A resident living in Hazelwood Road says spiralling parking costs are making it “near impossible” to sell their home due to changes to West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) permit scheme.
Thomas Luff currently pays £400 per year for a permit to park in the nearby St John’s Car Park. However, Mr Luff says prospective buyers are now facing dramatically higher costs after the scheme was closed to new applicants.
Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo, the homeowner said the change could increase parking costs by more than 350 percent.
WNC said the residents’ permit scheme was removed in April 2025, as part of a budget decision. Residents with permits at the time could retain the discounted rated, but new buyers could not get the rate. The council added that the permits have never been transferable between property owners.
39-year-old Mr Luff said: “I currently pay £400 per year for a residents’ permit to park in St John’s Car Park. I took this permit over from the property’s previous owner in 2020.
“I’m now trying to sell my house and am being told that transferring permits is no longer allowed and that any buyer can only now join the car park season ticket scheme at £1,420 per year – a greater than 350 percent price increase.
“It is making selling my house near impossible, as anyone looking to buy is thinking in long timescales.”
Mr Luff continued: “To put it in perspective, to have one car, let alone two, will now cost £7,100 over five years, just to have a space to park.
“Considering that most residents use the car park during off-peak times, i.e. overnight and outside of working hours, when car parks typically sit empty, I cannot understand who has come up with such a high figure.”
Comparing Northampton to other towns and cities, he said: “If you look at our two nearest non-Northamptonshire neighbours, Milton Keynes and Bedford, they charge £25.00 and £35.90 respectively per year for town centre resident permits.
“Or if you go for older places (as people may try to argue Milton Keynes was built for cars), Oxford is £100 per year and Cambridge is £31.00. It can’t be argued that £1,425.60 is market rate.”
He added: “Given the impact on businesses hit hard by the parking charges, town centre residents like myself are another casualty.
“We live in houses built before cars. I accepted when buying the property that part of owning my home would require me to pay a charge to park in a council car park, but I expected this to be fair and reasonable, like all the other towns and cities listed.”
Responding, a spokesman for WNC said the previous residents’ permit scheme had been closed following a budget decision and public consultation.
A WNC spokesman said: “The former residents’ permit scheme for Northampton town centre was closed to new applications in April 2025 following a cabinet budget decision, which was subject to public consultation at the time. Since then, only existing permit holders have been able to retain their discounted rate and new residents are required to purchase a standard season ticket.
“Parking permits have never been transferable between property owners. While new buyers were previously able to apply for a permit in their own right when the scheme remained open, this is no longer possible following its closure to new applicants.
“Season tickets continue to offer a substantial saving compared with paying daily parking charges. Although we cannot comment on the pricing structures set by other local authorities, charges vary according to local demand and the scale of parking provision in each area.
“For example, larger cities may benefit from a wider and more flexible parking network, whereas Northampton operates with more limited capacity, which influences pricing levels and the comparisons may not be like for like, for example between on-street charges and those relating to car parks.”
In response, Mr Luff said: “It’s a weak excuse. All it’s going to encourage is student accommodation or Airbnbs because they don’t need cars, and of course they don’t pay council tax. It’s very short-sighted. It’s farcical – killing businesses and killing any families who want to move into the town.”