The survey, from Direct Line business insurance, found three quarters of tradespeople say they are unable to find parking close to their workplace at least once a week. Almost half (48%) have turned down jobs because they couldn’t park within sight of their job site, citing concerns about tool theft.
On average, the survey found tradespeople are paying £443 out of their own pocket in a typical year to park at jobs, with some spending as much as £6,000 a year on parking. And almost three in 10 (28%) tradespeople report that they have been clamped or towed whilst on the job.
When left unpaid, they are also having a devastating impact on everyday people seeking to obtain a mortgage, financial experts say. One described it as a “nightmare” for mortgages.
Colin Crooks MBE, CEO at London-based business consultancy Intentionality, said the UK is in the grip of a “parking fine fiasco”.
He added: “These figures reveal a parking system that’s fundamentally broken for tradespeople and throttling the UK economy.
“The 2.3 million tickets costing £119 million annually represent money taken directly from self-employed workers operating on already tight margins. The system forces three-quarters of tradespeople to park far from job sites wasting countless unpaid hours lugging heavy tools and materials.
“This isn’t just inconvenient, it compromises job quality when workers rush due to parking restrictions, pushes costs onto customers, reduces UK productivity and makes the profession less appealing at precisely the wrong time.
“The UK already faces a shortfall of 250,000 tradespeople by 2030, with potential losses of £98 billion in growth.
“Intelligent reform is essential, such as trade permits for temporary loading, designated trade parking, grace periods for visible work activity and common-sense enforcement that distinguishes legitimate work from parking abuse.”
Kundan Bhaduri, Landlord at The Kushman Group, said the fines are often factored into prices and are ultimately being passed onto the consumer: “Every week I see electricians, plumbers and builders factor parking fines into their quotes because finding legal spaces near job sites has become impossible, turning every callout into a lottery.
“When my heating engineer quotes an extra £50 for city centre work to cover that inevitable parking fine, that cost eventually lands on families already struggling with energy bills.
“Meanwhile, councils celebrate increased parking revenue while wondering why construction costs keep rising and skilled trades avoid urban projects altogether.”
Mike Staton, Director at Mansfield-based Staton Mortgages, said the proliferation of parking fines is having a massive impact on those seeking to buy a new home or remortgage: “Parking tickets have become a nightmare for the mortgage industry. Many people are unaware they have parking tickets, which then get left and become CCJs, affecting their ability to obtain credit.
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“Only yesterday I dealt with a client who has a £243 CCJ due to a parking ticket that he was not aware he had. This would-be borrower has been declined by most major high street lenders as a result.
“Many of the private firms that manage parking spaces often go unchecked and unregulated, spelling financial chaos for anybody that gets caught in their trap. It is too easy for these firms to be able to destroy your credit profile.
“It’s about time the government cracked down on these firms. They are akin to pirates in a sea of cars.”
