UK parking rules 2026: what is in force, and the law for each
You may have heard that private parking charges are capped at £50, or that you always get 10 minutes. The government code that set the £50 was withdrawn on 7 June 2022. The 10 minutes of grace do not apply at an airport drop-off. Below are the rules we read in the law itself, each with its primary text, the section, the date it took effect, and the day we read it.
The rules, each read from its primary text
| The rule | Where it is written | When it started | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| A private parking charge must not exceed £100. You must also be allowed a grace period on top of your parking time, with no charge issued during it: 10 minutes for the common car park types in the Annex B table. In short-stay areas of 30 minutes or less, such as airport and station drop-off zones, the grace period is 0 minutes. The Code says nothing in it overrules byelaws. | BPA and IPC single Code of Practice, version 1.1 · Clause 8.2.1; clause 5.2 and its NOTE 2; Annex B, Table B.1 | Industry code for BPA and IPC members: new sites from 1 October 2024, every site by 31 December 2026 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The government's own code set charges of £50 and £70 at standalone private car parks and customer car parks in England outside London and in Wales. It was withdrawn pending a review of charge levels, and it is not in force. | GOV.UK, Private parking code of practice · Publication page, Annex C | Withdrawn 7 June 2022 (first published 7 February 2022) | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| A new consultation on the government code opened on 11 July 2025 and closed on 26 September 2025. The government had published no response by 1 October 2026. | GOV.UK, Private parking code of practice consultation · Consultation page | Status, not a rule | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 orders a government code, and it extends to England and Wales and to Scotland. That code is the one still waiting. | Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, section 12 · Section 12(4) | Sections 1 to 8, 10 and 11 from 20 May 2024 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| If you overstay a paid or free council parking place in England by 10 minutes or less, no penalty charge is payable. The rule applies in England only. | The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General (Amendment) Regulations 2015 · Regulation 4(3) of S.I. 2007/3483 as amended; regulation 1(2) | 6 April 2015 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 bans parking on the pavement in Scotland. It takes one wheel: a car counts as on the pavement if any part of one wheel is on any part of it. A council can exempt a named street by order, and signs must mark the exemption. | Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, section 50, section 51, section 53 · Section 50, section 51 and section 53 | Section 50 from 11 December 2023; section 51 and section 53 from 10 January 2022 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The same Act bans parking at a dropped kerb lowered so people can walk or cycle across. It does not cover a kerb lowered for access to a driveway or a garage. | Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, section 56, section 57 · Sections 56 and 57(2) | 11 December 2023 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The keeper rules let a company chase the registered keeper when it does not know who drove, and they extend to England and Wales only. These rules do not reach land where parking is under statutory control, and byelaws are in that list. | Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, paragraph 3 · Schedule 4, paragraph 3(1)(c), (3) and (4) | 1 October 2012 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The railway byelaws were taken out of that list, so station car parks can now use the keeper rules. Airport byelaws were left in it. | The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Definition of Relevant Land) (Amendment) Order 2025 · Made 27 November 2025 (S.I. 2025/1256) | 26 December 2025 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The dropped kerb ban in England and Wales covers a kerb lowered for people walking, for cyclists or for vehicles, and a road raised to meet the pavement. You may park outside a home if you are the occupier or have the occupier's consent, but not for money and not across a shared driveway. A delivery may take up to 20 minutes when it cannot reasonably be done another way. Stopping to let people get in or out is not parking. The rule applies only in a special enforcement area, which an order creates on the council's application. | Traffic Management Act 2004, section 86, Schedule 10 · Section 86(1), (3), (5) and (8)(b); Schedule 10, paragraphs 1 and 3 | England from 31 March 2008; Wales from 26 October 2006 | read 1 Oct 2026 |
| The operator of a designated airport may make byelaws restricting or regulating the parking of vehicles, except on roads where ordinary road traffic law applies. | Airports Act 1986, section 63 · Section 63(1) and (2)(d) | In force, current text | read 1 Oct 2026 |
We left off 4 claims we could not read in force on 1 October 2026: councils across England fining for pavement parking, higher engine idling fines, a new appeals service for private parking, and a council grace period in Wales.
Which rulebook is your letter under?
The first question on any parking letter is which of 3 rulebooks it comes under. Council land, a private car park and byelaw land each have their own route and their own dates.
- A Penalty Charge Notice comes from a council or TfL. It is a statutory penalty, and challenging it is free at every stage: the council PCN pages.
- A Parking Charge Notice comes from a private company. The appeal to the company is free, and so is the independent appeal after it: the free check names the body that hears your case and your deadline.
- Byelaw land, such as an airport road the airport's byelaws cover, sits outside the keeper rules in Schedule 4. It does not apply in Scotland at all: the Scotland guide.
Already turned down by a private operator? You never pay to appeal to POPLA, and our letter for it is free. If you want what POPLA decided about that company before you write, its full record is £20 once: see what is in an operator's record.
Nothing is guaranteed. But if you don't appeal, you can't win. This is general information about the rules, not legal advice, and no outcome is promised.