Planning Policy Guidance Note 13: Transport was updated in January 2011 to reflect changes to parking standards and charges in England, namely removing the requirement for local authorities to set maximum parking limits for residential development in their area. The Government’s position on parking standards is that local authorities are best placed to take account of local circumstances and are able to make the right decisions for their area, based on individual circumstances. This breaks with the recent trend for Government policy to encourage sustainable travel choices and force people out of their cars with limited car parking and high parking charges.

Revised PPG 13 encourages Local Authorities to base parking figures on the circumstances within the area, thus reflecting true car ownership. In areas where Councils believe there is demand for housing developments with more parking spaces, they will be able to specify these levels at a County or Unitary Council level.

There is potential for this approach to reduce the negative impacts that parking space restrictions have had in the past, by reducing on-street parking and congestion that is experience in some residential development. However, in practice many Local Authorities have already developed their own parking standards based, in some cases, on the previous PPG13 standards. Revising these may not be a priority given the current funding crisis.