At the very least 5 UK councils have imposed restrictions on automobiles over 5 metres in size, successfully banning them from customary automobile parks – and 20 widespread fashions at the moment are affected
Huge automobiles like the brand new Kia EV9 are banned from some automobile parks as they’re larger than areas (Picture: jetcityimage through Getty Photographs)
A number of councils all through the UK have launched prohibitions on sure automobiles from parking of their automobile parks – just because they’re far too massive.
At the very least 5 councils have explicitly declared that automobiles exceeding 5 metres (roughly 16.4 ft) in size are successfully barred from customary council-operated automobile parks – and a brand new up to date 2026 record exhibits at the very least 20 automobiles bust this size.
For the reason that typical UK parking area measures solely 4.8 metres lengthy, something past 5 metres is actually “in danger” of receiving a penalty for protruding over the white traces in a number of council districts.
The councils presently imposing this coverage are Wokingham, South Hams, Broadland, South Norfolk, and West Devon.
Ought to your automobile lengthen past the white line of a bay, you face receiving a Penalty Cost Discover (PCN) for “failing to park inside a marked bay.” Consultants say plenty of “extraordinary” luxurious and household automobiles now match into this bracket.
Wokingham Council mentioned: “We’ve got a restrict on measurement of car and weight of car allowed to make use of the automobile parks these had been launched at totally different dates. Since June 2023, all motor automobiles whose most size doesn’t exceed 5,00 metres and general peak exceeds 2.10 metres and whose gross weight doesn’t exceed 3050 kilogrammes, apart from entry.”
Between 2017 and 2024, Wokingham documented 153 circumstances of automobiles violating the “size rule”. While some native authorities are prohibiting lengthy automobiles, others are adopting the “Parisian method” by merely imposing increased prices on them.
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Final yr, Parisians voted to help a considerable enhance in parking charges for SUVs within the French capital, tripling them for automobiles weighing 1.6 tonnes or extra to €18 (£15.55) an hour in central Paris.
Cardiff Council grew to become the primary main UK metropolis to approve proposals to impose increased parking allow prices for “outsized” automobiles. They’re notably focusing on automobiles exceeding 2,400kg (or 2,000kg for non-electrics), contending they occupy extra space and trigger better street deterioration.
The Cardiff determination follows a public session through which two-thirds (66%) of individuals indicated they supported bigger automobiles paying extra for permits. Dan De’Ath, the cupboard member for transport, said that SUVs had been “a lot bigger than your common automobile, they produce much more put on and tear on our roads, however essentially in the event you hit a toddler whereas driving a heavy SUV the probabilities of that little one dying are grossly inflated”.
He said: “We do not suppose it is unreasonable to ask folks driving these sorts of automobiles to pay a little bit bit extra for street put on and the additional area they take up. We’re not speaking about SUV-shaped automobiles, we’re speaking about very heavy American-style automobiles. It is not about banning issues, it is about gently encouraging behaviour change.”
A number of London boroughs have additionally shifted in direction of “emission and size-based” parking, the place the bodily dimensions of the automobile decide the allow price. In response to knowledge from a 2024 Freedom of Info (FOI) request by Autocar, 91.8 per cent of the 287 UK native authorities that responded indicated they don’t have any intentions to enlarge their parking bays.
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Elly Baker, the chair of the Transport Committee on the London Meeting, is amongst these demanding better motion be taken. “London’s restricted street area wasn’t designed for the monster automobiles we at the moment are seeing bought,” she informed BBC London.
“SUVs are clogging up our road area, making parking tough, and the elevated bonnet peak and weight enhance the danger of significant harm or loss of life in a collision. We must be putting limits on the dimensions of regular automobiles, and exploring elevated prices the place acceptable.”
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