Street trading licence

Pavement licence

A pavement licence allows businesses to place temporary furniture, such as tables and chairs, outside cafés, bars and restaurants.

On 31 March 2024, the permanent pavement licensing regime and changes provided for in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act came into effect.

The fee for new licences is £500 and renewals is £350. All new licences or renewed licences will be valid for 2 years – unless a lesser period is specified following the consultation process.

Renewals must be a like for like application. If you wish to make any changes, for example, changing the name of the licence holder, increasing the licensed area or adding more tables and chairs, a new application will be required.

If your pavement licence expires but you continue to provide tables and chairs on the council highway after the licence has expired, this is deemed unlicensed street trading which is an offence. Officers could issue you with a penalty notice charge of up to £150.

We encourage pavement licence holders to use the free resources from CPNI (Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure), to help improve vigilance in their employees. We also encourage you to download the MPS PSO ‘London Shield’ app to your mobile phone.

Apply for a pavement licence (PDF, 251.5 KB)

Standard conditions (PDF, 44.32 KB) will be applied to licences, including the condition that smoking is banned in licensed areas. In certain circumstances, special conditions may also be applied.

If you have any questions, email licensing@enfield.gov.uk.

Further information about the pavement licence

The Business and Planning Act 2020 allows businesses to apply for a licence to enable them to place temporary furniture, such as tables and chairs, outside cafes, bars and restaurants.

The application process requires a number of criteria to be met, for example, a plan of the licensed area, and proof of up-to-date public liability cover. The day after the application is deemed accepted, a 14-day public consultation period begins. During this time the applicant must display the site notice advertising the application. Applicants will receive notification of the outcome of the application 28 days after it is submitted.

If a pavement licence is breached, the licence holder may be served a notice to remedy the breach, or the licence can also be cancelled.

The temporary amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 (which permitted premises licence holders who were licensed to serve alcohol on-premises, to also sell alcohol for consumption off the premises without needing to apply for a variation of their licence) expired on 31 March 2025.

We will accept a minor variation application where a premises licence holder for on-sales only applies to add off-sales to their licence. A minor variation is likely to be accepted where a premises licence holder took advantage of the temporary amendment, and there has been no adverse impact on licensing objectives.

View the pavement licences guidance at GOV.UK.

Other street trading licences

If the pavement licence does not meet your requirements, you may need one of the following street trading licences, which if granted, will allow you to:

set up seasonal and farmers’ market stalls on the highway on a designated street
set up tables and chairs outside cafés, restaurants and public houses situated on a designated street
provide temporary street trading not exceeding 6 months

This does not include pedlars, news vendors, milkmen or sales on private land. A licence is not required to place goods for sale on land which forms part of the premises (not the highway). Displaying goods, including fruits and vegetables, on the highway outside a premises is not permitted. For a full list of designated streets, see our application forms.

The terms, conditions and restrictions of the licence must be complied with whenever the licence is in use. View the Street Trading Tables and Chairs Standard Conditions (PDF, 18.99 KB).

If your street trading licence expires but you continue to provide tables and chairs on the council highway after the licence has expired, this is deemed unlicensed street trading. It is a criminal offence to carry out unlicensed activities or breach the licence (including non-compliance with conditions). Officers could issue a penalty notice charge of up to £150, or, if convicted, you could be given a £1,000 fine.

Apply for a temporary street trading licence (PDF, 208.93 KB)

Apply for a tables and chairs for outside seating licence (PDF, 209.09 KB)

Apply for a shop forecourts licence (PDF, 29.76 KB)

Apply for a street trading stalls licence (PDF, 127.36 KB)

If your application is unsuccessful, you may appeal to a magistrates’ court within 21 days of the decision.

If you’re applying for a street trading licence as part of a small community event, we have prepared a handbook to guide you through the planning and delivery of such events. For more information about planning outdoor community events in Enfield’s public spaces, visit Let's Talk Enfield.

Ice cream trading

We do not issue street trading licences for ice cream sales. ‘Ice cream’ includes goods consisting wholly or mainly of ice cream, frozen confectionery or other similar commodities. People who operate ice cream vans may trade as itinerant ice cream traders.

To be classed as an itinerant ice cream trader, you must:

travel from place to place
stay in any one location for no more than 15 minutes while trading
not return to that location, or any other location in the same street, on the same day

These requirements reflect the statutory definition of ‘itinerant ice cream trading’ under the London Local Authorities Act 1990, as amended by the London Local Authorities Act 2007.

People trading from a traditional stop-me-and-buy-one tricycle, or a similar vehicle, are subject to the same requirements. If you park your vehicle and continue selling on foot, for example from a small frozen cabinet, you will not meet the requirements for itinerant ice cream trading.

Even if you have the landowner’s written permission to trade from private land, the activity may still be considered street trading if it takes place within 7 metres of a road or footway that the public can access.

Ice cream van chimes

Separate rules apply to loudspeakers and chimes fitted to ice cream vans. Chimes must only be operated between 12 noon and 7pm and must not be used in a way that gives reasonable cause for annoyance to people nearby.

The Government’s Code of practice on noise from ice-cream van chimes advises that chimes should:

not be played for longer than 12 seconds at a time
not be played more often than once every 2 minutes
be played only once when the vehicle is stationary at a selling point
only be played when approaching or at a selling point
not be played when another trading vehicle is in sight
not be played more often than once every 2 hours in the same length of street
not be played within 50 metres of a hospital or similar institution
not be played within 50 metres of a school during school hours
not be played within 50 metres of a place of worship on a Sunday or another recognised day of worship
not exceed the recommended maximum noise level of 80dB when measured at 7.5 metres

The 2-hour guidance applies only to how frequently chimes may be sounded. It does not allow an itinerant ice cream trader to return to the same location, or another location in the same street, on the same day.

Traders who do not comply with the requirements for itinerant ice cream trading may be committing an offence of unlicensed street trading. Those convicted may face a fine, and vehicles or equipment used in connection with unlicensed street trading may be liable to seizure.

Further information

For more information see:

our licensing policies for the street trading policy
our fees page for the relevant fee
our online Licence Register where all applications and licences are recorded
GOV.UK for the rules about street trading