{"id":1683,"date":"2013-07-31T12:06:59","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T16:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myparkingpermit.com\/blog\/?p=1683"},"modified":"2026-03-25T08:53:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T12:53:47","slug":"uk-council-uses-residential-parking-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myparkingpermit.com/blog\/uk-council-uses-residential-parking-revenue\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Court rules against council using residential parking to finance borough’s deficit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residential parking permits usually carry a small fee to cover administrative costs<\/a>. Some cities also use the net revenue for improvements to parks, schools etc. However, in the UK, one area was recently judged as having gone too far.<\/p>\n

UK judge rules against parking to raise revenue<\/h2>\n

Barnet Council in north London was pulled up by Mrs. Justice Lang for jacking up costs of residential parking permits and visitor vouchers to cover a financial deficit<\/a>. The High Court decision could set precedent for other councils who have increased residential permits\u2019 costs.<\/p>\n

One in ten Barnet residents live in Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs). These zones were created in 2001 to stop subway commuters from parking<\/a> in Barnet\u2019s streets. In 2011, the council raised the cost of residential parking permits by 150% – from \u00a340 to \u00a3100 and quadrupled the cost of visitor vouchers from \u00a31 to \u00a34.<\/p>\n

Barnet residents win case against council<\/h2>\n

This led to Barnet residents taking legal action<\/a> against the council. David Attfield, a solicitor and a Barnet CPZ resident, spearheaded the campaign. \u201cThe increase to \u00a3100 was steep enough, but what really enraged people was the \u00a34 flat charge for visitors. It meant it was more expensive for a friend to drop in on you at your home in outer London than to park outside Harrods,\u201d Attfield says.<\/p>\n

\"Barnet

Barnet residents deliver papers to High Court in 2011. Image by David Attfield<\/p><\/div>\n

The cash from these payments by CPZ residents was used to run other transport services like concessionary bus passes and road repairs. \u201cBarnet Council has been caught picking the pockets of CPZ residents. Despite making up less than 10 per cent of the borough, they were being made to contribute disproportionately to a range of services such as road repairs and the provision of bus passes across the borough,\u201d Attfield said after the judgment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile local authorities are allowed to use any surplus they happen to make from parking to boost their transport budgets, the court ruled they cannot deliberately set the cost of permits to make a profit,\u201d Telegraph.co.uk reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barnet Council could lose over \u00a3750,000 in revenue as a result of the ruling. Although Barnet Council leader Richard Cornelius agrees that the hike in charges had been implemented \u201ctoo abruptly and rather charmlessly\u201d, he says the council will appeal the decision.<\/p>\n

In contrast, residential parking permits<\/a> in the U.S. are priced considerably lower. While Philadelphia charges $35<\/a>, San Francisco asks for $109<\/a>. California law prohibits cities<\/a> from charging more for permits than what it costs to run the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residential parking permits usually carry a small fee to cover administrative costs. Some cities also use the net revenue for improvements to parks, schools etc. However, in the UK, one area was recently judged as having gone too far. UK judge rules against parking to raise revenue Barnet Council in north London was pulled up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[78,206,77,79],"class_list":["post-1683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parking","tag-barnet","tag-remzem","tag-residential-parking-premits","tag-uk"],"yoast_head":"\nUK Court rules against council using residential parking to finance borough's deficit \u2022<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barnet residents fight against council for increasing the price of residential parking permits solely for financing borough's deficit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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