Run a pop-up shop or short-term space

These rules apply in England.

Licence to occupy or short lease

The space owner will offer either a licence to occupy or a short lease. A licence gives you permission to use the space without exclusive possession. A lease gives you exclusive possession for a set period.

The title of the document does not decide which you have. A document called a licence that gives you exclusive use of the unit for a set period at a rent can be a tenancy.

The difference matters because Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 gives a business tenant a right to renew. A licence carries no such right. A short fixed-term tenancy with no renewal clause also falls outside Part II, and a landlord can exclude Part II by serving a notice before you sign.

Before you sign, get these points in writing from the owner:

• the start and end dates
• who pays business rates, and whether your fee includes them
• what insurance the owner expects you to hold
• what signs you may put up
• how either side can end the agreement early

Business rates

You pay business rates for each day you are the rateable occupier of a property on the council's rating list. Occupation must be actual, for your own benefit, exclusive to you and not too transient.

An owner who stays in occupation and keeps significant control of your part of the space remains the rateable occupier. The owner can then pass the cost on through your fee. If you are the occupier, tell the council's business rates team when you start.

Empty property relief applies only while a unit is empty, so it does not cover days you occupy it. Small Business Rate Relief can reduce or remove the bill for a unit with a low rateable value. If you already run a shop, taking a pop-up as a second property does not end relief on your main shop straight away.

Planning

If your use stays within the unit's current use class, you need no planning permission. A shop selling goods other than hot food in an existing shop unit stays within Class E(a). Class E also covers cafés and offices, so a switch between them is not a change of use. A move to a use in a different class needs planning permission or a permitted development right.

A pop-up bar or hot food takeaway sits outside every use class. Ask the council's planning team for the unit's planning history, because an earlier permission can limit opening hours or the goods sold.

Class B covers land only. It does not cover a building or its curtilage, so it does not help with a shop unit. For a building, Class D allows a temporary flexible use. Ask the council's planning team whether your unit qualifies.

Alcohol

A premises licence or a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) must cover every alcohol sale. Ask the owner first, because a unit that already holds a premises licence covering your sales needs no TEN.

You give a TEN to the council as an individual aged 18 or over. Selling alcohol without a licence or TEN is a criminal offence. If your pop-up goes beyond the TEN limits, apply for a premises licence instead.

Food

If you sell, store, prepare or handle food, you must register the business with the council covering the unit. This covers temporary premises as well as permanent shops. Register each site separately.

Insurance

You must hold employers' liability insurance as soon as you employ anyone. Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement, but a space owner will usually ask for it.

Fire safety

If you control the space for your trade, you are a responsible person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. That means you must carry out and review a fire risk assessment. Agree in writing with the owner who assesses the unit and who keeps escape routes clear.

Signs

A sign needs advertisement consent from the council unless a deemed-consent class covers it. Class 5 covers non-illuminated signs on business premises, with limits on position, height and size.

Illuminated signs fall under Class 4, and deemed consent for them does not apply in conservation areas. An A-board on the pavement needs the highway authority's consent under section 115E of the Highways Act 1980. On a street closed to vehicles it also needs advertisement consent.

Where to get help

Your council deals with most of this: planning, licensing, business rates, food registration and signs. A solicitor can confirm whether your agreement is a lease or a licence before you sign.