Bath Council Now Charges SUVs and Vans Up to £308 Extra for Parking Permits

• Bath and North East Somerset Council now sets residents’ parking permit prices by the size of the car, with extra charges of up to £112.08 on a first permit and £308.22 on a second.
• The size charge sits on top of existing emissions-based permit prices, and on-street permit charges have also just risen by 20 percent.
• From 1 October, all-day parking at Bath’s three Park and Ride sites rises from £3 to £4 for drivers who do not catch the bus, and visitor permits are set to reach two and a half times their old price by 2028.

Bath Is Now Charging Drivers by the Square Metre, and Bigger Cars Pay the Most

For years, what you paid to park outside your own home depended on where you lived and, in some places, how much your car polluted. In Bath, it now also depends on how big your car is.

Bath and North East Somerset Council confirmed on 20 August 2026 that new parking charges would roll out across the area from 25 August, headed by size-based pricing for residents’ parking permits. Under the scheme, the smallest cars get a discount and larger cars pay a supplement. The supplement is added after the council’s existing emissions-based charge, so a big, older diesel can be hit twice.

Councillor Joel Hirst, the cabinet member responsible for transport strategy, said the aim was to encourage “smaller, safer and cleaner vehicles”, pointing to research that larger vehicles such as SUVs pose a greater risk to pedestrians and cyclists in a collision.

The changes did not arrive alone. The council’s announcement also listed a 20 percent rise in on-street parking permit charges, phased increases in visitor permit prices, new parking charges on part of Weston Road in Bath, and a higher all-day fee at the city’s Park and Ride sites from 1 October.

How the Size Charge Is Worked Out

The council calculates a car’s footprint in square metres by multiplying its length by its width. The final Traffic Regulation Order version of the scheme measures width with the wing mirrors fully extended. The earlier draft had left mirrors out, and the council changed the method so that cars with and without folding mirrors are treated the same way.

Cars are then placed into 11 bands. For a first permit:

• Up to 5 square metres: a £20 discount.
• 5.01 to 7 square metres: a £10 discount.
• 7.01 to 14 square metres: an extra charge of between £1 and £7 for every square metre, rising by £1 per square metre with each band.
• Over 14 square metres: a flat extra £112.08.

Second permits are dearer across the board and get no discount at all. The multiplier runs from £2 per square metre for the smallest cars up to £20 per square metre in band 10, with a flat £308.22 for anything above 14 square metres. The council says this reflects the pressure that households with more than one vehicle put on limited kerb space.

If the council cannot find size data for a vehicle, it will accept photos or documents showing the dimensions. If there is no evidence at all, it applies the maximum charge.

What Popular Cars Would Pay

The council published indicative figures for dozens of common models, based on length and width without mirrors. With mirrors now included in the final method, some cars will land in a higher band than these figures suggest, so treat them as a guide to the minimum.

At the small end, a Smart Fortwo would get £20 off a first permit and pay £8.40 extra on a second. A Toyota Yaris would get £10 off a first permit and pay £39.54 on a second.

Family hatchbacks and small SUVs start to pay. A Volkswagen Golf is listed at £7.20 extra for a first permit and £57.60 for a second. A Nissan Qashqai is listed at £7.90 and £63.20. A BMW X3 comes in at £17.80 and £89.00.

Larger cars pay more. A Tesla Model Y Long Range is listed at £27.36 for a first permit and £109.44 for a second. A Land Rover Discovery is listed at £41.20 and £144.20, and an Audi Q7 at £56.00 and £179.20.

Vans are hit hardest. A Ford Transit 350 and a long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz Sprinter both sit in the top band at £112.08 for a first permit and £308.22 for a second. That falls on tradespeople who live in a residents’ zone and have to park their work van outside.

Blue Badge holders who live in a residents’ parking zone are entitled to a free permit, so they are not affected by the size charge.

Residents Were Split, and Visitor Permits Were Unpopular

The council’s own consultation report, finalised on 24 July 2026, shows how divided opinion was. The statutory consultation ran for 21 days, closing on 18 June 2026, and drew 920 responses. On size-based permits, 47 percent supported the idea and 49 percent did not.

People who objected raised fairness, affordability, the effect on families, disabled people, carers and tradespeople, how cars would be measured, and how the size charge stacks on top of emissions charges. The council acknowledged those concerns but went ahead, on the basis that the scheme supports better use of kerb space and safer streets.

The visitor permit rise drew a clearer verdict. Only 31 percent supported it and 59 percent were against. Residents in permit zones buy visitor permits for carers, relatives and tradespeople who come to the house. Under the plans the council consulted on, the cost of a day’s visitor parking rises from £1 to £1.50 in 2026, £2 in 2027 and £2.50 in 2028. A 100-hour digital bundle goes from £10 to £25 over the three years.

For an older resident who relies on regular visits from family or a carer, that is a real cost. The council recognised the concern about vulnerable residents in its report, but recommended the rise go ahead as advertised to help pay for running and enforcing the zones.

The Park and Ride change split opinion almost evenly, with 41 percent in favour and 38 percent against. From 1 October, the 24-hour charge for drivers who park but do not use the bus goes from £3 to £4. The up-to-three-hour charge stays at £2, and bus users still park free.

A Valid MOT Is Set to Become a Condition of Your Permit

There is one more rule that could catch drivers out. The council’s proposals, which its July report recommended be implemented in full, only allow residents’ permits to be issued to vehicles with a valid MOT at the time of purchase or application. The council says this is to keep unsafe and possibly uninsured vehicles off local streets.

If your MOT runs out close to your permit renewal date, get the test done first. Otherwise you could find yourself unable to renew and facing a penalty charge for parking in your own street.

What Bath Drivers Should Do Now

About 9,500 permit holders live in the area covered by the council’s residents’ parking zones. If you are one of them, there are a few practical steps worth taking.

Measure your car properly. Take the length from your V5C or the manufacturer’s data, and measure width with the mirrors folded out. Multiply the two to find your band. Check the result against the council’s charging bands before your next renewal.

Look at your second permit. The biggest jumps are on second permits. If your household runs two cars and one is a large SUV or van, it can pay to put the first permit on the larger vehicle, where the charges are lower, and the second on the smaller one. Check the council’s permit terms before assuming this is allowed for your address.

Plan visitor permit purchases around the yearly price steps. The council says existing visitor permits stay valid for 12 months from the date of purchase, so a bundle bought before a rise can still be used after it.

Change your Park and Ride habit if you walk or cycle in from the car park. From 1 October, parking all day without taking the bus costs £4 rather than £3.

Check your MOT date against your permit renewal date, so a lapsed test does not stop you renewing.

Bath is not the only council raising parking income. English councils took £1.1 billion from parking in 2024-25, as Motoring Chronicle reported when Westminster made £90.6 million from parking. Drivers in London face similar pressure from road charging, with the Congestion Charge now costing commuting drivers £4,500 a year.

Sources

• Bath and North East Somerset Council, “New parking charges and size-based permits set to start”, 20 August 2026: https://newsroom.bathnes.gov.uk/news/new-parking-charges-and-size-based-permits-set-start
• Bath and North East Somerset Council, Traffic Regulation Order consultation on Parking Charges, 2026-27: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/traffic-regulation-order-consultation-parking-charges-2026-27
• Bath and North East Somerset Council, TRO consultation on Parking Charges 2026-27, Consultation Outcome Report (final, 24 July 2026): https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/001%20TRO%20consultation%20on%20Parking%20Charges%202026-27%20-%20consultation%20outcomes%20report.pdf