Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Emissions-based parking permits

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is moving from a resident parking permit structure with seven price bands to one which is more directly related to the CO2 emissions of the vehicle.


The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is moving from a resident parking permit structure with seven price bands to one which is more directly related to the CO2 emissions of the vehicle. This type of pricing for residents’ parking permits would be a first for the UK. By the time the new charges come into effect, 1 April 2021, every resident living on a public road will be within 200 metres of their nearest electric vehicle charging point. In this way, the parking offered by the borough would become fairer and greener.

The challenge

Residents have found the current seven band charging structure for residents’ permit complicated so the council wanted to simplify it. The movement from vehicles from a higher band to a lower band and the move away from diesel vehicles was also not as quick as the council had hoped for. The council also wished to raise awareness of the imminent introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and air quality issues.

The solution

The new charging structure means that residents would see a direct benefit for every gram of CO2 that they can avoid when choosing a vehicle and would also help to raise residents’ awareness of their current vehicle’s official CO2 rating. It would give a strong incentive to residents to choose ultra-low emission vehicles, such as an electric vehicle, potentially saving up to £224 (petrol) to £272 (diesel) a year by switching to an electric equivalent of their current car.

The impact (including cost savings/income generated if applicable)

The cost of making changes to the resident parking permit system to accommodate the changes is £47,250. The current residents’ parking permit system does not record a vehicle’s exact CO2 g/km but just the band that a vehicle is in. This makes it difficult to make accurate forecasts of the financial impact of the changes. Officers’ best estimate is that the CO2 element of the proposal might generate an additional £285k. In addition, officers estimate that the increase in the diesel surcharge will increase permit income by around £20k, as residents switch from diesel vehicles which would attract the surcharge to one which does not in preparation for the ULEZ being extended to the borough in October 2021. The reduction in the price of the combined motorcycle permit is estimated to result in a loss of income of £37k. The potential net effect of these changes would result in an increase in income of £268k.

How is the new approach being sustained?

The resident parking permit charges will be reviewed every year as part of the Council's annual review of fees and charges to ensure that they continue to support our transport policy objectives as the composition of the resident vehicle fleet evolves.

Lessons learned

The new permit system will come into effect on 1 April 2021.

Contact

Email [email protected] 

Links to relevant documents

KD report