The councils that charge you £100 to park in your own street!

An investigation has found that the cost of resident permits is on the rise, in some cases by as much as 400%!

I’m one of the lucky ones. When I look out of my window at night, I can see my car parked right outside my house, and know that it’s not costing me a penny.

Sadly, vast numbers of motorists across the country are not so lucky, as they have to pay for the right to park their own vehicle outside their home. And it’s not like the charges they face are a pittance – many will now have to shell out £100 or more each year!

A 400% rise!

A survey by the Sunday Times has exposed the moneymaking scheme that councils are milking. 200 councils were surveyed, with only 96 replying. 57 said they had either increased their charges or extended the charging hours. Of the councils who have confirmed their new, higher charges, the average increase was a whopping 44%.

However, that’s just the average. In Woking, Surrey, a resident’s permit has jumped in price from £10 a year to £50. That’s a 400% rise!

Meanwhile, in Barnet, North London, a resident’s permit has jumped from £40 to £100 per car, a rise of 150%. Also in North London, Islington residents face shelling out £109! Areas of Cambridge have seen charges jump 85%.

The case for permits

I understand why permits are in place. The idea is to protect local residents, who may live in an area attracting lots of ‘out-of-towners’ who may want to park there. There are permit zones in the streets surrounding a number of the pubs I went to as a teenager, while some friends who live near Stratford station also have to have a permit to park.

That makes sense to me.

But if the charges keep going up, at levels far beyond the rate of inflation, then it’s not the resident who benefits at all, but the councils. Some have suggested this is little more than a stealth tax.

Milking the motorist

I’m no Jeremy Clarkson. I don’t spend my days salivating over the latest supercars, or bemoaning the ‘elf & safety’ lobbyists for having the temerity to put up speed cameras and speed bumps in order to, you know, save the odd life.

But while I used to scoff at the notion that motorists were somehow a race under attack, I’m starting to come round to that way of thinking. Petrol costs are on a seemingly unstoppable rise, hitting a new record high with alarming regularity. Insurance costs are farcical, jumping more than 40% last year.

And now, just to park your car outside your home, you may have to shell out £100 or more.

At what point will motorists declare that enough is enough?

So what do you think? Is it fair that charges are increasing so significantly? Or is the cost still relatively small, for the luxury of parking outside your own home?

Let us know your views via the comment box below.

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