Many drivers find it difficult to easily park their vehicles in UK car parks. Are the spaces just too small?
The most common complaint we hear from car park users is about the size of parking spaces. In short: they’re too small for our modern motors.
Despite the rising popularity of larger vehicles such as SUVs, crossovers and pick-ups, the standard parking space sizes have remained the same size since the 1970s.
Back then, when we were all driving around in Austin Allegros and Morris Marinas, it was determined that the recommended size of a parking size should be 2.4 metres wide and 4.8 metres long. This was perfect if you were the owner of a first-generation Ford Fiesta (1976-1983), for example, which measured just 1.6m by 3.6m. Your pride and joy would fit comfortably inside a typical parking space, with room to fling your doors wide open like a king without worrying about hitting the Mini Clubman parked next to you. Glory days.
The impact of demand for safer, more spacious vehicles
Fast-forward several decades and it’s no longer the same story. There is increased consumer demand for spacious, comfortable interiors, and modern vehicles are designed to accommodate advanced safety features, introducing thicker doors with impact protection and larger crumple zones. Plus, electric vehicles are often larger due to the space required for battery packs.
As such, the eighth-generation Ford Fiesta (2017-2023) now measures 1.8m by 4.1m – that’s a 30% increase in size over the original Fiesta. And that’s at the small car end of the scale. Spare a thought for BMW X5 and Range Rover drivers, whose vehicles measure 2m by 5m. If they park dead centre in a space (not easy in the first place), they’re afforded just 20cm clearance either side. Not great if you have shopping bags in one hand and a kid in the other.
One way car park operators have moved with the times is to introduce wider bays for parent and child parking (3.2m wide) and disabled users (3.6m wide). This is a welcome move (provided they’re used correctly of course), but it does not change the recommended length of bays, which remains at 4.8m. This means those 5m long SUVs will overhang the space by 20cm, and for longer pick-ups it could be as much as 50cm. And if you happen to own a Rolls Royce Phantom VIII? Probably best to stay at home.
How much of an actual problem is this? According to research shared by The Guardian, in 2024 more than 1.2m cars sold in UK were too big to fit a typical parking space. That’s 62% of all cars sold last year.
So vehicles are getting bigger – what can we do about it?
One solution is to encourage the use of smaller vehicles, and perhaps offer incentives for compact, city-friendly cars – or alternatively charge the owners of bigger vehicles more to park. Great in principle, except reversing the upward consumer trend for larger vehicles will not happen any time soon.
It’s clear that car park owners should consider increasing the size of parking bays, making them both wider and longer to accommodate larger vehicles. The British Parking Association echoes the 2.4m by 4.8m size recommendation, but stresses: “These dimensions are neither minimum nor written in tablets of stone, and may be revised to suit your particular needs, but remember that good access and wider bays aids efficient use of the parking area.”
The preferred average parking space size has now increased to 2.6 metres by 5 metres, but even that may not be big enough.
Obviously it’s not a straightforward task to re-configuring existing car parks, and larger bays would usually mean less overall spaces, but it’s highly recommended if you’re serious about improving the parking experience for your customers, employees and visitors. Not only will it be easier for users to manoeuvre in and out of parking bays, it will reduce the chances of vehicles getting accidentally bumped or scratched when on your property.
Need a helping hand?
Creative Car Park is the UK’s leading car park management company for small-to-medium businesses, and we currently manage more than 2,100 car parks for businesses just like yours.
If you would like help in managing or optimising your car parking area, we offer a range of Car Park Consultancy services that provide strategic, tailored guidance to maximise space and enhance traffic flow. If you’d like to find out more, complete the form below and one of our team will be in touch.
