Dog walking in Hampstead Heath
Walking your dog on the Heath
When walking your dog on the Heath, please ensure you follow the guidance set out in our Code of Conduct. This includes:
- keep your dog under control at all times
- your dog must respond if you call it when it's off the lead
- keep a collar and tag on your dog
- pick up after your dog
- all dog poo should be bagged and put in a dog poo bin or taken home
- consider other visitors, especially children and picnickers
- put your dog on a lead if you need to
You can be fined if your dog isn't under control and either hurts, annoys or disturbs other Heath users; or if it damages the Heath.
You can read our full Dog Walking Code of Conduct below:
Professional and Commercial dog walking on the Heath
The application process for professional dog walking commercial licenses for 2024/25 will open soon. A licence is required to operate as a commercial business on Hampstead Heath. If you have any enquiries regarding this, please email the Hampstead Heath Team.
Note: walking dogs commercially without a licence will be an offence under Section 10.4 of City of London Open Spaces Act 2018 and could be subject to a fine.
Section 10.4 states that a person who, without reasonable excuse, carries on a specified activity without a licence granted under subsection (2), or in contravention of the terms or conditions of such a licence, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale
Professional Dog walking licence scheme FAQs
From April 2022, Professional dog walkers will need to hold a licence to operate on Hampstead Heath. There will be 70 licences issued in total for Hampstead Heath as agreed by the Management Committee.
The annual licence will be £331 for a dog walker who walks 4 or more days per week.
A fee of £199 will be charged for a dog walker who walks 3 days or less.
Once submitted your application will be reviewed within 10 business days. It may take up to 4 weeks for successful applications to be processed.
Once you have paid for your licence/s you will receive an email confirmation setting out the details of your licence. Please show the email confirmation receipt (either electronically or in paper format) to a member of City of London staff if proof of your licence is requested.
As part of the application process we would require:
- contact details
- photograph of the licence applicant/dog walkers
- a risk assessment
- Public Liability Insurance of minimum £2,000,000
- 2 customer or character references
If someone is in breach of the licensing scheme - e.g. they carry on a specified activity without a licence or in contravention of the terms or conditions of such a licence - they may receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of £80.00, with a reduction to £50.00 if the penalty is paid within 10 days. A fine will not exceed Level 2 (£500).
Yes, there is a limit of four dogs per person.
Applications can be made online when the application process for 2024/25 opens.
Please email hh-dogwalking@cityoflondon.gov.uk and a member of the Heath Team will get back to you.