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Can I Trade My Catering Trailer From My Own Driveway?

by Natalie
(Kent uk)

Teal compact catering van with an open side serving hatch parked on a UK residential driveway

Teal compact catering van with an open side serving hatch parked on a UK residential driveway

Hi
I would like to open up my trailer on my drive, it’s private property is this allowed ? I’m in Kent

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Aug 11, 2026
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by: MobCater

This one catches a lot of people out, Natalie, because owning the land is only half the picture. Private property doesn't automatically mean you can trade from it, and a catering trailer parked on a residential drive brings in two completely separate sets of rules.

The first is planning. Running a food trailer from a house, with customers coming and going, cooking smells and a bit of extra traffic, can count as a material change of use in the eyes of your local council. A genuine one-off or something very occasional usually isn't a problem, but regular trading from a residential drive is exactly the sort of thing a planning department will want a word about. The honest answer is that it depends how often you trade and how much it affects the neighbours, so a quick call to your district or borough council's planning team in Kent before you spend a penny is time well spent.

The second is street trading. A street trading licence covers roads, pavements and places the public can walk onto, so trading on your own enclosed drive normally sits outside that. The catch is where your customers stand. If they end up queuing on the pavement or stopping on the road, you can run into highways and obstruction issues even though your trailer never left your property.

Whatever you decide, you still have to register as a food business with your council at least 28 days before you trade, and that registration is tied to the address you operate from. It's worth checking your deeds too, because some homes have covenants that ban running a business from the property, and neighbours complaining about noise or odours can bring environmental health round under nuisance rules.

In practice, most people who ask me this end up using the drive to store and prep, then trading from a proper pitch or event where the licensing is clear cut. It saves a lot of awkward conversations with the council and the folk next door. If your trailer runs on propane, remember any gas work on it needs a Gas Safe registered engineer wherever you park up.

Hope that helps

David

Disclaimer: This is general advice for UK mobile catering. Licensing and planning rules vary between councils, so always check with your local authority before you start trading.

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