Tables and chairs licence
You need a licence to have removable furniture, such as tables and chairs, outside your business on a public highway.
This includes counters or stalls selling or serving food and drink, tables, counters or shelves on which food or drink can be placed, chairs benches or other forms of seating, umbrellas, barriers, heaters and other items used in connection with the outdoor consumption of food and drink.
The food or drink must be supplied from, or in connection with, the relevant use of the premises.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, The Business and Planning Act was introduced to make it easier for premises serving food and drink to seat and serve customers outdoors through temporary changes to planning and licensing procedures. The temporary provisions relating to pavement licences were made permanent on 31 March 2024 when the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act amended the Business and Planning Act.
The new tables and chairs licence is now available and these are issued for one year.
Cost
The fee is £500 which is payable on application. This is non-refundable.
If you are renewing your licence with no changes, the fee is £350.
Who can apply
You are eligible to apply if:
- your business uses the premises for the sale of food or drink for consumption or if the sale of food or drink is part of your services
- you are applying for a licence on an authorised street
- 2 metres of clear footpath can be maintained on the street outside your business (1.5m in exceptional circumstances), allowing for any obstacles. Please note that in areas of high footfall, a wider clearway may be required. In any case, we cannot issue a licence for more than half the depth of the available space.
You cannot get a licence for:
- land owned by Network Rail or the Crown
You may not need a licence to place tables and chairs on your own privately maintained forecourt. Please check who owns and maintains the land you intend to use before you proceed.
Space for access
A minimum of 2m clearance must be maintained between the furniture and the kerb or any street furniture. In areas of busy footfall, this would increase to 3m or 3.5m. In all cases, we cannot issue a licence for more than half of the available pavement. Your furniture must not obstruct any access into adjoining properties or take up space in front of adjoining properties.
All goods and furniture must be removed from the pavement when the premises is not trading.
Pavement Licences are issued at the Council's discretion, and we will refuse applications where there is not enough space on the pavement without causing disruption, obstruction, or inconvenience to other street users.
How to apply
You can apply for a licence online.
Please read the guidance notes (PDF 124KB) before applying.
You will be asked to provide:
- Your business details
- Details of the furniture you will place outside
- A plan of the site. This can be drawn by hand or machine and does not need to be to scale but must include the area to be used, access to the building, any obstructions on the pavement and clearly stated measurements. A photo of the site is not acceptable
- A copy of your current Public Liability Insurance Certificate
It will help you if you can get these together before you start.
If having difficulty with uploading documents, you can send these separately but it may delay your application as we cannot start the process until all documents and payment are received.
Yo can make your payment over the phone by calling 020 8708 3774, Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm.
Apply for a tables and chairs licence
What happens next
Consultation period
Once a complete application has been received, there is a 14 day consultation period, beginning the next working day. We will send the details of the application to relevant authorities and publish it on our website where it will be available for public consideration to allow for representations to be made.
You must display a public notice for the same period at your premises visible when the premises is closed.
Download the public notice (728Kb)
Determination period
Following the consultation period, there is a further 14 day determination period for consideration of the application, any representations, recommendations or adjustments. A site meeting may be requested.
We will let you know the decision by 28th day.
See a list of current applications
Licence issued
The licence can be granted, granted with amendments or additional conditions or will be refused for reasons that will be clearly explained. If we do not make a formal decision about the application by the end of the 28th working day, the licence is deemed to have been granted.
Read our standard conditions (PDF 540KB) for this licence type.
The licence must be displayed on the premises, visible from exterior during trading hours, to confirm the space to be used.
For any further queries, please email our licensing team at licensing.authority@redbridge.gov.uk
Appeal
If your licence is rejected, there is no statutory appeal.
