A London borough is charging more than £1,000 a year for some residents’ parking permits.
Islington council charges a total of £1,073 a year for an annual permit for some older diesel vehicles, a nationwide survey of parking charges found.
Camden charges £741 for diesel vehicles with the highest emissions, while Tower Hamlets charges £497 for some cars.
It came as Barking and Dagenham council doubled the cost of some of its parking permits – and as grassroots sports venues in Hackney faced new parking charges of up to £5.70 an hour.
In addition, Waltham Forest council is looking to increase the time its residents’ parking permits are in force in central Walthamstow to tackle a feared increase in parking on residential streets near the new Soho Walthamstow theatre.
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The survey of 100 councils by Churchill Motor Insurance revealed the “steep and wildly inconsistent” costs for residents’ parking permits across the UK, with charges varying by borough.
According to the survey, residents in Manchester and Leeds pay nothing to park outside their homes.
Of the 100 councils surveyed, only seven did not have a residents’ parking scheme – or did not levy a charge.
It found that councils were increasingly using controlled parking schemes to target the most polluting vehicles by charging a premium – while giving hefty discounts to electric vehicles, regardless of whether they are “supersize” cars, which were found recently to present far greater danger to pedestrians and cyclists.
The average cost of an annual residents’ parking permit was £128.
Islington’s charges range from £162 to £823 for a petrol or hybrid vehicle, from £412 to £1,073 for diesel vehicles and £111 to £243 for electric vehicles, all depending on the size or engine or battery.
Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington's executive member for environment, air quality and transport, said: “Our emission-based parking charges are designed to encourage residents to choose cleaner, more sustainable transport options.
"We have a very robust parking permit charge policy, which means that the most polluting vehicles are more than five times more expensive to park than the least polluting.
"The vast majority of permit holders in Islington – more than 80 per cent – now own lower-emission vehicles with permit costs of £265 or less for petrol or hybrid engines, and £143 or less for fully-electric vehicles.
“These policies support our broader environmental commitments and our ambition to make Islington a greener, healthier place.
"The latest data shows that this work has contributed to an overall decrease in the borough’s emissions of 20 per cent since our 2018 baseline, and in the last 12 months we have seen a 12 per cent drop in the number of permits sold for the most-polluting vehicles, and a four per cent drop in permit purchases overall.”
Other London boroughs highlighted by the survey include Brent, where it costs £429 a year – including a £100 diesel surcharge – for some vehicles, Enfield (up to £395), Lewisham (up to £384) and Westminster (up to £371).
Churchill said that because most councils based their charges on emissions rather than vehicle size, owners of smaller, older or diesel cars “will pay far more than those who drive a large 4x4 electric car”.
There is also no consistency in the charges: Camden’s top cost tier starts at emissions over 226g of CO2 per km, whereas Brighton’s starts at 166g of CO2 per km.
Most councils also penalise families who have more than one car. Islington charges and extra £108.55 for a second permit, on top of the permit price.
London motorists could also have to pay the £15 congestion charge in central London, the £12.50-a-day Ulez (ultra low emission zone) charge and up to £4 per crossing to use the Blackwall or Silvertown tunnels.
Nicholas Mantel, head of Churchill Motor Insurance, said: “Residents parking schemes are now widespread in towns and cities across the UK.
“However, every council has taken a different approach, meaning that what might be considered a high emissions car by one council, isn’t in the next.
“Overall, residents with older and more polluting cars are typically paying far more than those with more modern cars and EVs, regardless of how much room the cars take up when parked.”
Barking and Dagenham hiked its parking permit charges on Thursday “to bring them in line with neighbouring boroughs”.
The Labour-run council has introduced an “eco tariff” on all vehicles, and ending a free permit system for vehicles with the lowest CO2 emissions.
Its higher-band permits have increased by 75 per cent (from £45 to £78.75) or 100 per cent (£51 to £102).
Waltham Forest council is consulting on extending the hours of operation of its Hoe Street controlled parking zone (CPZ).
It said: “We have recently received feedback from residents who have experienced issues with parking in the area outside of the current permit parking hours.
“Additionally, with the opening of the Soho Theatre, there may be a further increase in parking demand outside of current CPZ operating hours, particularly for those living close to the venue.”
