Apply to trade on a street market

All our markets are different in character and style so before you apply, visit Camden’s Street Markets for more information about each market to help choose the best location for your business.  

The fees and charges were updated on the 1st May 2023, please see what fees applies to your application.

Hot Food market stall licences 

Due to high level of demand we will no longer will be issuing daily temporary licences in our markets for food traders.  If you would like to trade selling food products you must apply for the following licences, if you hold a Temparary Registration Card: 

• First priority: 6 Months Temporary Licence at £27.27 reduced daily charge and will receive first priority. 
• Second priority: 3-5 Months Temporary Licence to add at normal rate of £29.46.
• Third priority: 1 week-2 Months Temporary Licence to add at normal rate of £29.46.

The above options are subject to pitch availability and meeting our criteria.

How to apply for a hot food market pitch(es)

To apply for a fixed term temporary licence, you need to contact the Markets team by emailing marketapplications@camden.gov.uk and request an expression of interest form.

The form will be checked by the back office and an interview arranged with the Market Officer for that market.

After a successful interview, the applicant will be invited to apply for a temporary registration*.

To apply, you must have copies of the following documents in the required format available to upload on the device you are using to complete the application:

• Valid passport
• A recent passport photograph
• Proof of National Insurance Number (e.g., photo of National Insurance card)
• Proof of current address dated within the past 3 months. We accept any of the following:
  • Utility bill (gas, electricity, water or landline telephone)
  • Council tax bill
  • Bank/ Building Society statement

Documents must be in electronic format so they can be uploaded on the form. These are: gif, jpeg, png, pdf, bmp, or docx files. You will not be able to complete the application without providing all of the required documents.

Note: At the end of your application you will be asked to pay a non-refundable administration fee of £65.90.

The licence will be issued as soon as possible if there is  an available space or will be kept on hold in order of the following priority

• Application for a 6 month licence
• Applying to sell something that is different to the current offer for that market

All hot food traders will need to request the number of pitches that they require to enable them to trade.  

The pitches in our markets are mainly 3 x 2 metres and all equipment used for cooking, gas bottles and waste needs to be contained within these dimensions.  The pitches at some markets remain marked out on the ground at 4 x 2 metres, but one metre is used to create a gangway to allow shoppers to gain access to the pavement and shops, plus for you to get the rear of your stall quickly. 

Note: We cannot guarantee that any trader will remain on the same pitch all week, that is dependent on demand, but we will work to accommodate where possible. No daily booking requests for hot food licences will be accepted.

Additional for food traders only:

• Accredited food hygiene certificate (level 2) (including assistants)
• Proof that your business is registered with a local authority 
• Evidence of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• A valid PAT and/or Gas safety certificates for your apparatus 

How to apply for licence for non-hot food market pitch(es)

To apply, you must have copies of the following documents in the required format available to upload on the device you are using to complete the application:

• Valid passport
• A recent passport photograph
• Proof of National Insurance Number (e.g., photo of National Insurance card)
• Proof of current address dated within the past 3 months. We accept any of the following
  • Utility bill (gas, electricity, water or landline telephone
  • Council tax bill
  • Bank/ Building Society statement

Documents must be in electronic format so they can be uploaded on the form. These are: gif, jpeg, png, pdf, bmp, or docx files. You will not be able to complete the application without providing all of the required documents.

Note: At the end of your application you will be asked to pay a non-refundable administration fee of £65.90.

Click to apply for apply for a temporary registration

The temporary registration will be issued as soon as possible. Temporary Licences will be issues in the folling order:

• Application for a 6 month licence
• Already trading in another market within Camden
• Applying to sell something that is different to the current offer for that market

*Issue of a temporary registration

After you have submitted your online application via our portal and your application has been successful, you will receive an email containing your Temporary Registration Card and Temporary Registered Trader Display Card. 

Once you have received these items you will be able to book a trading pitch. 

Book a trading pitch

All pitches must be requested and paid for in advance, no later than 4pm of the working day (i.e. weekdays 9-4pm and Friday 9am-1pm) the day before you wish to trade. This is done via our online payment system. 

Note: Traders must calculate the fees payable for the market/ days requested using our trading fees and charges information. This must be paid in full when submitting the request.

Note: There is no guarantee you will get the market or pitch requested, as pitches are allocated in priority order. Please include the market and days you wish to trade in the ‘Message Box’ field

Note: You must have a copy of the email confirmation on the day of trading along with the Temporary Registered Trader Display Card. A valid insurance certificate must also be available to view.

If you decide not to trade once your trading documents have been issued, you can surrender your temporary registration, but the pitch trading fee will be non-transferable and non-refundable.
 

Make an online payment and book a pitch 

Apply for a kiosk/Isolated pitch 

Camden welcomes charities and volunteers to join any market for free. There are no fees if you are not offering something for sale. Fees are negotiable/not applicable for groups selling to fund activity or promote activity. please contact the Markets Team Marketapplications@camden.gov.uk. 

Note: You will be required to provide a copy of your Public Liability insurance. 

License a forecourt

This is trading on private land where the customer is on the street whilst being served, often this is where a shop owns some pavement and is renting it to another businesses or where the shop owner is running a business distinct from their shop on their own forecourt.

Red Telephone kiosk

If you are using the telephone box only the fee of £19.70 and if you are using the telephone box and an additional space the daily charge will be £27.28

If you break the rules

The Police can take action against you if you meet in larger groups. This includes breaking up illegal gatherings and issuing fines (fixed penalty notices).

You can be given a Fixed Penalty Notice of £200 for the first offence, doubling for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400. If you hold, or are involved in holding, an illegal gathering of over 30 people, the police can issue fines of £10,000.

Note: This above advice is subject to change if Government advice is amended. You will be notified of any future change.

Attendance and registering assistants

We expect street trading licence holders to make full personal use of their licence. Failure to do so may lead to your licence being revoked.

You may leave your stall in the temporary charge of an assistant who you have registered with us; this doesn't mean the licence holder has made personal use of their licence.

Note: Licensed Street Traders shall be in personal attendance at their pitch for the majority of their trading time. The majority of the time is defined as 60% of the time the pitch is in operation on each trading day. At all other times the stall may only be operated by an assistant registered with the Council.

No street trading can take place at any time unless the licence holder or a registered assistant is present on the stall.

If a licensed trader operates more than 1 trading pitch in the borough then the 60% will be equally split between the number of sites on a pro-rata basis.

For more information, please visit our Street trading licence conditions page.

If you would like to employ or register an assistant(s), please fill in the online form below and you will be asked to supply a copy of your Employers Liability Insurance.

Note: We accept one form per assistant. The application fee per assistant is £21.82.

New Assistant application

Note: All documents must be in electronic format so they can be uploaded on the form. These are: gif, jpeg, png, pdf, bmp, or docx files. You will not be able to complete the application without providing all of the required documents.

For more information and help on the Renewal process, please refer to the Renewals Guide 2022. 

The name and contact details of the data controller:
London Borough of Camden
Judd Street
London
WC1H 9JE
020 7974 4444, 

The name and contact details of the Data Protection Officer:
Andrew Maughan, Borough Solicitor
dpo@camden.gov.uk

Purpose for processing your data:
The London Borough of Camden Markets Team is responsible for managing the Council-run street markets, which includes issuing of licences to street market traders. We will collect your personal data to process permanent, temporary and assistant licence applications/ renewals and, if required, applications for variation of licence and/ or licence succession. 

Legal basis for processing:
We may process personal and special category data necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest and in exercise of official authority vested in the controller. Our legal basis for processing is defined under Article 6(1)(e) Public task and Article 9(2)(g) Public interest of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  

Categories of Personal Data
The categories of personal data we will process are:

Name, address, date of birth, contact telephone and email, details of licensee (you) and your assistant/s (if applicable), National Insurance and identity document numbers, Public Liability Insurance and required certification details

• If applying for succession or mutual transfer, the name, address and contact telephone and email details of the nominated person. 

Categories of recipients the council has or will disclose the data to
The Council does not intend to disclose the data to any other third parties. However, we undertake general data matching or data sharing in certain areas for the prevention or detection of crime. 

We will not transfer your personal data outside the EU/EEA.

How long will we keep your information?
We will keep your personal data up to seven years in line with the council’s retention schedule.

Your data subject rights
You have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you, the right to ask us to rectify, erase or restrict processing of your data, the right to ask for data portability, the right to object to automated decision making, and if we are relying on consent the right to withdraw consent at any time.  There are some exemptions to these rights.  Please see the below websites for more information:

• London Borough of Camden 
• Information Commissioner’s Office
• To exercise these rights please use our web form

The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how the Council has handled your personal data. It would be helpful if you contacted us first at dpa@camden.gov.uk to see if we can resolve the problem. You can contact the ICO at casework@ico.org.uk / phone 0303 123 1113, or post to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Giving personal data is a statutory requirement 
We are unable to process applications and issue licences without the applicant providing personal data. 

Automated decision making or profiling
We are not using automated decision making or profiling to process your personal data.