You need a licence from the council to place or store anything on a public carriageway or pavement.
If you are a supplier or contractor supplying a skip, scaffolding or hoarding, you are responsible for obtaining the relevant licence.
You can only apply for a licence if you are a supplier or contractor. Homeowners may only apply for a license in conjunction with the supplier or contractor.
If you are a householder, you should ensure your supplier or contractor has the appropriate license, insurance and accreditation, but may not apply for a license yourself.
You will need a license for the following items, even if they only partially encroach on the highway or pavement:
- Skips
- Scaffolding
- Hoardings
- Building materials
If you place skips, scaffolding, hoardings or building materials on private property with no encroachment onto the pavement or public highway, you will not need permission from the council.
If the site of your application is within a Resident's Parking Zone or a controlled parking bay you must have an approved parking suspension before completing this application.
If you need to renew a licence issued after 7 September 2023 you can now renew your licence online
Get ready to apply
Before starting this application, you'll need to get together everything you need to apply:
- The proposed location of the skip, scaffold, hoardings or building materials
- A credit or debit card to pay for the license
- A site plan
- The dimensions of any scaffolding or hoardings (in metres), and the approximate amount of material (in kgs)
- Permission from Parking Services, if the proposed location currently has parking restrictions (such as a parking bay, double yellow lines, resident's parking zone). You can apply for a parking bay suspension on our website.
- Current public liability insurance cover, with a £5 million indemnity limit
- Check where our resident's parking zones are
Document uploads
As part of the application, you'll need to upload a copy, photograph, scan or screenshot of each of the following documents:
- A site plan
- A copy of your current public liability insurance certificate with a £5 million indemnity limit.
You can use any of these file formats for your uploads: jpg, pdf, png, doc, docx
Next steps
Urgent applications take 2 days to process. All other applications can take up to 5 days to process. Applications will not be processed where an applicant has failed to successfully complete the online payment at the end of the form (for example, where the browser window is closed before payment has been made).
If we need any further information, we will contact you.
Further administration fees will be charged for payment/document chases (£12.84 per chase) and non-compliant inspections (£58.85 per inspection). Please note that all charges are administration charges and are non-refundable, irrespective of whether a licence is granted or not.