Permit Costs

London's parking permit postcode lottery: what 25 boroughs charge in 2026

Generated on . Figures refresh when we rebuild the site from verified council data.

Park a car in Islington's top emissions band outside your own home and the council charges £854.90 a year for a resident's permit, nearly 22 times the flat £39.50 every car pays in Redbridge. Same city, same right to park on your own street.

We lined up the official residents' permit prices for 25 of London's 33 local authorities. Every figure on this page comes from the council's own website, and every row links back to it so you can check. The other eight authorities aren't in the comparison yet; we name them below.

Key figures

  • Dearest band: £854.90 a year in Islington
  • Lowest top price: £39.50 a year in Redbridge (flat fee for every car)
  • Cheapest band anywhere: £15.00 in Barking & Dagenham (its lowest-emission band)
  • Median across the 25 boroughs: £64.00 for the cheapest band, £235.00 for the dearest
  • Diesel: 13 of 25 boroughs charge diesel drivers more
  • Coverage: 25 of 33 London authorities verified
Range chart of the cheapest and dearest 12-month first residents' parking permit in 25 verified London boroughs, sorted by dearest band. Islington tops the chart at £854.90, nearly 22 times Redbridge's flat £39.50, the lowest top price. Full figures are in the borough table below.
Each line runs from a borough's cheapest band (hollow dot) to its dearest band (filled dot); a single dot is a flat fee. Diesel surcharges are not included. Full figures are in the borough table. Download the chart (SVG): free to republish unaltered with the credit “Chart: ParkingPermitCosts.co.uk” and a link to this page.

The spread

Four boroughs charge more than £500 a year for their dearest band: Islington, Hackney, Lambeth and Camden. At the other end, Redbridge's top price is £39.50.

It isn't only the most polluting cars that pay more. Islington's cheapest permit, £168.75, costs more than the dearest permit in nine of the other 24 verified boroughs: Bexley, Richmond upon Thames, Bromley, Hounslow, Sutton, Kingston upon Thames, Harrow, Havering and Redbridge.

Across all 25, the median cheapest band is £64.00 and the median dearest band is £235.00. In at least half of the boroughs we checked, even the most expensive permit costs £235.00 or less.

Four boroughs charge one flat fee whatever you drive: Wandsworth (£205.00), Kingston upon Thames (£123.10), Havering (£45.00) and Redbridge (£39.50).

The cheapest band we found anywhere is £15.00 in Barking & Dagenham. That is its lowest-emission band, not what every driver there pays: the same council's dearest band is £280.00.

Quick answers

How much is a residents' parking permit in London?

It depends on your borough and, in most boroughs, on your car. Across the 25 London boroughs we've verified, a 12-month first permit ranges from £15.00 to £854.90. The median dearest band is £235.00.

Which London borough has the most expensive parking permit?

Of the 25 boroughs we've verified, Islington has the dearest band at £854.90 a year (effective 2 January 2026). We haven't verified the other eight authorities yet, so we can't rule out one of them charging more.

Which London borough has the cheapest parking permit?

Of the 25 boroughs we've verified, if you drive a high-emission car it's Redbridge: every car pays a flat £39.50. The lowest single band is Barking & Dagenham's £15.00, which applies to its lowest-emission band only.

Every verified borough

Sorted by dearest band. "Cheapest band" and "Dearest band" are the lowest and highest 12-month first-permit prices on each council's own tariff table. We left out Blue Badge, motorbike and diesel-only rows; diesel surcharges are in the next section. A last-checked date is when we last saw the price on the council's page, not when it took effect.

Residents' first parking permit, 12 months, 25 verified London boroughs
Borough Cheapest band Dearest band How it's priced Date Official source
Islington £168.75 £854.90 Emissions-based Effective 2 January 2026 Council page
Hackney £53.00 £720.00 Emissions-based Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Lambeth £135.96 £682.63 Emissions-based Effective 14 April 2025 Council page
Camden £146.80 £590.70 Emissions-based Last checked 7 October 2026 Council page
Westminster £40.00 £353.10 Emissions-based Effective 2 March 2026 Council page
Croydon £39.00 £342.00 Emissions-based Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Brent £25.00 £341.00 Emissions-based Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Ealing £50.00 £340.00 Emissions-based Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Hammersmith & Fulham £125.00 £340.00 Emissions-based Effective 3 February 2025 Council page
Greenwich £64.00 £318.00 Emissions-based Last checked 1 September 2026 Council page
Southwark £99.90 £285.90 Fuel-type Effective 1 April 2026 Council page
Barking & Dagenham £15.00 £280.00 Emissions-based Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Waltham Forest £85.00 £235.00 Emissions-based Last checked 2 September 2026 Council page
Newham £33.00 £220.00 Emissions-based Effective 30 June 2025 Council page
Wandsworth £205.00 £205.00 Flat fee Effective 3 June 2024 Council page
Merton £95.00 £195.00 Zone-based Effective 21 April 2026 Council page
Bexley £135.00 £168.00 Zone-based Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Richmond upon Thames £68.50 £153.80 Zone-based Last checked 1 September 2026 Council page
Bromley £80.00 £150.00 Zone-based Last checked 1 September 2026 Council page
Hounslow £60.00 £140.00 Emissions-based Last checked 27 August 2026 Council page
Sutton £56.00 £134.00 Emissions-based Effective 1 June 2026 Council page
Kingston upon Thames £123.10 £123.10 Flat fee Effective 11 April 2025 Council page
Harrow £45.00 £115.00 Emissions-based Last checked 26 August 2026 Council page
Havering £45.00 £45.00 Flat fee Last checked 3 September 2026 Council page
Redbridge £39.50 £39.50 Flat fee Last checked 1 September 2026 Council page

The eight authorities not in this comparison

Barnet, City of London, Enfield, Haringey, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets.

They're not in the table or the chart. Missing doesn't mean cheap or expensive. Any of them could sit anywhere on the chart, including above Islington. Their council pages will appear in our council directory once they're verified.

How we did it

We started from London's 33 local authorities (the 32 boroughs plus the City of London) and included a borough only if we hold a residents' permit tariff checked against the council's own website, with a date and a link to the source.

For each borough we took the 12-month price of a first residents' permit for a car and recorded the cheapest and dearest band. Emissions-based councils price by CO₂ band, zone-based councils by zone, and flat-fee councils charge one price. Blue Badge and concession rows, motorbike permits and diesel-only rows are left out of the bands, and diesel surcharges are listed separately. Visitor permits, second permits and 3- or 6-month permits aren't included.

Dates: 15 boroughs last checked between 26 August 2026 and 7 October 2026; 10 carry a verified effective-from date between 3 June 2024 and 1 June 2026. We never present a last-checked date as an effective-from date.

This is a snapshot, not a trend. We hold one verified tariff per council, so we make no year-on-year claims. Read how we verify prices, or see the UK-wide picture in our Cost Index.

For journalists

Quotable lines

  • Park a car in Islington's top emissions band outside your own home and the council charges £854.90 a year for a resident's permit, nearly 22 times the flat £39.50 every car pays in Redbridge. (Of 25 verified London boroughs.)
  • Islington's cheapest permit, £168.75, costs more than the dearest permit in nine of the other 24 verified London boroughs.
  • Four of 25 verified London boroughs charge more than £500 a year for their dearest band: Islington, Hackney, Lambeth and Camden.
  • 13 of 25 verified London boroughs charge diesel drivers extra; the biggest add-on is Hackney's £350.00 a year, though not every diesel pays it.
  • Eight London authorities (Barnet, City of London, Enfield, Haringey, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets) aren't in the comparison yet because their tariffs haven't been verified.

Chart

Download the chart (SVG). You're free to republish it unaltered with the credit “Chart: ParkingPermitCosts.co.uk” and a link to this page. The prices are each council's own published figures, so please attribute them to the council.

Data as of

15 boroughs last checked between 26 August 2026 and 7 October 2026; 10 carry a verified effective-from date between 3 June 2024 and 1 June 2026.

Why there's no spreadsheet

Only eight of the 25 councils publish their tariffs on terms that clearly allow reuse; for the rest, reuse is restricted or not yet confirmed. So we don't offer a data download. You're welcome to quote the figures with credit to the council, and every row in the table links to the council's own page.

Contact

Press enquiries and corrections: chris@Reedo.co.uk.

Sources

Each council's own residents' permit tariff page or charges notice, as used in the table and chart.

  1. Barking & Dagenham: https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/parking/parking-permits/parking-permit-prices
  2. Bexley: https://www.bexley.gov.uk/services/parking-transport-and-streets/parking-permits/residents-parking-permits
  3. Brent: https://www.brent.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/parking/parking-permits/parking-permit-costs
  4. Bromley: https://www.bromley.gov.uk/homepage/195/parking-permit-information-and-charges
  5. Camden: https://www.camden.gov.uk/resident-parking-permit-charges
  6. Croydon: https://www.croydon.gov.uk/parking/parking-permits/resident-parking-permits/how-much-it-costs
  7. Ealing: https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201198/residents_permits/2044/resident_parking_permit_prices
  8. Greenwich: https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/parking-transport-and-streets/apply-controlled-parking-zone-cpz-parking-permit/check-resident
  9. Hackney: https://www.hackney.gov.uk/parking-streets-and-transport/parking-permits-and-vouchers/parking-permit-charges
  10. Hammersmith & Fulham: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/parking/parking-permits/residents-parking-permit/permit-costs
  11. Harrow: https://www.harrow.gov.uk/parking-permits/resident-parking-permits/3
  12. Havering: https://www.havering.gov.uk/parking-permits
  13. Hounslow: https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/parking-permits/resident-parking-permits
  14. Islington: https://www.islington.gov.uk/parking/parking-permits/parking-permit-costs-table
  15. Kingston upon Thames: https://www.kingston.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-05/2025_ON_STREET_Notice_of_Variation_0.pdf
  16. Lambeth: https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/parking/emission-based-parking-charges/resident-parking-charges
  17. Merton: https://www.merton.gov.uk/streets-parking-transport/parking/charges/permits
  18. Newham: https://www.newham.gov.uk/parking-permits/apply-resident-parking-permit/2
  19. Redbridge: https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/parking/resident-parking-permit
  20. Richmond upon Thames: https://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/parking/parking_permits/resident_parking_permit/resident_parking_permit_costs
  21. Southwark: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/parking-streets-and-transport/parking/parking-permits/street-permit
  22. Sutton: https://www.sutton.gov.uk/streets-transport-and-parking/parking/parking-permits/parking-permit-fees
  23. Waltham Forest: https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/parking-permits-and-suspensions/resident-parking-permits
  24. Wandsworth: https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/parking/parking-permits/resident-parking-permits/resident-parking-permit-prices/
  25. Westminster: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/wcc-parking-related-fees-charges-from-2-march-2026.pdf