Is your business paying the price for being based in one of the UK’s parking hot spots?
If you’ve ever circled city streets for what feels like hours looking for an available parking spot, you are not alone. Across the UK, city centres are facing a growing parking crisis — and it’s hitting motorists and businesses alike.
We know that demand for parking in busy, built-up areas has always outstripped supply. As populations rise and more areas are pedestrianised or redeveloped, the number of public parking spaces has decreased. The end result? Frustrated drivers park wherever they can, and this is reflected in the recent increase in Penalty Charges Notices (PCNs) issued by city councils.
Which councils are the busiest when it comes to parking fines? Publicly available DVLA KADOE data reveals the UK parking hot spots where the most PCNs were issued in the 12 months prior to June 2025*.
The top 10 UK councils that issue the most parking fines (outside London)
We have excluded London, due to the number of different councils in operation, but it’s safe to say that the UK capital comes out on top overall. Here are the councils outside of London that issued the most fines.
- Birmingham City Council – 704,314
- Bristol City Council – 357,921
- Manchester City Council – 323,110
- Bradford Metropolitan District Council – 191,181
- Cardiff City & County Council – 180,456
- Brighton and Hove City Council – 168,284
- Sheffield City Council – 143,118
- Liverpool City Council – 140,273
- Oxfordshire County Council – 128,914
- Southampton City Council – 112,969
The data also shows that the number of PCNs issued has risen sharply in some key areas: Oxfordshire is up 143%, Leeds is up 157%, and Cardiff is up 168%.
What does this mean for private car park owners?
As public parking fines climb across UK cities, private landowners are finding themselves caught up in the fallout. With fewer public spaces available and fines on the rise, fed-up motorists are looking for alternatives to council car parks and on-street parking.
If your business owns a car park offering free parking for customers and visitors, there’s a risk it will be used – or rather abused – by motorists looking for somewhere, anywhere to park. This higher demand will likely lead to more instances of unauthorised parking, meaning there will be less available spaces for your genuine users.
If you’re unprepared for this influx, it could negatively impact your footfall, revenue and online reputation.
Creative Car Park is here to help
If you’ve noticed a rise of unauthorised and nuisance parking issues in your area, we can help. At Creative Car Park we offer a fully-funded ANPR camera solution that uses intelligent camera technology to prevent parking abuse, without any upfront or ongoing costs.
We also offer a Pay to Park solution which could generate significant revenue in busy parking hot spots.
We already help thousands of businesses manage and monetise their car parks and now we want to help you. Get in touch today using the form below and let’s talk parking.
* Data is based based on the number of DVLA vehicle keeper data requests via the KADOE service, relating to parking and related offences, in the 12 month period to June 2025.
