Statutory guidance

River Thames: accommodation licensing requirements

Updated 19 December 2019

Applies to England

The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the River Thames. It is unlawful for any person to install an accommodation in or over the river without a licence from the Environment Agency.

The term ‘accommodation’ means structures in, on or over the River Thames, including:

• mooring piles
• landing stages
• slipways
• bank protection works
• structural encroachments

Any accommodation can affect the public right of access over public river space. It may also affect:

• normal river flow
• flooding
• the fishery and ecology of the river

When making decisions on applications, the Environment Agency will consider the following requirements. Each application is assessed on an individual basis, with the local environment and individual requirements taken into account.

These requirements only relate to accommodation licensing. You may need other permissions such as an environmental permit or planning permission. It is your responsibility to make sure you have all necessary consents.

General requirements

Access to the public river

You should only install or keep accommodations in or on the river:

• when reasonably necessary for landing or mooring purposes
• to facilitate access to and use of the river as a public waterway

As any structure affects the public river space, accommodations must not be bigger than is necessary for these purposes.

We will not usually accept proposals for works of a non-navigational nature in the public river. Examples of this include:

• culverting creeks
• installing balconies over the river
• cantilevering patios over the river

The Environment Agency may make exceptions if we judge that there is an overriding need. Any works would need to mitigate their negative effects and compensate for any harm.

You should keep structures clear of furniture and decorative items.

Ecological benefits

The Environment Agency will assess the ecological and flood defence effects of applications. If we consider the impact to be unacceptable, we may:

• refuse the application on these grounds
• include mitigation or compensatory measures in the licence conditions
• include environmental enhancements in the licence conditions

It can be preferable to install a structure if mooring directly to a bank requires:

• bank protection works
• dredging shallows
• removing marginal vegetation

The Environment Agency may allow structures to be bigger than is necessary for river access if:

• we identify fishery and environmental benefits
• there is no unacceptable impact on normal river flow and the floodplain
• there is no unacceptable impact on navigation

Where possible, structures over the river should minimise shading of the river bed. This allows reeds and other marginal vegetation to colonise bankside shallows.

Removal of structures

Licences can normally be revoked with seven days’ notice. Accommodations are essentially temporary structures. They have no security of private tenure in the public river.

The Environment Agency will not accept proposals for concrete structures that cannot be easily removed from the river. Structures should be decked and allow the water to pass underneath.

Existing solid stages will not be re-licensed on change of ownership. Licences for solid stages will be phased out by natural wastage. The stages may be removed where there are ecological or flood defence benefits.

Private works

Moorings at private domestic frontages and leisure plots should only be used for the private boat belonging to the property owner or occupier. This will prevent congestion or over-development.

Accommodations in the river off private frontages should:

• only be used for reasonable access to and from the river
• allow mooring parallel with the general bankline
• allow mooring as close to the bank as practical
• be away from neighbouring boundaries

You must not block any neighbour’s clear navigable access. Where possible, you should not block neighbours’ sightlines to an angle greater than 45 degrees from the bankline ahead. If the bankline is already divided into small plots, we may allow the whole frontage to be used for a mooring.

At private frontages, you should not place the following over the river:

• garden ornaments
• furniture
• fencing
• shelters
• trellis or screening
• planting

Boatyards

The Environment Agency values the services that boatyards provide to the boating public.

We will usually allow upgrades to existing boatyard moorings that do not extend the area of the river that is taken up.

We will not usually allow extensions to existing commercial mooring areas. We may agree to these if there is a benefit to the river. This can include environmental enhancements or public landing or mooring areas. Such proposals must not have a negative effect on:

• navigation
• normal river flow
• flood defence

If your boatyard stops providing boatyard services to river traffic, you should remove your structures.

Riverside hospitality

The Environment Agency encourages riverside hotels, restaurants and so on to provide facilities for the boating public. We will permit structures for temporary mooring if they meet all other requirements.

We will not usually allow you to place tables, chairs or other garden furniture on such structures. We may give permission if:

• we judge the structure to be the smallest size reasonably necessary
• there is space where tables and chairs could be safely positioned

In such cases, we will mark the licence plan to show:

• the area where furniture is permitted
• the public landing area
• any walkway to be kept clear

You must also mark the area approved for tables and chairs on the structure itself.

We will apply a full commercial valuation of any marked area.