Street Food Licence: What You Actually Need

No UK council issues a "street food licence". The phrase describes an activity, not a permission, and searching for it is how most new traders discover that the thing they need is actually two separate questions with two separate answers.

Question one: where are you trading? That decides which trading permission you need, and it is different for a public street, a market, private land and an event.

Question two: what are you selling? If it is food, one fixed set of food permissions applies wherever you trade, and it does not change when you move.

Getting the first question right is what stops you being moved on or prosecuted. Getting the second right is what stops you being closed down. They are independent, and you need both.

Question One: Where You Trade

On a public street

This is street trading, and it is licensed by the council. Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 defines it as:

"the selling or exposing or offering for sale of any article (including a living thing) in a street"

Every council designates its streets as licence streets (you need a licence, and the council must grant it unless it has grounds to refuse), consent streets (you need consent, which is discretionary) or prohibited streets (no trading at all). The street trading consent guide explains what that distinction means for your rights, and the step-by-step application guide covers the process.

The critical point for anyone planning a round: each council controls its own streets independently, so trading in three council areas means three separate permissions with three fees and three renewal dates.

In a market

Trading inside a market held under a charter, long use or a statutory power is not street trading at all. Schedule 4 paragraph 1(2)(b) excludes:

"anything done in a market or fair the right to hold which was acquired by virtue of a grant (including a presumed grant) or acquired or established by virtue of an enactment or order."

So in a market of that kind you apply to the market operator, not the licensing team, and what you get is a pitch rather than a licence. A market without that standing, such as a pop-up, may need street trading consent instead. Our market stall guide covers how allocation actually works, including the casual-pitch route onto oversubscribed markets.

On private land

Street trading law applies to streets. Trade on a supermarket car park, an industrial estate, a pub garden or a business park and you generally need the landowner's permission instead of a council licence — though "street" is defined more broadly than most people expect, and some councils read it to catch land close to the highway. Our guide to street trading on private land covers where councils draw that line, and where you can legally park and trade covers the highway rules that apply regardless.

At an event

At a festival, county show or private event on a closed site, the organiser's own arrangements usually cover the site, and you contract with them rather than with the council. Where an event happens on the public highway, short-term consents exist — see temporary street trading licences.

The pedlar question

Schedule 4 also excludes:

"trading by a person acting as a pedlar under the authority of a pedlar's certificate granted under the Pedlars Act 1871"

Pedlar certificates are issued by the police, not the council, and they get raised often in street food forums as a workaround. They are not one. A pedlar must be genuinely itinerant. Section 3 of the Pedlars Act 1871 defines one as a person who "travels and trades on foot and goes from town to town or to other men's houses, carrying to sell or exposing for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise" — trading as they move, not setting up a stall or a vehicle at a pitch. A static food unit is not pedlary. Treat it as a dead end for a food business.

Question Two: The Food Permissions

These apply wherever you trade, and they do not multiply per council.

Food business registration. Free, and required at least 28 days before you start trading. For a mobile unit you register with the council for the place the unit is kept overnight — FSA guidance for food businesses on the move states you "must register your food business at the location where it is stored overnight". It is a different system from street trading licensing, run by a different council department, and the two are routinely confused. Our food business registration guide walks through the form and what registration covers.

A documented food safety management system. Legally required, and for most small operators the practical route is the FSA's free Safer Food, Better Business pack — see our guide to SFBB for mobile caterers, which covers adapting a kitchen-shaped pack to a van.

Food hygiene training. Annex II, Chapter XII of retained Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires food business operators to ensure "that food handlers are supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work activity". No qualification is named in law, but a Level 2 certificate is the standard way to evidence it. Personal to the individual, so it travels with them.

Public liability insurance. Not a statutory licence, but every council, market operator and event organiser will ask for the certificate before letting you trade.

Gas and electrical safety. If you run gas appliances, regulation 35 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 puts the duty on you directly: "It shall be the duty of every employer or self-employed person to ensure that any gas appliance, installation pipework or flue installed at any place of work under his control is maintained in a safe condition so as to prevent risk of injury to any person." The duty is continuous and states no interval — the annual cycle people quote comes from HSE guidance, not the Regulations: catering information sheet CAIS23 says that "as a general rule, annual inspections are a reasonable minimum frequency, with repairs carried out as necessary". An annual certificate from a Gas Safe registered engineer is therefore what councils, market operators and insurers expect to see. PAT testing for portable electrical equipment and generators. Covered in our LPG gas safety certificate guide.

Late night refreshment authorisation, if you trade past 11pm. Selling hot food or hot drink between 11pm and 5am is a licensable activity under the Licensing Act 2003 and needs a separate premises licence — see our guide to late night refreshment licences. This is the one experienced traders most often miss, and it carries a heavier penalty than unlicensed street trading.

What It Costs

The food permissions are cheap or free: registration costs nothing, a Level 2 hygiene certificate is typically £20–£100 online, and the SFBB pack is a free download. Insurance and gas certification are annual costs in the low hundreds.

The trading permission is where the money is, and it varies enormously — from around £100 a year in a small district council to several thousand for a premium London pitch. Our council-by-council cost breakdown has real figures, and the free licence cost calculator will estimate the total across the councils you plan to work.

The Mistakes That Cost Money

• Assuming one permission covers the country. Street trading permissions are per council; there is no national licence.
• Treating food business registration as a street trading licence. They are separate systems: registration is free and made with the council for the place the unit is kept overnight; street trading licences come from each council whose streets you trade on.
• Registering less than 28 days before trading. The 28 days is a legal minimum, not a target.
• Treating private land as unregulated. You still need landowner permission, and some councils read "street" broadly enough to catch you anyway.
• Trading past 11pm on a street trading licence alone. That is a Licensing Act matter and a separate authorisation.
• Letting the renewal date pass. Apply before expiry and your licence stays valid while the council decides — see renewal deadlines.

The Short Answer

There is no street food licence. There is a trading permission that depends on where you stand, and a food permission set that follows you everywhere. Work out the first for every location you plan to trade, get the second once, and keep both current.

Start with our free compliance checker for a quick read on what your setup is missing, or the startup checklist generator for a personalised list based on where you plan to trade. StreetComply is building a dashboard to track every licence, certificate and renewal date across every council you work in — join the waitlist.

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This guide covers England and Wales. Scotland operates under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and Northern Ireland under the Street Trading Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 — both are separate regimes with different processes. Street designations and trading policy are set by individual councils; confirm your position with each council's licensing team before trading. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

• Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, Schedule 4 paragraph 1 — meaning of street trading and exceptions
• Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, Schedule 4 — Street Trading
• Licensing Act 2003, Schedule 2 — Provision of Late Night Refreshment
• Pedlars Act 1871, section 3 — meaning of "pedlar"
• GOV.UK — Register a food business
• Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II Chapter XII — training
• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 35 — duties of employers and self-employed persons
• HSE Catering Information Sheet No 23 — Gas safety in catering and hospitality
• GOV.UK — Starting a food business (registration is free; register at least 28 days before trading)
• FSA / GOV.UK — Businesses that supply or produce food on the move (register at the location where it is stored overnight)