Temporary street trading licences
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About temporary street trading licences
You need a licence to trade on the public highway, including the pavement or any other area (not within a permanently enclosed premises) that is within seven meters of any road or footway.
Street trading is the selling, offering or exposing for sale of any item or service in the street. This includes stalls (including market), shop-front displays, cafe tables and chairs with service. We are currently also looking into the possibility of licensing mobile street traders in the future. Please keep checking this website for further updates.
Apply for a temporary street trading licence
Apply for a temporary street trading licence (PDF 95KB)
When you will need a temporary street trading licence
Temporary Street Trading licence applications should be made by traders carrying out the following types of businesses:
- shop front displays and table and chairs on the public highway outside a premises. This display must be a continuation of the main business of the shop applying and not entirely different commodities
- traditional ‘pitch’ style traders can apply for a temporary licence once they have submitted a business proposal to the Licensing Team that has been approved
- if you have had a 3 month Fast Track Street Trading Licence issued after 20 January that has now expired
- if you have successfully completed a 3 month trial Mobile Trading Licence and wish to be considered for a 6-month Temporary Street Trading Licence
Who can get a temporary street trading licence
To apply you must have:
- not been or be in the process of being prosecuted by the licensing authority for unlicensed street trading activities.
- not had a street trading licence revoked by the London Borough of Barnet’s Licensing Authority
- Public Liability Insurance cover in place for the premises
Licence conditions
All street trading licences issued by the Licensing Authority are subject to the London Borough of Barnet’s Standard Street Trading Conditions.
You must:
- have the right to occupy the land from which they want to trade
- 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)
- in the case of applicants wanting to display goods outside their premises, the goods that are on display must be in keeping with the products sold inside the premises.
- distance, clearance and barriers. There must be at least 2 meters clearance between the edge of the trading area and the curb (or any permanent obstruction ie street furniture). We allow removable barriers to be placed on the public highway to enclose a street trading area
- street trading can only take place from 7 am until 11 pm. After this time the public highway must be cleared of all street trading furniture
The Licensing Authority may also attach additional conditions to any licence where it is deemed appropriate.
More information on what is and is not allowed under a licence:
Duration of the licence
The standard Temporary Street Trading Licence will last for 6 months.
We do however offer a 2-month temporary licence for traders looking to trade for shorter one-off periods. This 2-month temporary licence follows the same application process as its 6-month counterpart.
Costs
6-month licence
The total cost of a 6-month Temporary Street Trading Licence is £458.02
This fee is split into 2 payments.
The initial £110.10 non-refundable application fee must be paid at the time that the application has been submitted.
The second payment of £347.92 will need to be paid at the end of the application process before the licence can be issued to you.
2-month licence
The total cost of a 2-month Temporary Street Trading Licence is £205.89
This fee is split into two payments. The initial £110.10 non-refundable application fee must be paid at the time that the application has been submitted. The second payment of £95.79 will need to be paid at the end of the application process before the licence can be issued to you.
Failure to pay either the application or the issuing fees will result in your not being granted a licence.
When submitting an application, please provide us with a suitable contact number, so that we can call you to take the fee payment over the phone.
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
- passport sized photo of the applicant
- appropriate application fee. This can be paid by card over the phone when you provide us with a suitable contact telephone number
Granting the application
Once a valid application has been made for a suitable trader / premises a 10 working day consultation will begin. Local ward Councillors, The Police, Environmental Health and the Highways departments are all consulted as part of this process.
At the end of the consultation period and as long as no objections to the grant of the licence has been received the application will be deemed granted and the licence issued to you once the issuing fee has been paid.
Should objections to the application be received by the Licensing Team a decision to grant or refuse the application will be made by the Licensing Authority’s appointed officer.
Changing from a temporary to a permanent licence
After you have successfully completed your first 6-Month Temporary Street Trading Licence and are no more than 3 months into your second 6-month licence period you will need to start the process for applying to designate your trading area.
Once the designation has been granted you will then be able to apply for a 3 year permanent street trading licence after your second temporary licence period has ended.