Private parking: Great Britain drivers to get 10 minutes to leave
Under the code, charges would be scrapped on appeal for honest mistakes, with a £20 maximum on appeal for smaller slips and the overall maximum frozen at £100.
Drivers in Great Britain are to get a guaranteed five minutes to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave, under a new private parking code the government has laid in Parliament.
The Private Parking Code of Practice was laid on 20 October, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said. Parliament will now have time to scrutinise it before ministers press ahead to bring it into force as soon as possible; it gave no date.
The code will apply in England, Scotland and Wales.
Charges will be scrapped on appeal for honest mistakes, such as stopping briefly to check directions, and for situations such as a medical emergency, a breakdown or a broken ticket machine.
For smaller slip-ups, such as forgetting a parking permit, entering the wrong vehicle’s registration or forgetting to confirm it in the machine when parking, drivers will face a maximum charge of £20 on appeal.
The code also freezes the maximum parking charge at £100. Operators that do not comply risk losing access to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data, making it far harder to identify the registered owner and pursue payment.
“Being a few minutes late back to your car or typing one digit of your numberplate wrong shouldn’t end with a hefty fine landing on your doormat,” Prime Minister Andy Burnham said.
The ministry cited data showing just under 17 million private parking charges were issued in the UK in 2025.
The code follows a public consultation that ran from July to September 2025 and drew 4,526 responses. It brings in, for the first time, a fully independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board, and operators will have to report data on the charges they issue and how appeals are handled. The process of setting up the board will start once the code comes into force.
The government also promised to consult as soon as possible in 2027 on private parking debt recovery fees, including on whether to cut an existing £70 cap or scrap the fees altogether.
Car clocking
The government is also targeting car clocking, where a seller winds back a car’s odometer to disguise its true mileage. Selling a clocked car fraudulently is already illegal, but the government says adding it to the official list of banned practices will make it easier for enforcers to crack down.
The change applies to businesses selling cars to consumers and sits under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The ministry did not say where in the UK it will apply.
“By making it easier to take action against car clocking, we are protecting consumers’ hard-earned money and supporting businesses that play by the rules,” Minister for Consumer Action Kate Dearden said.
