Hackney is London's pop-up party capital, with the most one-off event licences for its size

Bonfire Night, Christmas parties and New Year's Eve all have one thing in common: a large share of them run on a temporary event notice, the licence a venue, a field or a community hall needs to hold a one-off event with alcohol, music or late-night food. New research by 23 Paul Street has analysed the licensing records of all 310 local authority areas in England and Wales, including every London borough, to find where these one-off licences are used most.

Licensing authorities in London received 23,806 temporary event notices in the most recent year, out of 142,849 across England and Wales, around 391 a day nationally.

Westminster grants the most, Hackney the most for its size

Westminster received the most temporary event notices of any area in England and Wales, 3,495, followed in London by Hackney (2,002) and Southwark (1,618).

Measured against the number of permanently licensed premises in each borough, which shows how much of an area's nightlife runs on one-off licences rather than permanent ones, Hackney leads not just London but all 52 of the largest licensing areas in England and Wales. It received 125.8 temporary event notices for every 100 licensed premises. Southwark follows on 105.3 and Tower Hamlets on 92.0. Westminster, with the most notices in the country, records 84.5 per 100 premises because it also has by far the most permanently licensed venues.

At the other end of the larger boroughs, Newham records 19.3 per 100 premises, Ealing 43.7 and Croydon 45.4.

Every London borough, ranked by one-off licences per 100 licensed premises

1. Hackney: 2,002 notices, 125.8 per 100 premises

2. Richmond upon Thames: 921 notices, 117.8 per 100 premises

3. Southwark: 1,618 notices, 105.3 per 100 premises

4. Tower Hamlets: 1,170 notices, 92.0 per 100 premises

5. Bromley: 769 notices, 90.3 per 100 premises

6. Merton: 490 notices, 86.6 per 100 premises

7. Kingston upon Thames: 493 notices, 85.6 per 100 premises

8. Westminster: 3,495 notices, 84.5 per 100 premises

9. Kensington and Chelsea: 959 notices, 82.1 per 100 premises

10. Hammersmith and Fulham: 679 notices, 73.1 per 100 premises

11. Bexley: 481 notices, 72.4 per 100 premises

12. Lewisham: 623 notices, 71.9 per 100 premises

13. Wandsworth: 937 notices, 69.3 per 100 premises

14. Camden: 1,399 notices, 68.6 per 100 premises

15. Haringey: 733 notices, 67.1 per 100 premises

16. Greenwich: 588 notices, 62.4 per 100 premises

17. Sutton: 273 notices, 61.6 per 100 premises

18. City of London: 525 notices, 59.2 per 100 premises

19. Waltham Forest: 536 notices, 55.9 per 100 premises

20. Havering: 312 notices, 55.5 per 100 premises

21. Islington: 764 notices, 51.9 per 100 premises

22. Hounslow: 432 notices, 48.9 per 100 premises

23. Enfield: 442 notices, 48.0 per 100 premises

24. Barnet: 441 notices, 46.9 per 100 premises

25. Croydon: 609 notices, 45.4 per 100 premises

26. Ealing: 561 notices, 43.7 per 100 premises

27. Harrow: 261 notices, 42.9 per 100 premises

28. Brent: 393 notices, 40.1 per 100 premises

29. Redbridge: 257 notices, 39.4 per 100 premises

30. Hillingdon: 342 notices, 39.0 per 100 premises

31. Barking and Dagenham: 105 notices, 26.2 per 100 premises

32. Newham: 196 notices, 19.3 per 100 premises

How London compares with the rest of the country

Nationally, Hackney has the highest rate of any of the 52 largest licensing areas. Buckinghamshire follows on 117.6, then Southwark, Somerset on 103.7 and Dorset on 100.8. Blackpool, which holds more 24-hour alcohol licences than any other area in England and Wales, has the lowest rate of any large area, at 16.5 one-off notices per 100 licensed premises.

About the research

The study analysed the UK Government's alcohol and late night refreshment licensing statistics for England and Wales, which record the number of temporary event notices received by each licensing authority in the year to 31 March 2024, the most recent year published, alongside the number of premises licences in force at that date. A temporary event notice allows a licensable activity, such as the sale of alcohol, regulated entertainment or late night refreshment, to take place at a one-off event of up to 499 people for up to 168 hours without a full premises licence. The rate per 100 licensed premises divides the number of notices received by the number of premises licences in force. Comparisons of that rate are made between the 52 licensing authorities with 1,000 or more licensed premises. The study reflects notices received by licensing authorities rather than the number of events that went ahead.

The research was carried out by 23 Paul Street, a venue combining a cocktail bar with three individually designed private rooms, set within an Edwardian townhouse on the edge of the City of London.