Busking licence (England and Wales)

What this covers

You may need a busking licence or permit from the council before busking in that area. Find out the council's rules on busking and apply online.

It applies in England and Wales — but not uniformly within them, because no single national statute governs it. Other UK nations run their own regimes — check the equivalent for the nation you trade in.

Why you need it

Where this licence exists, the power to require it sits in London Local Authorities Act 2000 — but that instrument does not reach the whole of the area this licence is tagged for. Elsewhere the requirement, if there is one, comes from council byelaws or a local Act rather than a national statute. See the note above for where the line falls.

We have not yet extracted duties, penalties or exemptions for this Act into the graph, so there is nothing more we can add beyond the source text.

Who issues it

Your local council runs this, and outside the area the instrument above reaches it runs it under its own byelaws or a local Act rather than a national statute. That means requirements vary more between authorities than they do for a licence Parliament defined for the whole country — what one council requires, its neighbour may not, and some may not license it at all.

Where to apply

Our guidance on this

Everything below is written out in full elsewhere on Guvnor — this page points at it rather than repeating it.

Licences that often go with this one

Businesses in the same activities usually need one or more of these too.

Duty, penalty and exemption labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the enabling instrument, not the instrument itself. Fees, forms and conditions are set by the issuing authority — always check the linked source.

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