence that was still being processed by the Licensing Team then this application will be considered as having been withdrawn should you wish to move over to the new Pavement Licence. Please complete the Withdrawal of licence application form (PDF, 64 KB) and return it to us and return it to us with your pavement licence application form.

If you have made payment for your current application that you are withdrawing, we will move this payment across to your new Pavement Licence application and refund the difference.

Costs

The cost of a new Pavement Licence is £500, the cost to renew an existing Pavement licence is £350. 

Documents you must supply with your application

The following documents must be supplied to the Licensing Team along with your application in order for them to be able to accept your application:

  • evidence of Public Liability insurance in respect of anything to be done following the licence as the authority may require
  • a plan clearly showing the proposed area covered by the licence in relation to the highway, if not to scale, with measurements clearly shown
  • evidence of the right to occupy the premises. For example the lease document
  • photos or brochures showing the proposed type of furniture and information on potential siting of it within the area applied
  • evidence that you have displayed the notice of application on the premises (for example a photograph)
  • Appropriate application fee

Granting the application

A 14-day consultation process starts the day after a valid application has been made for a suitable trader/premises to the Licensing team.  At the end of the consultation period and as long as no representations to the grant of the licence has been received, the application will be deemed granted and the licence issued.

Should representations to the application be received by the Licensing Team during the consultation period, the licensing authority have a further 14 days to consider those representations and make a decision whether to grant or reject the application.

When making their decision of whether to grant a licence the Local Authority will need to ensure that any licence granted does not negatively affect:

  • public health and safety including security. For example, ensuring that uses conform with latest guidance on social distancing and any reasonable crowd management measures needed as a result of a licence being granted and businesses reopening
  • public amenity. Will the proposed use create nuisance to neighbouring occupiers by generating anti-social behaviour and litter
  • accessibility. Taking a proportionate approach to considering the nature of the site in relation to which the application for a licence is made, its surroundings and its users, taking account of considerations under the no-obstruction condition, in particular considering the needs of disabled people
  • any other temporary measures in place that may be relevant to the proposal, for example, the reallocation of road space. This could include pedestrianised streets and any subsequent reallocation of this space to vehicles
  • any other social distancing measures in place, for example any queuing systems that limit the space available on the pavement
  • whether there are other permanent street furniture or fixed structures in place on the footway that already reduce access
  • other users of the space, for example if there are high levels of pedestrian or cycle movements

In determining the application the local authority can:

  • grant the licence in respect of any or all of the purposes specified in the application,
  • grant the licence for some or all of the part of the highway specified in the application, and impose conditions, or
  • refuse the application

All street trading licences issued by the Licensing Authority are subject to the London Borough of Barnet’s Standard Street Trading Licence Conditions (PDF, 180 KB). The Licensing Authority may also attach additional conditions to any licence where it is deemed appropriate.

Once a licence is granted the licence holder can at any point in their licence period surrender the licence back to the Licensing Authority.  They can do this by completing the Surrender your licence form (PDF, 62 KB).

Breaches of licence

If a condition imposed on a licence, either by the local authority or nationally, is breached, the local authority will be able to issue a notice requiring the breach to be remedied and the authority can take action to cover any costs.

The authority may revoke a licence in the following circumstances:

  1. For breach of condition, (whether or not a remediation notice has been issued) or
  2. Where:
    • there are risks to public health or safety. For example by encouraging users to breach government guidance on social distancing by placing tables and chairs too close together or where it comes to light that there are significant security risks which have not been sufficiently considered, or addressed in a proportionate fashion (this should be reassessed as necessary, particularly in the event of changes to the terrorism threat level)
    • this use of the highway is causing an unacceptable obstruction, breaching the non-obstruction condition. For example, the arrangement of street furniture prevents disabled people, older people or wheelchair users to pass along the highway or have normal access to the premises alongside the highway
    • the use is causing anti-social behaviour or public nuisance. For example, the use is increasing the amount of noise generated late at night and litter is not being cleaned up
    • it comes to light that the applicant provided false or misleading statements in their application. For example they are operating a stall selling hot food and had applied for tables and chairs on which drinks could be consumed
    • the applicant did not comply with the requirement to affix the notice to notify the public for the relevant period
  1. The local authority may also revoke the licence where all or any part of the area of the relevant highway to which the licence relates has become unsuitable for any purpose for which the licence was granted or deemed to be granted. For example, the licensed area (or road adjacent) is no longer pedestrianised. It is good practice for local authorities to give reasons where these powers are used.