Scaffolding on the pavement: what a licence involves

Published 11 August 2026

Plenty of properties across London and Surrey have no front garden, so the only place the scaffold can stand is the footpath. That is normal and it is allowed, but it is not automatic. The highway belongs to the council, and putting a structure on it needs permission.

Who applies

The scaffolding company normally applies, because the licence is tied to the structure and the insurance behind it. Ask at quote stage who is handling it, so it is not assumed by both sides and done by neither.

What the council is checking

Broadly: that pedestrians can still get past safely, that the structure is lit and guarded at night, that it does not obstruct sight lines for traffic, and that whoever put it there is insured. On a busy road you may be asked for a signed walkway under the scaffold rather than a diversion onto the carriageway.

Timings

Councils differ, so treat the licence as a lead time rather than a formality. If you have a roofer booked, get the scaffold quote away early enough that the licence is not the thing holding your trades up.

Parking suspensions

If the scaffold or the delivery lorry needs a parking bay suspended, that is a separate application to the council, again with its own notice period. It is a small job that is easy to forget until the morning of the build.

Telling your neighbours

Not a legal requirement in most cases, but worth doing. A scaffold that appears without warning across a shared frontage starts a conversation you would rather not have on day one. A short note through the door, with rough dates, avoids nearly all of it.

If the scaffold has to sit on a neighbour’s land

That is a different question again, and it needs their agreement in advance. Where the work itself affects a shared wall, you may also be into party wall territory, which is worth checking before the scaffold is booked rather than after.