Pavement licence

Pavement licences allow businesses such as cafes, bars and restaurants to obtain a licence to place temporary furniture, such as tables and chairs, on the public highway adjacent to their premises.

Find out more about pavement licences

• New Licence applications: £433 
• Renewal applications: £313 

Renewals will only be accepted where the application is made by the holder of the existing licence and is for the same premises.
 

You can apply if your business is:

• a public house, wine bar or other drinking establishment; and/or
• for the sale of food or drink for consumption on or off the premises. 

Any furniture must only be used:

• to sell or serve food or drink supplied from, or in connection with the relevant use of the premises and/or
• by other persons for the purpose of consuming food or drink supplied from, or in connection with relevant use of the premises.

Only the use of following furniture may be applied for:

• counters or stalls for selling or serving food or drink;
• tables, counters or shelves on which food or drink can be placed;
• chairs, benches or other forms of seating, and
• umbrellas, barriers, heaters and other articles used in connection with the outdoor consumption of food or drink

You will be required to submit a scale plan of your proposed licensed area, which shows: 

• The intended setup of the area including any proposed furniture, so the location of any heaters must be shown 
• The distance from the boundary of the licensed area to the building boundary 
• The width of the route left available on the highway for passage by pedestrians. You must also include and show any street furniture e.g. lampposts / bike racks, that are between the boundary of the licensed area and rather the kerb. In all cases, a minimum width of 1.8m clear passageway must be left for pedestrians and applications providing less than 1.8m will be rejected. 
• You must submit images of any temporary structures or coverings you propose to use. 
• Your application must state all the furniture types that you intend to use as your licence will be limited to this.
• You must demonstrate that the furniture to be used is in accordance with national guidance regarding accessibility (such as use of good colour contrast, suitable physical barriers around chairs and tables and/or other appropriate measures).

You should also provide evidence of how the local and national conditions will be satisfied, including the ‘no-obstruction’ national condition:

• How the needs of disabled people will be met under the requirements of the no-obstruction condition
• How the mandatory no-smoking area will be controlled
• How security implications, particularly the risk to groups of people from interaction with hostile vehicles, and the creation of large crowds in new public spaces, are being addressed.

You must also provide confirmation of staff attendance at a Martyn’s Law Training session.

A notice must be displayed at the premises when you have submitted your application and you must email a photo of the notice on display to premises.licensing@manchester.gov.uk.

Planning and street trading consents are not required.

Before applying, please read the Business and Planning Act 2020 legislation, our pavement licence guidelines and the terms and conditions of a pavement licence.

Fire Safety

You should consider the following and address where necessary:

• The placement of furniture outside your premises should not impact on escape routes for staff working inside or for customers who may be inside using the facilities and must also allow persons who are outside to be able to quickly and easily move away from the premises in case of fire.  
• You should ensure that any furniture outside your premises does not obstruct escape routes from adjoining premises. 
• You should review your fire risk assessment to consider any additional fire risks – for example the use of heaters or an increased risk of arson. 

You must also ensure that the use of outside areas will not impact firefighting operations if there is fire in your business or nearby premises. Check that you are not obstructing fire hydrants. 

For more information or advice on complying with the Fire Safety Order, contact Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service at firesafetymanchester@manchesterfire.gov.uk

Find out more about making a fire risk assessment

Apply

View the General Licensing Public Register