Running an event in London: the licences, the lead times and the ticketing
In London the paperwork does not sit in one place: each of the 32 boroughs and the City of London runs its own licensing team, and the deadline that binds you is theirs. A Temporary Event Notice costs £21, has to be given at least ten clear working days before the event and caps you at 499 people at any one time, staff included; anything larger or more regular means a premises licence, whose application notice must stay on display at the venue for 28 days. Futura Tickets is the ticketing platform you run the on-sale on while those clocks are ticking.
What London asks for before you sell the first ticket
Temporary Event Notice (TEN)
At least 10 clear working days before the event (late TEN: 5 working days)
The short route for a one-off. It is a notice rather than an application, and it goes to the licensing team of the borough where the event takes place. A TEN covers a maximum of 168 hours and up to 499 people at any one time — staff and crew count towards that figure, not only ticket holders — and the fee is £21. The standard notice must be given at least ten clear working days in advance; a late TEN can be given as little as five working days ahead. There is no single London counter: each of the 32 boroughs and the City of London processes its own.
Licensing team of the borough where the event takes place — each of the 32 boroughs and the City of London separately · Source: GOV.UK — Temporary Events Notice
Premises licence (Licensing Act 2003)
The application notice must be displayed at the premises for 28 days from the day after submission
Once you are past the 499-person ceiling, or the activity is regular rather than a one-off, the route is a premises licence from the borough council. The step that catches promoters out is the advertising: the notice of application has to be displayed at the premises for 28 days, counted from the day after the application is submitted. The fee depends on the band the venue falls into and runs from £100 to £1,905. Build that display period into the on-sale plan before you announce dates.
For larger events the borough convenes a Safety Advisory Group and sits down with the police, the fire service and the ambulance service. It is worth being precise about what it is: the SAG has no statutory basis and it cannot approve or prohibit an event, and the legal responsibility for safety remains with you as the organiser. No statutory deadline is published for going to one, so the date depends on the borough's own cycle — which is an argument for asking early rather than late.
Noise is the borough's territory, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Where the council is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, it serves an abatement notice, which can require the noise to stop, restrict it to particular times or levels, and require works to be carried out. Breaching an abatement notice is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine where the noise comes from business premises. Sound limits and curfews are therefore an operational constraint on the night, not a formality on paper.
Capacity and safety conditions attached to the premises licence
Capacity is not a number you choose: in London it travels as a condition of the venue's premises licence, granted and reviewed by the borough — and those conditions tighten after incidents. The O2 Academy Brixton, capacity 4,921, was allowed to reopen in April 2024 only after accepting new licence conditions, including reinforced doors, a new security contractor and revised protocols. If you are promoting into a venue, the conditions currently in force on its licence are part of your production plan, and worth reading before you set a capacity on sale.
Borough council, as the licensing authority that sets and reviews the conditions · Source: Wikipedia — O2 Academy Brixton
The London market, at its real scale
London runs every tier at once: The O2 Arena at 20,000, OVO Arena Wembley at 12,500, the Great Hall at Alexandra Palace at 10,250 — a venue run by a trust whose trustee is the London Borough of Haringey — the Copper Box Arena at 7,500 and the O2 Academy Brixton at 4,921. Alongside them sit Eventim Apollo, the Roundhouse, Troxy, Drumsheds and fabric, whose capacities we leave out on purpose because we could not verify them in a primary source. Outdoors, the calendar compresses into a few summer weeks: BST Hyde Park takes Hyde Park in late June and July at around 65,000 a day, and All Points East holds two August weekends in Victoria Park at 40,000. That umbrella keeps absorbing the rest — Field Day sat under All Points East until 2025, and Outbreak Festival London came under it in August 2026 — while Mighty Hoopla brings pop to Brockwell Park. The consequence is a diary problem more than a marketing one: with 28 days of statutory advertising on a premises licence, and a TEN that only stretches to 499 people, a London summer is decided on paper long before the summer arrives.
The venues, festivals and promoters named in this section are public references for the London market, with capacities and dates taken from open sources, and they appear here only to describe the size and the calendar of the city. None of them is a client, partner or reference of Futura Tickets, and we have no commercial relationship with any of them. Futura Tickets has no office, team or clients in London.
Questions promoters ask in London
How long before my event do I need to submit a Temporary Event Notice in London?+
A standard TEN has to be given to the borough's licensing team at least ten clear working days before the event; a late TEN can be given as little as five working days ahead. It costs £21, covers a maximum of 168 hours and caps attendance at 499 people at any one time. London has no central counter: each of the 32 boroughs and the City of London handles its own.
Do I need a premises licence or a TEN for a one-off club night in Hackney?+
It turns on scale and frequency, and Hackney applies the same national test as every other borough. A one-off for up to 499 people including staff, running no more than 168 hours, can go ahead on a Temporary Event Notice at £21. Beyond that ceiling, or for anything regular, you need a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003, whose application notice must be displayed at the premises for 28 days.
How much does it cost to hire a London park for a ticketed music event?+
We are not going to invent a figure. Park hire is set by each borough's parks and events team and published borough by borough; we could not verify those fees or lead times in a primary source, so they are not on this page. What is verified is the licensing side: £21 for a Temporary Event Notice, and £100 to £1,905 for a premises licence application depending on the venue's band.
What happens if my event goes over 499 people on a TEN?+
The 499 figure is a ceiling on people present at any one time, and it counts staff as well as ticket holders. Go past it and the TEN no longer covers what you are doing: the route is a premises licence from the borough under the Licensing Act 2003, with its 28-day display of the application notice and a fee of £100 to £1,905. Decide capacity before the on-sale, not after.
Who sits on the Safety Advisory Group, and can they cancel my event?+
A Safety Advisory Group is coordinated by the borough itself and brings together the police, the fire service and the ambulance service. It is not statutory and it cannot approve or prohibit your event: the legal responsibility stays with you as the organiser. That is precisely why its comments are worth building into your plan rather than treating the meeting as a rubber stamp.
Can the council stop my event over noise?+
The borough can serve an abatement notice where it is satisfied a statutory nuisance exists. That notice can order the noise to stop, limit it to certain times or levels, and require works to be carried out. Breaching it is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine when the noise comes from business premises. Sound limits and curfews belong in your operational plan, not in the small print.
Compiled from public sources on 15 August 2026 and published as general guidance only: this is not legal advice. Futura Tickets has no office, team or clients in London. Fees, lead times and licensing conditions change, and each of the 32 boroughs and the City of London applies them through its own licensing team, so confirm the current position with the relevant borough and on GOV.UK before you file anything.
The licensing clock is running. So is the on-sale.
The borough deals with the licence; you deal with the tickets. Futura Tickets gives you a ticket shop under your own brand, digital tickets with access control on the door, and the full buyer data exported and yours rather than locked inside a marketplace. We will take you through the platform with your actual event on the screen in half an hour, no commitment — remotely, because we have no office in London and will not pretend otherwise.