City guidePublished 17 August 2026

London with a dog: thirty-two boroughs, not one park rule

Every London borough writes its own PSPO. A lead-optional common in one borough is lead-only in the next.

London is not one park rule. It is thirty-two boroughs, plus the City of London, plus the Royal Parks as a separate layer. Each borough writes its own Public Spaces Protection Order. A lead-optional common in one borough can be lead-only in the next. Hyde Park is not a borough park. Hampstead Heath is not Camden’s PSPO.

Borough PSPO, not a London rule

The instrument is the one GOV.UK describes for England and Wales: a lead, a lead when an officer asks, an exclusion from land, a cap on the number of dogs, fouling to be cleared. The map is local. There is no Greater London dog order.

Camden’s order applies to streets, housing estates and parks that Camden manages. It does not apply in parks Camden does not manage. The council names Hampstead Heath, Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill. Dogs must be on a lead in Hampstead Cemetery. On Camden streets the dog must be under control; an officer can require a lead. Dogs are excluded from play areas, fenced sports pitches, outdoor gyms and other listed corners.

Westminster makes fouling an offence anywhere in the city. It requires a lead at all times, or when directed, in specified areas, and excludes dogs from a small number of restricted sites.

Wandsworth requires a lead on public highways, including pavements and verges, and in certain small parks, car parks and cemetery land. Inside parks, an authorised officer can require a lead. Dogs are excluded from playgrounds, sports facilities and water. There is a maximum of four dogs, with a licence route for some walkers.

Three boroughs, three shapes. Do not carry one across the next boundary.

Three layers on one walk

First layer: the borough PSPO on the street and in the council’s own parks. Second: land someone else manages in the same postcode — the Royal Parks, the City of London Corporation’s open spaces including Hampstead Heath, a canal towpath. Camden’s own page is the warning: the borough order stops at land it does not manage. Third: the national offences that follow the dog. Dangerously out of control. Collar and tag. Fouling still fouling across a borough line.

On one outing those layers stack. The Tube is TfL. The pavement is the borough. The gate into Hyde Park is the Royal Parks. The Heath is the City of London Corporation and its byelaws, not the Camden board you passed on the way.

Commons, heaths and fenced runs

London marks off-lead space in three ways.

A fenced run is a facility with a gate. The borough publishes whether it is open. This article does not list them.

A signed area inside a park is a line on the PSPO map: lead-optional grass, a named exclusion, or a lead zone around a café. There may be no fence.

A common or a heath is a landscape, not a word that means “off lead”. Some commons are used off-lead because that borough’s order does not require a lead on that grass, subject to control and to “lead when directed”. The playground on the edge can still be an exclusion. The pavement across the common may still be a lead highway, as in Wandsworth.

Hampstead Heath is the clearest misread. It sits in Camden’s geography and is not Camden’s order. The City of London Corporation manages it under its own byelaws and a dog-walking code: keep the dog under control and able to come back when called; collar and tag; pick up; put it on a lead when you need to, and when staff or a notice require it. Formal landscapes such as Golders Hill Park, and sports pitches, require a lead. Playgrounds and fenced nature areas are not for dogs. The Corporation publishes a map. Commercial walkers need a licence.

Royal Parks are not borough parks

Hyde Park, Richmond Park and the other Royal Parks sit outside the borough PSPO. The charity publishes a single dogs policy. Dogs are welcome, under control. Some places are dog-free: children’s playgrounds, toilets, and named sites such as the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain and the Lido in Hyde Park. Some places require a lead: the Rose Garden and the edge of the Serpentine, among others. Notices on the ground can add more.

Hyde Park’s FAQ is specific. Generally, dogs do not need to be kept on a lead, but the owner must keep the dog under control. The Rose Garden and the Serpentine are among the exceptions. That is not a borough dog park, and it is not a promise that the next Royal Park works the same way.

Richmond Park is a deer park and a National Nature Reserve. From 1 May to 31 July, dogs must be kept on a lead throughout Richmond and Bushy parks, and kept away from the deer. Skylark protection zones ask for a short lead all year. Pembroke Lodge gardens are a lead area. Commercial dog walking in the Royal Parks needs a Royal Parks licence. A borough licence does not replace it.

Typical mistakes

Treating Greater London as one rule. Trusting a Google “dog park” pin. Unclipping in Hyde Park as if the whole park were a run. Taking the Camden plate onto Hampstead Heath. Letting the dog walk on a Tube escalator. Crossing a borough line and assuming the last sign still governs.

TfL

Pets can travel on TfL services free of charge when accompanied by someone with a validated Oyster card, contactless card or device, or a valid ticket. There is no dog fare to invent.

Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times. Pets are not allowed on seats. Pets must not walk on escalators; use lifts and stairs. If there are no lifts or stairs, and the dog is comfortable being carried, you may carry it on an escalator. Staff may refuse travel if the animal is unsafe, disruptive or causing inconvenience. You are responsible for its behaviour. Assistance dogs also travel free.

National Rail is a different contract: two dogs free on a lead is that baseline, not the Tube rule.

What you check

The borough’s current dog PSPO and any map, for the borough you are standing in. Whether the green is borough land, a Royal Park, or a Corporation open space. A lead in your hand even where the grass is lead-optional. Bags. The council, the Royal Parks and the City of London Corporation each publish the current order or policy.

The country page for the United Kingdom is at frihund.eu/gb. Read the sign where you stand.