Apply for a highways permit or licence

Roads and pavements should be kept clear and safe as much as possible. Sometimes work and events mean a highway may need to be closed or partially closed. This requires a licence.

Some applications can be done online and for others you will need to request a form and post it back to us.

The highways licence application process changed on 1 September. Read about the changes and the new process.

If your licence request involves a road under the Kent Lane Rental Scheme, we will advise you of any additional cost.

View all current highways fees and charges.

Before you apply

Before you apply for a licence, you can check the street or address details:

• FindMyStreet shows every street in England and Wales that’s held in the National Street Gazetteer. It will tell you where a street is, what its official name is, and the maintenance responsibility of that street. The data is created and maintained by local authorities, collected, and managed centrally by GeoPlace.
• FindMyAddress allows you to search for the official address, UPRN and location of every property in England, Scotland and Wales. The data is created and maintained by local authorities, collected and managed centrally by GeoPlace and published by Ordnance Survey as AddressBase®.

If you have any questions before you apply please call us on 03000 41 81 81.

You can view details of all current and planned permits on one.network.

Apply online

Street works and highway licences via StarGo

All street works licences require the company, business or applicant to hold public liability insurance (a minimum of £5 million or above) before registering to make an application.

• Cranes and mobile working platforms
• Hoarding or site fencing on the highway
• Materials on the highway
• Scaffold on the highway
• Skip(s) on the highway
• Tables and chairs on the highway

Read the full Terms and Conditions for each licence.

Street lighting licences and requests

• Disconnection request
• Request for belisha beacon bagging up of zebra crossings

Other licences and requests

• Filming on the highway
• Kent Permit scheme
• Tourist sign (brown sign)

Request a form to apply

• A-boards on the highway
• Apparatus in the highway
• Attachments to street lights
• Banners, cables, decorative lighting or bunting over the highway
• Cultivation or landscaping of the highway
• Dropped kerbs
• Maintaining apparatus in the highway
• Sewer connections
• Road closures
• Traffic signals temporary

To request an application form for these services, email highwaylicences@kent.gov.uk.

We are currently unable to accept postal applications or payments by cheque. Continue to submit your application by email and we will contact you to advise how to pay.

We are working to bring online applications to as many of our forms as possible.

Apply through your district council

• Events on the highway
• White vehicle access marking lines (also known as 'dog bones').