Unfair price of parking permit (Council)

arthurk

Hello,

I moved in to my new flat this month and even though I knew I'll have to pay a lot for parking permit I was shocked how unfair the charge is. In my borough a street permit costs £50 per year, parking on council car park £100 (including parkings in walking distance from the one I use), but not on the one that's under the block of flats I live in. This one costs £800 :shocked:. The thing is me or any other resident have no choice, we can't just get a street permit as there are no bays on our street, we can't get it on other street or other council run car park as we would need to proof that live there by providing a bill + V5C on the address that is allowed on that street or near the parking.

The block of flats is next to the train station and as far as I know no one can just pay for the permit (which would explain why is it so high) as we had to proof we live here. In my opinion council is charging residents with no other choice an unfair price. The question is what can I do about it ? As far as I know, parking charges can't be used to generate money. Thanks for reading and I'll appriciate any advice.

patman99

Is the block of flats and car park owned by the Council ?.
This is important to know. If it is a private block and the carpark is part of the same development and therefore owned by the block, then you may not have to pay to park there.

arthurk

It's mixed. Parts are for the development and rest is council. Unfortunately my flat wasn't purchased with a parking space.

The_Deep

Unfair? How do you mean? What is fair?

If you want to rent a garage in Reading that is what it will cost, you will probably have to walk a few minutes to your house, and their may be a waiting list.

tykesi

arthurk wrote: »

The question is what can I do about it ? .

Pay £800 if you want to park your car under the building?

Or risk many many fines (if council) which I would imagine will cost you a lot more than £800 per year!

arthurk

What I meant is that it's unfair that is 8x more than any other council car park and they all in centre of the town as well as this one.

The_Deep

it's unfair that is 8x more than any other council car park

No it isn't

Renting a Council Garage

Related Information
The Council has a number of garages across Reading and in Woodley which are available for rent, subject to availability.
Weekly Rent

We have three different rent bands for garages: Higher, Middle and Lower. These bands reflect the demand for, and quality of, the garages at that site. Weekly charges from 1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013 are:
HigherMiddleLowerRBC Tenants £13.44£9.89£8.64Disabled RBC Tenants £12.44£8.84£7.64Other Borough Residents £16.13£11.84£10.37Disabled Borough Residents £14.93£10.61£9.17Please Note: These rates vary because Reading Borough Council housing tenants are exempt from VAT. We also give a £1.00 discount to disabled people, as long as the appropriate disabled badge is produced at sign up.
The Council has the right to change the rent at any time, but generally we review our charges once a year. If we are going to change the rent we will give tenants at least two week's notice.

bazster

The difference is that on the street or in a public car park they are neither renting nor guaranteeing you a space. Whether they should be charging anything at all for parking on a street which your taxes have already paid to construct and maintain is another issue.

If you don't like the rent they are charging you for a parking space I think your only option is to complain to your councillors.

arthurk

Not sure why a garage is used as an example here. As far as I know these spaces (plenty of them free) are only available if you live under the address. And it's not like I have a choice to park somewhere else. Just want to challenge them on why is is to expensive. I'm fine paying for it but I want to know why is it so much and can something be done to lower it. I guess writing to the councilor is a good suggestion. Thanks.