Private firms issued a record 4.3 million parking tickets in three months, government data shows

Private parking companies issued a record 4.3 million parking charges between April and June 2025, a 24% increase on the same period a year earlier, government data shows. The rise pushed the daily average of tickets to nearly 48,000, a level that campaigners and motoring groups say highlights problems in the regulation of the sector.

Analysis of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) disclosure requests shows the tickets were issued by private operators on land such as shopping centres, leisure sites and motorway service areas; the figures do not include council-run car parks. Each notice can carry a maximum charge of £100, meaning the tickets could theoretically represent nearly £4.8 million a day in charges if every penalty were enforced at full value.

The DVLA data covered the number of owner records requested by companies pursuing alleged infringements. In the three months to the end of June, 184 parking management companies requested keeper details. Market leader ParkingEye was the most active, purchasing 668,000 records. The DVLA charges £2.50 for each record and says the fee only covers the cost of providing the information.

Industry groups and motorists’ organisations said the figures underline longstanding complaints about private parking practices including unclear signage, complex payment machines and aggressive debt-collection techniques. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said the statistics strengthen the case for regulatory change and raised concerns about the scale of records disclosure and the profitability of private parking management.

"Not all motorists are blameless, but what we don't understand is how this scale of keeper data release can be needed unless something is badly awry in the business of parking management," Gooding said. He added that the volumes of tickets help explain private equity interest in the sector.

The surge in tickets comes as the government has delayed implementation of a long-promised code of conduct for private parking. A bill that would have cut the cap on most parking charges to £50, introduced a revised appeals process and banned aggressive language on penalty notices received royal assent in March 2019 but was subsequently withdrawn in June 2022 after legal challenges from firms in the sector, and government work on a replacement code has been slower than some consumer groups had expected. A government consultation on a new code was due to close on Sept. 5 but has been extended by three weeks.

Industry bodies have taken steps to set standards. In June 2024 the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community published a joint code of practice that included requirements on signage, a single set of rules for private-land operators and an "appeals charter." Motoring groups criticised that code for not including a cap on charges or removing debt recovery fees.

A British Parking Association spokesperson said the BPA welcomed the government's consultation and described the proposals as pragmatic, adding that "99.6%" of the nearly 40 million daily parking visits do not result in a charge. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was approached for comment.