Pavement licence

To place furniture on the highway outside your café, bar, restaurant or other business, you need to apply for a pavement licence.

A pavement licence is a licence granted by the local authority which allows the licence holder to place removable furniture over certain highways adjacent to the premises in relation to which the application was made, for certain purposes.

How to apply

The process to apply for a pavement licence is:

Step 1

Read the national pavement licence guidance.. The guidance includes information on the application, determination and enforcement process.

Step 2

Read the published conditions which are added to a licence and must be complied with.

Step 3

Talk to neighbouring businesses and occupiers prior to applying, take any issues around noise, and nuisance into consideration as part of your proposal.

Step 4

Apply for a pavement licence

Step 5

After you have applied, you should display a public notice outside your premises for 14 days after the day you submitted to give people the opportunity to comment before the consultation closing date.

The public notice must be:

in a place clearly visible to the public
A4 size or larger
completed legibly in black ink

Use our template below to ensure you include all the information needed.

Public notice template (Word doc, 101 KB)

Applicants are encouraged to keep evidence of this.

What happens next?

Before granting a licence we will consider if you meet the pavement licence conditions explained in our guidance.

The application process takes 28 days but if your application includes the use of semi-permanent structures such as decking or you plan to re purpose car park spaces, you will need planning permission and highways approval which may take longer.