Westminster Resident Parking Permit Cost: £40 to £353

The Westminster resident parking permit cost changed on Monday 2 March 2026, and the figures still circulating on the comparison sites are last year’s. Here is the current band table in full, taken from the council’s own application pack, version 2.1 dated March 2026, together with the three surcharges that are easy to miss and one rule that appears in no other London borough.

The range is wide. The cheapest annual resident permit in Westminster is £40.00 and the dearest is £353.10, before surcharges. A pre-2015 diesel in the top band pays £413.10, more than ten times the cheapest permit.

The 2026 band table in full

Charges are set primarily by the vehicle’s carbon dioxide output in grams per kilometre, checked by a DVLA look-up at the point of purchase. All figures are the annual permit charge.

And the additional charges, which apply on top:

Source: Westminster City Council, On Street Resident Permit First Time and Renewal Application Pack 1, v2.1, March 2026. Figures checked 26 August 2026.

The rule nobody else has: your electric car is charged by battery size

Look at bands 1A and 1B again. Both are zero emissions at the tailpipe. Both are electric cars. One pays £40 and the other pays £80, and the only thing separating them is the size of the battery: 1 to 69 kWh in band 1A, 70 kWh or more in band 1B.

This is unusual, and worth knowing before you buy. A small electric hatchback with a 50-something kWh pack sits in 1A. A larger electric saloon or SUV with a 77 or 82 kWh pack sits in 1B and pays double. The jump happens at exactly 70 kWh, which several popular models sit either side of by a couple of kilowatt hours.

The logic, in the council’s own framing, is that emissions-based charging is meant to “nudge” people towards smaller and less polluting vehicles, and a larger battery means a heavier and physically bigger car occupying more of a scarce kerb. Whether or not you accept that, the £40 gap is real and it is decided by a number on the specification sheet rather than anything about how you drive.

The two Westminster schemes do not use the same bands

This is the trap that catches people who have read the pay-to-park page and assume the permit works the same way. It does not.

Westminster runs emissions-based charging on both resident permits and on-street pay-to-park, and the band boundaries are different.

A car emitting 140 g/km is band 4 for a resident permit and band 3 for pay-to-park. The permit scheme has six emissions bands plus motorcycles; the pay-to-park scheme has five plus motorcycles. Quoting your “band” to anyone is meaningless unless you say which scheme you mean.

The diesel surcharge differs too. On a resident permit it is a flat £60.00 added to any band. On pay-to-park it is a 50% surcharge on the hourly rate for bands 2 to 5. Same principle, entirely different arithmetic.

One more change on the pay-to-park side that has caught out electric drivers this year: the council states that under emissions-based charging, “the concession previously afforded to EVs and PHEVs whereby the bay’s maximum stay period could be obtained by the purchase of 10 minutes’ parking has been withdrawn”. Since 1 October 2025 there is also an end-user charge of up to 30p per transaction levied by whichever app you use, RingGo, PayByPhone or JustPark, and set by the operator rather than by the council.

How the band is decided, and the two edge cases

It is read off the CO2 figure, not the age of the car. The council looks the vehicle up with the DVLA when you buy or renew. You can check the same figure yourself on your V5C or through the Get vehicle information from DVLA service before you apply, which is worth doing if you are choosing between two cars.

Pre-2001 vehicles with no CO2 record are charged on engine size. The DVLA holds no CO2 figure for most vehicles registered before 2001, so those are banded by engine capacity instead: under 1200cc goes into band 4 at £143.96, over 1200cc into band 5 at £230.05.

Unregistered vehicles default to the top. The council is explicit that the band 6 charge of £353.10 applies if “your vehicle is unregistered with the DVLA and you are unable to provide evidence to show it should be charged at a lower banding”. The burden is on you to produce the evidence, so if you are bringing in an imported vehicle, get it registered first. Westminster does issue six weeks of temporary cover for imported vehicles while registration is under way, and first-time applications for foreign-registered vehicles must be made by post.

Second and third permits

You can hold up to three permits as an individual, each tied to a specific vehicle, and each after the first costs extra: £75 more for the second, £150 more for the third, on top of that vehicle’s own band charge.

The arithmetic gets steep quickly. A household running a second car in band 5 pays £230.05 plus £75, which is £305.05 for the second permit alone. If it is a pre-2015 diesel, add £60 and it is £365.05.

What a resident permit actually buys you

Two things are worth knowing because they are not obvious and they are genuinely useful.

Free parking at the start and end of controlled hours. The terms and conditions state that a resident permit “entitles you to park in ‘Resident Permit Holders Only’ bays in the zone for which the permit is issued. It also entitles you to park in paid for parking bays in that zone without payment for the first and last hours of controls.” That last clause is a real saving and very few permit holders use it. Controlled hours run later in Westminster than in most boroughs, so check the signs on your street; our roadworks and travel page tracks the current restrictions.

Motorcycle permits work borough-wide. The motorcycle permit is a flat £61.59, is not emissions-based, and allows the machine to be parked “in any solo motorcycle bay throughout the borough without further payment”, not just in the holder’s own zone.

Two limits, equally worth knowing. Permits are now virtual rather than paper, tied to the registration, which is why the council warns that any social media offer of a transferable temporary Westminster permit is a scam: there is no physical thing to sell. And if you have three or more unpaid Penalty Charge Notices at Order for Recovery stage, the council reserves the right not to issue you a permit at all.

How to apply

Permits run for one year for all vehicle types and are paid by debit or credit card. Apply through the council’s online account, or, if you do not have internet access at home, using the PCs and iPads in Westminster libraries. Postal applications go to Westminster City Council Parking Services, PO Box 353, Sheffield S98 1ER, with proof documents, or by email to the parking permits address on the council’s site.

If you cannot supply all the required proofs, the council says it will consider issuing a temporary six-week permit while you gather them.

Emissions-based charging for resident permits began on Monday 3 June 2024. The current prices took effect on Monday 2 March 2026, and the source pages carry a last-updated date of 2 March 2026.

Last checked 26 August 2026. Always confirm the current charge on westminster.gov.uk before applying, as the council can revise charges in-year.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a Westminster resident parking permit in 2026? Between £40.00 and £353.10 a year depending on the vehicle’s CO2 emissions, with motorcycles on a flat £61.59. A zero-emission car with a battery under 70 kWh pays £40.00, one with a battery of 70 kWh or more pays £80.00, and a car emitting 256 g/km or more pays £353.10. These charges took effect on 2 March 2026.

Is there a diesel surcharge on Westminster permits? Yes. A flat £60.00 is added to the permit charge for any pre-2015 diesel vehicle, in any band. That is a different mechanism from pay-to-park, where the pre-2015 diesel surcharge is 50% of the hourly rate rather than a fixed sum.

Why is my electric car more expensive than my neighbour’s? Because Westminster splits zero-emission vehicles into two bands by battery capacity. Band 1A covers batteries of 1 to 69 kWh at £40.00, and band 1B covers 70 kWh and above at £80.00. Both are zero emissions at the tailpipe; the price difference is entirely down to the size of the pack.

How much is a second parking permit in Westminster? An extra £75.00 on top of that vehicle’s own band charge, and an extra £150.00 for a third. An individual can hold up to three permits, each tied to a specific vehicle.

What happens if the DVLA has no CO2 figure for my car? For vehicles registered before 2001, where the DVLA usually holds no CO2 figure, the band is set by engine capacity instead: under 1200cc is band 4 at £143.96 and over 1200cc is band 5 at £230.05. If a vehicle is unregistered with the DVLA and you cannot evidence a lower band, the band 6 charge of £353.10 applies.

Can I get a permit for a hire car or courtesy car? Yes, temporarily. The council issues a virtual temporary permit covering up to 14 days at a time, at £10.00 each, and a temporary permit cannot be reissued until a further 14 days has elapsed. You need your current permit reference and the replacement vehicle’s details.

Does a resident permit let me park in pay-to-park bays? Partly. Within your own zone, a resident permit lets you use paid-for bays without payment during the first and last hours of controlled hours. Outside those hours, or outside your zone, you pay the normal tariff.

Can Westminster refuse me a permit? Yes. The application pack states that where an individual has three or more unpaid Penalty Charge Notices at Order for Recovery stage, the council reserves the right not to issue a permit. Permits are also withdrawn without refund if the vehicle is judged unroadworthy.