Highway licences
Local authorities can issue licences for other items including pavement cafés and seating areas, but only with our consent.
Highway licence policies
These three documents outline our policies for considering highway licence applications:
The standard conditions are generic to any application. Conditions specific to particular activities are detailed in the relevant application form.
Fees are chargeable for some types of application.
Processing time is typically four weeks - longer if road closures are required.
Local authority consents
For consideration of consents for basement openings, flag poles, pavement café seating areas, street trading and/or refuse storage bins, you should first contact the relevant local authority, who will then consult with us.
Road closures
If any consent involves a road closure (to accommodate a crane lift, for example) then we can arrange for temporary road closures as part of the process. There are statutory procedures which must be followed, with advertising costs of £2,050 to £7,000 (depending on location).
Processing time is six to eight weeks for partial road closures and 10-12 weeks for full road closures.
Application forms
As the highway authority for the red routes, we license these applications.
Privacy notice
TfL, its subsidiaries and service providers will use your personal information for the purposes of administering your highway licence application, including where relevant, issuing an invoice and processing any payment. We will retain your information after the issue of the licence for the purposes of managing any correspondence, ensuring compliance with the licence terms and establishing and defending legal rights.
On some occasions, we may need to share your information with associated organisations or their agents for these purposes. Your personal information will be properly safeguarded and processed in accordance with the requirements of privacy and data protection legislation. To find out more about how TfL handles personal data see our privacy and cookies pages.
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Banners over London's red routes
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Builders' skips on London's red routes
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Building materials on London's red routes
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Building over London's red routes
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Crane oversail on London's red routes
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Excavation in the highway
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Festive and seasonal decorations on London's red routes
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Filming on London's road network (see process guide below)
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Hoardings on London's red routes
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Landscaping on London's red routes
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Lights in trees on London's red routes
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Mobile apparatus on London's red routes
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Mobile crane licence
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Pit lane on London's red routes
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Scaffolding on London's red routes
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Statues/artworks on London's red routes
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Temporary traffic signs on London's red routes
If you need a licence to undertake street works such as installing and maintaining utility services, you'll need to apply for a section 50 licence under the New road and Street Works Act 1991.