Drivers are being caught out by hefty price rises to park their cars, as councils across England impose parking surcharges on petrol and diesel vehicles.
An estimated one in five councils now add clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permits to deter polluting vehicles.
East Sussex and Bath and North East Somerset councils are the latest to have introduced the system this spring, while two-thirds of London boroughs now charge vehicles according to fuel type. The levies are in addition to low-emission zone penalties levied by some cities on older vehicles.
Unlike clean air zones, the parking surcharges – which can triple the cost of a tariff – are not routinely flagged on street signs and parking notices and many motorists are unaware of them until they come to pay on a parking app.
Councils say the policy is necessary to tackle air pollution and encourage drivers to switch to greener modes of transport. However, it has been criticised by motoring organisations, which say the lack of street signs and unpredictable charging criteria leave drivers in the dark.
Some councils surcharge only diesel vehicles. Others exempt vehicles compliant with the EU’s Euro 6 standard, while many calculate liability according to CO2 emissions or engine size, leading to a dozen or more price bands for the same parking slot.
In many London boroughs, Euro 6-compliant vehicles, which do not have to pay to enter the capital’s ultra-low emissions zone, will be liable for an emissions levy when they park. Drivers will not know how much they will be charged until they reach the checkout stage of the parking app.
According to the AA, the surcharges are a stealth tax that disproportionately affects poorer drivers and could harm struggling town centres.
“A ‘charge’ reasonably covers the cost of providing a service, plus some profit. Anything above that is a ‘tax’, according to evidence submitted to parliament,” said a spokesperson. “Tying emissions to the cost of parking is cash-guzzling by councils.”
Residents and workers in affected areas say they are being unfairly penalised, with some boroughs charging up to 10 times more than others for parking permits. In Lambeth, the cost of annual permits has soared by up to 400% since 2023. The price hike includes day permits for key workers, including teachers and doctors, who must now pay up to £1,000 a year to park for work. The surcharges for permits and on-demand visitor parking are divided into 13 different bands based on vehicles’ CO2 emissions, with an additional levy for diesel.
Will Freeman, a local resident, says the cost of a permit for his Euro 6-compliant diesel car rose by more than a third this year, to £795, after nearly doubling in 2023. In neighbouring Bromley, the same permit costs £150. “We purchased our car in 2018 based on that year’s permit price plus a reasonable annual increase,” he says. “It’s now impossible to predict what it will be in the coming years as the goalposts keep moving with no transition period. We only use the car occasionally for long-distance trips out of the city and can’t afford to replace it or buy a house with a driveway, where we could park for free.”
Lambeth said the latest price increases due to start next week were reported in the local paper and on its website, and residents were contacted by email. Surcharges affecting pay-as-you-go drivers are not mentioned on parking notices in streets and car parks.
In Westminster, a clean-air policy introduced last year encompasses electric vehicles, which are charged an additional parking levy according to battery size. The fees are to reflect the carbon footprint during construction and the wear and tear of the extra weight on roads.
The council said the surcharging policy was made clear on signs in parking areas and the revenue raised was spent on highway and environmental improvements.
Emissions surcharges for temporary visitor parking have been made possible by councils’ increasing promotion of apps as a payment method. The apps use the vehicle’s registration number to collect its engine size and emissions status via the DVLA inquiry service and the resulting levy is added to the parking tariff at checkout. Most apps also add a convenience fee of up to 20p. Drivers in parking areas with ticket machines can avoid the extra charges.
The Commons transport committee has previously questioned the lawfulness of increasing parking charges for reasons unrelated to the rental of the space. It concluded that councils could offer discounts for cleaner vehicles, but increasing standard charges for other vehicles amounted to a tax.
A government spokesperson said: “Our guidance states that parking charges should be reasonable and balance the needs of residents, local businesses, and others coming into the area.
“Local authorities are responsible for setting charges and making sure costs and restrictions are clear for drivers. They are also best placed to determine the local measures needed to achieve legal air quality limits.”
