To place tables and chairs outside your premises on the highway, you'll need:
- planning permission
- a Highway Licence (pavement café licence)
- public liability insurance to £5m
You must have planning permission in place before applying for a pavement café licence.
You should also read our pavement café standard conditions before making your application.
New pavement café licence
Once you obtain planning permission, you'll need to:
- refer to our guidance notes to help you complete our application form
- complete and return our pavement café application form
- send us your payment of £660
Note that:
- the Highway Licence is a legal document
- it can take several weeks for us to process applications
We'll issue a temporary licence until your application is approved.
Renewal of pavement café licence
You'll need to renew your licence every year. Make sure you apply in plenty of time as the process can take up to 6 weeks.
To renew your licence:
- complete and return our pavement café application form
- send us your payment of £660
We'll send you a reminder approximately 6 weeks before your current licence expires.
How we process your application
We require time to process and consider your application before it can be granted.
In this case:
- you can't assume permission will be given
- we'll contact you within 21 working days to acknowledge receipt of your application
You can't act as if your application has been granted if we don't respond within expected timeframes.
If you haven't heard from us within 21 working days, please contact us to check the status of your application.