What car free and low car developments are, who can apply for residents' and visitors' parking permits in car free and low car developments, why developments are car free or low car.
What is a car free or low car development
A car free or low car development is a residential development where you cannot usually get residents' or visitors' parking permits.
Car free and low car developments are all in the Central Parking Zone (CPZ) and resident parking scheme (RPS) areas, and built or converted since:
- 13 October 2005 (CPZ)
- 1 August 2018 (RPS areas)
Car free and low car developments include:
- developments with off street parking, even if parking has not been provided for every property
- houses converted into flats
- houses in multiple occupation (HMO)
- HMOs converted back into flats
- a separate property built on the land of an existing home
- an industrial or commercial property converted to residential use under permitted development (building work that doesn't require planning permission, such as a small extension)
- properties where the garage has been converted into living space or a driveway has been removed, so you need to park on the street
- sheltered housing schemes, supported living schemes and student accommodation
Residents of car free and low car developments who can apply for parking permits
If you live in a car free or low car development, you can still apply for residents' or visitors' parking permits if there has been no change to your:
- flat, but additional flats have been built in your building
- property, but a new property has been built within its grounds
If you're a blue badge holder, you can still park in a residents' parking area without a permit in:
- permit holders only bays
- shared use bays
- pay and display bays
If you get care from friends, family or a medical professional, you can still apply for an Essential Visitors Permit (EVP) or a Medical Permit to allow them to park.
Check if a property is a car free or low car housing development
Before signing a tenancy or leasehold agreement or buying a property in the Central Parking Zone (CPZ) or a residents' parking scheme (RPS) area, check if the property is eligible for residents' or visitors' parking permits.
You can:
- look at our map, which shows affected developments in the CPZ and each RPS area (you'll need to zoom in)
- check the spreadsheet designated low car developments list (95 KB) to see all properties classified as a low car or car free development as of 1 August 2018
We update the list every 14 days.
Why developments are car free or low car
We're restricting the number of parking permits to help:
- manage on street parking
- mitigate the impact of climate change by reducing car ownership
- reduce the impact of traffic on local centres
- reduce the impact of new homes by encouraging people to walk, cycle and use public transport
- improve the movement of traffic around the city to reduce congestion, air pollution and noise
How the car free or low car status is applied
Properties are classified as car free or low car when they're granted planning permission.
Car free or low car status can only be applied to properties granted planning permission from:
- 13 October 2005 in the Central Parking Zone
- 1 August 2018 in residents' parking scheme areas
As part of the planning decision notice, an advice is applied stating that the development is car free or low car.
The advice instructs us not to issue residents' or visitors' parking permits through MiPermit. This is the system we use to manage permits.