Across Bath & North East Somerset, there are a number of resident parking schemes, with parking restrictions in place. If you live within a restricted parking zone, you may need to apply for a Residents Parking Permit. Use this page to check your eligibility and the cost of the permit, find out how to apply, and how to use and manage your permit.
Check your eligibility
You can apply for a Residents Parking Permit if you live within a residents parking zone. View our Policy for Allocation of Parking Permits in Controlled Zones, or select a topic below, for more information on common eligibility issues.
If you are moving into a new property within a residents parking zone, you can only apply for your parking permit once you have moved and live in the property at least four nights a week. If you are a potential tenant, purchaser, or resident, we can give you advice on your eligibility for any type of parking permit, if this will be an important factor in your decision to move. Contact us at parking@bathnes.gov.uk or 01225 477133 and we will do our best to help you.
New developments and new builds and properties that have been redeveloped within existing residents’ parking zones are not generally entitled to parking permits. This includes properties which may have been subject to a change in use, for example from business use to residential use and/or where planning permission may have been required.
If you are a potential tenant, purchaser, resident or developer, we strongly advise that you contact us for advice on your eligibility for any type of permit. You can email us at parking@bathnes.gov.uk or call on 01225 477133
View our Policy for Allocation of Parking Permits in Controlled Zones.
Bath Central Zone and Zone 6 resident permit holders can park free of charge in Charlotte Street Car Park overnight, between 5.30pm and 10am daily.
You may not be able to apply for a permit, because other people at your property have already taken the available parking permits, or your household has more vehicles than your allocated maximum number of permits, or other restrictions that apply. Please find more information within 'If you live in a new development or redeveloped property.
We recognise that residents may wish for their visitors to park a vehicle in the zone while they are visiting. Residents Permit holders can buy either digital or paper permits (where paper permits are available). The total amount of parking and available allocation may vary, depending on the residents parking zone you are applying for. View our page on Visitor Parking Permits for more information about eligibility, allocation, duration and cost, and where and how you can apply.
Eligibility for resident parking permits within all zones implemented after 2019 will be offset by the availability of any off-street parking at the property.
View our On-street parking permits terms and conditions page for more information.
Check your vehicle
From January 2022, the basis of our charging system for Residents Parking Permits has changed. Select a topic below to learn about these changes, and how they may affect the cost of your permit.
Residents Parking Permits are vehicle-specific. We now base our permit charges on the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the vehicle registered against your permit, or engine capacity where emission data is missing or not available. The higher the engine emissions, the more the vehicle affects air quality. Therefore the higher charges aim to reduce the use of more polluting vehicles to secure the safer movement of pedestrian traffic on the highway by reducing the public health risks posed to pedestrians by air pollution.
We are classifying vehicle emissions in line with the DVLA Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) classifications (1st April 2017 classification bands).
View the background to this basis for parking permit charging in our online support material from our Spring 2021 and Autumn 2021 public consultations.
If your vehicle was registered before 2001, or if your vehicle’s CO2 emissions data is missing, charges are at a standard level, based on engine capacity. This matches the approach of DVLA Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).
Resident Parking Permit charges for all diesel vehicles cost 25% more. This is due to the higher relative Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions of your vehicle, which will have a greater impact on air quality. As a council, we are legally obliged to monitor air quality, and have an Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) in place for places where this exceeds safe levels.
To know how much you'll need to pay, you can check your vehicle’s emissions rating or engine capacity, free of charge, online.
Residents can pre-register up to four vehicles when they purchase a permit. MiPermit will calculate the cost of your permit automatically, based on the most polluting vehicle you add to the permit. See our Parking Permit Terms and Conditions for details and a full breakdown of costs for first and second permits.
Check the cost
Residents Parking Permits charges are vehicle-specific and are based on the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of your vehicle. If your vehicle was registered before 2001 or if your vehicle’s CO2 emissions data is missing, charges are based on engine capacity.
To find out the cost of a permit, you can check your vehicle's emissions rating or engine capacity online.
Select a topic below to view the annual and monthly charges.
The table below shows the annual charges for emissions-based Residents Parking Permits.
You can purchase a maximum of two permits per property, except in the central zone, where you can only purchase one.
Three-month and six-month duration permits are charged pro rata, at the annual charge rate
| Non-diesel vehicle permits | Diesel vehicle permits | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permit | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd |
| VED band (g CO2 per km) | ||||
| 0 | £50 | £80 | £62.50 | £100 |
| 1 to 130 | £100 | £160 | £125 | £200 |
| 131 to 150 | £105 | £168 | £131.25 | £210 |
| 151 to 170 | £110 | £176 | £137.50 | £220 |
| 171 to 190 | £115 | £184 | £143.75 | £230 |
| 191 to 225 | £120 | £192 | £150 | £240 |
| 226 to 255 | £125 | £200 | £156.25 | £250 |
| Over 255 | £130 | £208 | £162.50 | £260 |
| Pre-2001 engine capacity (cc) | ||||
| 0 to 1550 | £125 | £200 | £156.25 | £250 |
| 1551 to 1950 | £150 | £240 | £187.50 | £300 |
| 1951 to 2950 | £175 | £280 | £218.75 | £350 |
| Over 2950 | £200 | £320 | £250 | £400 |
The table below shows the monthly charges for emissions-based Residents Parking Permits.
You can purchase a maximum of two permits per property, except in the central zone, where you can only purchase one.
Monthly costs include a small additional surcharge to cover the increased transaction charges.
| Non-diesel vehicle permits | Diesel vehicle permits | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permit | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd |
| VED band (g CO2 per km) | ||||
| 0 | £4.79 | £7.29 | £5.83 | £8.95 |
| 1 to 130 | £8.95 | £13.95 | £11.04 | £17.29 |
| 131 to 150 | £9.37 | £14.62 | £11.56 | £18.12 |
| 151 to 170 | £9.79 | £15.29 | £12.08 | £18.95 |
| 171 to 190 | £10.20 | £15.95 | £12.60 | £19.79 |
| 191 to 225 | £10.62 | £16.62 | £13.12 | £20.62 |
| 226 to 255 | £11.04 | £17.29 | £13.64 | £21.45 |
| Over 255 | £11.45 | £17.95 | £14.16 | £22.29 |
| Pre-2001 engine capacity (cc) | ||||
| 0 to 1550 | £11.04 | £17.29 | £13.64 | £21.45 |
| 1551 to 1950 | £13.12 | £20.62 | £16.25 | £25.62 |
| 1951 to 2950 | £15.20 | £23.95 | £18.85 | £29.79 |
| Over 2950 | £17.29 | £27.29 | £21.45 | £33.95 |
If you are a Blue Badge holder living within an RPZ, you are entitled to a free 12-month residents' permit for your vehicle for that zone only.
This will allow you to leave your vehicle legitimately parked at home in a resident parking bay or dual use bay (resident parking/on-street pay and display bays) located within your specific zone, whilst you travel in a different vehicle with your Blue Badge.
To benefit from this, you need to contact Parking Services for assistance either by email at parking@bathnes.gov.uk, or calling 01225 47 71 33. If you change your vehicle, you need to contact Parking Services through the same email address or phone number so we can update your permit.
Before you apply
You will need a valid Council Tax reference number to apply for a permit. If you are not liable for Council Tax at your property, please contact us by email at parking@bathnes.gov.uk or call us on 01225 477133
How to apply
You can buy permits in durations of 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, through our online permit management service, MiPermit.
You may also want to apply for Visitor Parking Permits, for people who visit you at home.
How to use and manage your permit
Select a topic below, to find out more about common parking permit usage issues.
View our On-street Parking Permit Terms and Conditions for full details of how we will manage all of our on street parking permits. This includes the following aspects of parking control and permit use:
- Permit eligibility
- Where you can and cannot park
- Operational hours for Residents Parking Zones
- Permit entitlement for each zone
- Permit costs and implications for vehicle changes if your residents parking permit was purchased before 6 January 2022, when emission based charges apply from
To avoid getting a parking fine, you should take care to know the following limitations of your Residents Parking Permit, and your responsibilities when using it:
- Your permit does not allow you to park in other residential parking zones.
- You can't use your permit to stay longer in time-limited bays, or to park free of charge in Pay & Display only areas.
- You must also obey all other parking regulations, such as yellow lines.
- It is your responsibility to ensure that you check all signs and road markings before you leave your parked vehicle.
Single yellow lines
Most single yellow lines are not individually signed in Bath as this is a national restriction with no requirement to display signs in individual streets.
Where not explicitly signed, the operational hours of a single yellow line will be the same as the Zone the location falls within. Zones operate 7 days a week but their operational hours can differ by zone. The operational hours are advertised by signage at the vehicular access entry and exit points to each zone.
Find out more about the operational hours for each Resident Parking Zone in our On-Street Parking Permit Terms and Conditions.
Your Residents Parking Permit is digital, not a paper permit to display in your car. When you have bought your permit online, it will be active immediately, and you don't need to worry about displaying anything in your car when you park.
If you have pre-registered more than one vehicle when you purchased your permit only one can be active and valid on the permit at a time. You can manage your active vehicle through your MiPermit account.
If you buy Visitor Parking Permits, they may not operate in the same way. Check what you will need to do on our Visitor Parking Permit page.
If you have a change in vehicle, you need to update your permit to ensure the vehicle can be parked in the residents permit zone. You should do this promptly by contacting Parking Services by email at parking@bathnes.gov.uk or calling 01225 477133. A £10 administration charge is payable for any vehicle registration mark changes that are accepted.
If your new vehicle is in a higher emissions band than the vehicles already registered to the permit, the permit must be cancelled and a new permit purchased which will be charged at the rate for the vehicle with the highest emissions classification. No refund will be provided. We therefore recommend the purchase of a short duration permit where a future vehicle change is expected.
If you need to cancel your current permit and purchase a new one you can do this directly in MiPermit.
If you move out of your property, you must cancel your parking permit as soon as you leave. You can do this online by logging into your account. Please note that we don't offer refunds on any time remaining on your permit.
However, if you are moving to another property which is entitled to a Bath and North East Somerset parking permit, then we may be able to transfer your outstanding balance to your new permit. If you would like us to do this, please email parking@bathnes.gov.uk or call us on 01225 477133.
You can use our online service to cancel or renew most parking permits. This takes a couple of minutes and takes effect immediately.
You can renew your permit up to one month before the expiry date. If you are renewing an existing permit, all you need is your Council Tax reference and payment details. You must renew before the expiry date, or you may get a parking fine.
Report vehicles parking without a permit
If you suspect someone is parking in a residents zone without a permit, you can email us at parking@bathnes.gov.uk. Due to data protection laws, we cannot confirm to you whether someone else's car has a valid permit, but if we find an issue, we will take action where we can.
Remember that Residents Parking Permits are normally digital, so most cars will have nothing on display to show that they can park in resident-only bays.