The True Cost of Parking Across the UK is Revealed

New Interactive Map Shows Council Parking Price Hotspots

A new interactive map from Looking4.com reveals the true cost of parking across the UK. More than 20 councils at the largest cities in the UK were asked to provide data for the map, ranging from the cheapest rates for an hour’s parking to the most expensive, as well as the highest average income per space.

The data was obtained by international airport parking price comparison site Looking4.com via a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.In total, 21 councils returned 2016 information to some or all the questions sent by Looking4.com. Data provided by the City of London was for on-street parking only.

Number of paid parking spaces

158K

paid parking spaces

in the United Kingdom

Number of free parking spaces

20,960

free parking spaces

in the United Kingdom

Number of free eco friendly parking spaces

eco friendly spaces

in the United Kingdom

Information provided by UK councils through the Freedom of Information Act

Lowest cost for 1 hour

£0.20

per hour

in the United Kingdom

Cheapest cities: Newcastle and Belfast

Highest cost for 1 hour

£4.80

per hour

in the United Kingdom

Most expensive city: London (City)

Annual income from parking meters

£121Mil

per year

in the United Kingdom

Annual income from parking penalties

£46Mil

per year

in the United Kingdom

Martin Mansell, Managing Director at Looking4.com, said: “Drivers deserve to know how their city stacks up against other council charges across the UK. While London’s charges and income levels are perhaps to be expected, it may come as a surprise to find Liverpool at the top of the table for lead-in hourly parking charges – especially as they are twice the price of near-neighbour Manchester.“

“Drivers deserve to know how their city stacks up against other council charges across the UK"

"Seeing the data broken down like this, we hope to educate drivers and encourage them to do some research before forking out for over-the-top parking charges. We’ve created this interactive map to help them avoid paying extortionate prices and hope to shed some light on what options they have.”

Looking4.com is an international airport parking comparison brand and is the world’s leading comparison site for low cost airport parking, servicing countries including the UK, France, Italy, Germany, South Africa, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.