Street trading fees review

To keep Islington’s street markets competitive, and continue to enable the day-to-day servicing of our markets for repairs and maintenance, energy supply, waste management, enforcement and business promotion, we proposed to raise revenue by increasing street trading fees. This was the first time street trading fees had been reviewed since 2014. The council consulted on fee rises for all traders as well as introducing some new administration charges and adopted a new charging schedule following consultation as per the project updates below.

Why we are raising our fees

• Energy: costs have gone up significantly since the last time the council reviewed fees for street trading in 2014, with energy costs now significantly higher.
• Staffing: although wages at the council have risen at a rate below inflation, staff costs are still much higher than in 2014 across all teams that work on our markets, including, street trading, waste, compliance and highways.
• Repairs, infrastructure and maintenance: inflation means that costs of materials for infrastructure repairs and maintenance are also higher than in 2014.
• General improvements to markets: we want to deliver more events, better marketing and promotion and improvements to storage facilities.

These increased charges aren't going to be used for anything else within the council, or, for example, as another form of tax, but instead will be used solely to cover the costs of running an effective and inclusive street trading service.

About street trading

The council has a statutory (legal) responsibility to license anyone trading within seven metres of any public highway. This includes market stalls, kiosks or other trading units, such as food trailers. Licensing traders helps to:

• regulate the condition and health and safety of all traders
• protect our residents from unscrupulous sellers
• support markets as diverse community hubs
• provide inclusive and affordable workspaces for residents
• add vitality to our local economies

Our proposal

The proposal comprises two parts:

1. Our fee increase proposal for traders in all wards and in all markets will bring charges back in line with the costs of running the service and improving Islington’s offer to potential new traders whilst continuing to offer the most cost effective street trading opportunities of any inner London borough.
2. New administration charges are also proposed to include license variation requests, replacement stall cards, and panel referrals, alongside increases in other administration charges, that will enable the service to cover the cost of administering these services and create a more efficient service for traders.

You can find further details on the proposal, including the proposed fee increases and administration charges, via the Documents widget on the right.