Burnham introduces stricter rules to curb 'rip-off' private parking charges

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced a new regulatory framework designed to rein in what he describes as excessive penalties from private parking operators, a move that comes after years of motorist complaints about charges that feel arbitrary and punitive. The changes grant drivers several concrete protections: a five-minute window to decide whether to park, a ten-minute grace period to leave without penalty, and a cap of £20 on appeal charges for honest mistakes like entering a wrong registration number or forgetting a parking permit. The maximum charge itself remains frozen at £100, matching the existing voluntary industry code.

The frustration driving this intervention is real and documented. One woman was pursued through the courts for a £1,906 claim after taking slightly longer than five minutes to pay at a Derby car park—a charge that was eventually abandoned. Stories like this have accumulated enough that even the AA has observed drivers paying fines they believe they don't owe, simply to avoid the expense and uncertainty of fighting back. Many motorists fear they would lose an appeal and face legal action, so they settle rather than contest.

The scale of the problem is substantial. Private parking operators issued a record 17 million tickets in the 2025-26 financial year, a seventeen percent jump from the previous twelve months. With charges reaching £100 each, the cumulative daily exposure across all drivers could exceed £4.6 billion. These are not council-run car parks or street parking; they are privately owned facilities where operators have historically wielded considerable leverage over motorists who have no easy recourse.

Under the new rules, operators who fail to comply face a significant consequence: loss of access to DVLA data, which would make it far harder to track down vehicle owners and pursue charges at all. The framework also cancels charges for circumstances beyond a driver's control—vehicle breakdowns, medical emergencies, broken ticket machines—and for understandable slip-ups like stopping briefly to check directions. Burnham framed the change plainly: "Being a few minutes late back to your car or typing one digit of your numberplate wrong shouldn't end with a hefty fine landing on your doormat."

The existing private parking industry operates under a voluntary Code of Practice introduced in 2024 by the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community. That code has not been sufficient to stem complaints. The British Parking Association told the BBC it welcomes the government's new framework but noted that many of its principles already exist in the voluntary code—a comment that underscores why regulation became necessary. Motorists wanted independent oversight, not industry self-regulation.

The motoring groups have offered cautiously positive responses, though neither is entirely satisfied. The RAC called the changes a step forward but argued they do not go far enough. The organization has been campaigning for a ban on debt recovery fees—charges added on top of the original penalty—and for replacement of the current industry-run appeals bodies with a single independent arbiter. The AA's head of roads policy, Jack Cousens, said drivers "finally have something which could offer them better protections against the worst private parking operators," acknowledging that in the past, some companies have "aggressively attacked drivers to the point where many simply pay up."

The new code will apply across England, Scotland, and Wales. The government has indicated it will consult separately on the debt recovery fee issue and on other recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority. What remains unresolved—the question of whether debt recovery charges should be banned outright, and whether appeals should be handled by an independent body rather than industry panels—will shape whether this regulation actually shifts the balance of power or merely softens its edges.