Do tradespeople have a parking permit problem?

Unfortunately, many people today find it difficult to book a tradesperson to provide a sure-fire fix for a plethora of potential problems and home improvements. These are jobs that will not fix themselves of course, and likewise, fixers don’t just magically appear out of nowhere either. Tradespeople have to lug sizeable vans worth of equipment from one destination to another, and this toolkit-in-transit has no earthly right to encroach on public space without paying its way. Therein lies the problem; negotiating parking and paying for it, while jobs of varying length and scope are completed is often a difficult task for both tradespeople and customers to overcome. To put the extent of the problem into perspective, you need to look at some damning research findings and statistics. In 2023, tradespeople were issued an estimated 3.5 million parking fines, costing them approximately £177 million, according to DirectLine. Research from Vanarama has found that 87% of vans don’t fit ‘traditional’ UK parking spaces, thereby increasing the likelihood that tradespeople will pick up parking fines incorrectly. Let’s read between the white lines, as it were, and assess why this seems to be such an issue, what can be done to navigate it now and what could be done to make it better in the future.

The main issues with parking for tradespeople are the double-edged nature of many permit systems across the UK, the lack of clarity around parking arrangements between customers and tradespeople, and infrastructure that is unsuitable for their vehicles. Let’s take a look at each of these in isolation. Firstly, there is the issue of parking permits. Is more or less of each of them a good thing? Well, just like housing, more of them do not necessarily help when their price is constantly increasing, pricing out tradespeople with tighter purse strings and biting into their bottom line. Take the Isle of Man, for instance, where this year saw a sixfold increase in the price of tradespeople’s parking permits.

As for the second point, all too often there is confusion amongst customers regarding whether parking should be arranged beforehand by the customer, or whether it is the tradesperson’s responsibility to account for it. Online discussions in forums such as Reddit bear this out. One user asks: “How obliged do you feel to help tradespeople with parking?” The answers say things such as: “I always clear a space on the drive for tradesmen”, another user said: “I think it is reasonable to help if you can—in this case, that might be letting them know that the parking on the street is all permitted only and where the nearest car park is.” Another user suggested that if the property is owned by a landlord, then they should make suitable parking arrangements.

Finally, assuming you have solved the other two issues, we still have the problem of parking, or the space available to do it. As mentioned earlier, vans are not getting any smaller, and neither are the majority of road vehicles (cars), for that matter. Their number as of 2023 stood at 33.5 million, according to WeBuyAnyCar, and more than half of these new vehicles are too wide for traditionally sized parking spaces, according to research.

So what can be done about this persistent parking predicament? A case study that at least attempts to solve it comes courtesy of York City Council. The picturesque city of Roman origin has more up-to-date problems than the dissolution of an empire; short supply of parking and road space, and more cars jostling for it. Part of solving this problem was to crack down on what councillors termed the abuse of parking waivers, which previously provided tradespeople with unlimited parking time—the longstanding method for residents to accommodate tradespeople in the city. However, as useful and flexible as this may sound, it is also capable of being abused. Councillors’ suspicion of some tradespeople using it for leisure resulted in the passing of the new waiver, which property owners must renew every two hours for tradespeople to continue using the space. In their defence, councillors argue that the two-hour limit renews if tradespeople move to another property and therefore another job, without costing them or the customer more money. However, defenders of the tradesperson parking plight may decry the new rules as a slap in the face for honest and excellent workers, who have the job done in no time. Nevertheless, the real reason for the new rules is the sheer lack of space and infrastructure that older cities can provide for vehicles of increasing number and size.

One way parking problems can be mitigated is through clear communication and planning from the outset. The fine details for a fixer to bear in mind can be just as important to the smooth completion of a task as negotiating payments, the nature of the job, and its timescales.