Hackney Council's 'no fixed abode' market licenses help homeless secure housing and income
A trial of 'no fixed abode' licenses for market traders has successfully led to two individuals being housed and establishing their own income streams, demonstrating a tangible impact on homelessness in the borough.
The initiative, discussed at a recent Skills, Place and Economy Scrutiny Commission meeting, was implemented as part of Hackney's broader Markets, Shopfronts and Street Trading Strategy 2024-2029. The 'no fixed abode' licenses were implemented as a trial in Kingsland Market during the summer. The license was registered at the council's office to overcome challenges in issuing the license, and no fee was charged. This process also served as a platform to connect individuals with other services and business development support.
Dan O'Sullivan, Head of Service for Markets, Shopfronts and Street Trading, detailed the success of the trial, which was initially focused on Kingsland Market, an area historically experiencing illegal street trading. While some participants moved on for various reasons, the core success lies in the two individuals who have now secured housing and are trading legally. The council's role in this process was through the 'no fixed abode' license initiative, which provided a platform to connect individuals with services that could assist them.
The 'no fixed abode' license process provided a platform to signpost and engage with other services that could come in when those people were then trading. And then we could involve them in some of the business development stuff that we're doing alongside supporting them with some of the other issues they may face.
A challenge identified with the 'no fixed abode' license trial was that it became a lot more labour intensive from an officer perspective. And there's a certain skill set that's also required to engage with many of our residents that find themselves in those situations.
The council is addressing this by looking at how we can include other services at the start point as opposed to introducing them at a later point and also have them, have people signposted to us. So we need to, there's some internal pieces of work that we need to work on.
Councillor Rachel Kiesu-Gifu, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economies, Skills, High Streets and Markets, emphasised the council's commitment to community wealth building, stating that the council's role is to convene, enable, and connect, helping traders to organise, scale, employ local people, and keep more of the value they create circulating locally.
The council is considering how to maximise that piece of work
and believes it will probably be something that will evolve into the next strategy as well, because it, I think it really becomes part of a much broader piece of work across council.
The information does not specify if it will be expanded to other markets.
The success of this 'no fixed abode' license scheme highlights a creative and compassionate approach to tackling homelessness, integrating support services with economic opportunities within the community.
Public reports pack Wednesday 14-Oct-2026 19.00 Skills Place and Economy Scrutiny Commission