If you’ve ever had to step into the road to get round a car half-mounted on the pavement, you’ll know the frustration. You might also know, from bitter experience, that there wasn’t much anyone could do about it — until now.
That’s changing. New legislation is working its way through Parliament that will hand councils across England the powers to issue on-the-spot fines for pavement parking. And for millions of pedestrians who navigate obstructed pavements every single day, it can’t come soon enough.
What’s Changing — and Why Now?
For decades, pavement parking outside London has been something of a legal grey area. Technically, parking fully on a public pavement has been an offence under the Highways Act 1980, but enforcement has always relied on the police — and in practice, officers rarely prioritised it.
Rather than introduce a blanket national prohibition, the government has now announced a devolved approach, enabling local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking across their areas. The mechanism for this is the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which is currently making its way through the Lords. Lords Report Stage runs from 24 March to 13 April 2026.
Through secondary legislation expected later in 2026, local authorities will be given the power to issue Penalty Charge Notices to vehicles that unnecessarily obstruct the pavement. The government has also signalled its intention to bring forward primary legislation allowing local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking across their entire areas on an opt-in basis.
In other words: the fines are coming. The question is simply when individual councils choose to act.
What Fine Could You Face?
Scotland has already introduced a full pavement parking ban, with drivers facing a £100 fine, reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days. England is expected to follow a similar model. Statutory guidance from the Department for Transport is expected to be issued by the end of 2026 to help councils enforce the rules in a fair and proportionate way.
Councils will also have flexibility. Authorities will be able to exempt specific locations — such as narrow streets — where pavement parking may still be required to keep traffic moving. This matters in older towns and villages across the country, where many residential streets were never designed with modern levels of car ownership in mind.
That said, if your vehicle is observed by a uniformed Civil Enforcement Officer to be unnecessarily blocking a pavement, you could be looking at a Penalty Charge Notice — regardless of how long you’ve been parking there unchallenged.
Are Councils Already Preparing?
Many local authorities aren’t waiting for the ink to dry on the legislation before getting their enforcement houses in order. Across England, councils have been reviewing and upgrading their civil parking enforcement contracts, with several investing in ANPR-equipped vehicles, unattended CCTV cameras, and intelligence-led deployment models that direct officers to known problem areas.
The message is clear: the era of pavement parking being quietly tolerated is drawing to a close. When the legal powers arrive, the enforcement infrastructure in many areas will already be in place.
Who Does Pavement Parking Actually Affect?
It’s easy to dismiss this as an abstract issue, but consider who most often bears the consequences of a car on the kerb:
- A wheelchair user who can no longer navigate the pavement and is forced into oncoming traffic.
- A parent with a pushchair who has to fold it, step into the road, and reassemble it the other side — possibly with a toddler in tow.
- A visually impaired pedestrian whose route is obstructed without warning.
- An elderly resident who relies on the full pavement width to walk safely.
Research has found that 95% of people with sight loss have had to walk in the road due to vehicles parked on pavements, a figure that rises to 99% for people in wheelchairs or riding mobility scooters. Those aren’t minor inconveniences — they represent a genuine daily safety risk for some of the most vulnerable road users in our communities.
There are also structural consequences. Ongoing pavement parking causes damage to pavements and verges, which ultimately becomes a cost issue for councils and taxpayers alike. Kerb edges crack under repeated vehicle weight, drainage channels become misaligned, and repair bills mount — costs that fall on all of us.
As a Driver, What Should You Know?
As the legislative picture becomes clearer, there are a few practical points worth keeping in mind.
You don’t need to be fully on the pavement to face enforcement. The offence relates to unnecessarily obstructing the pavement. A single wheel on the kerb, or a vehicle that significantly narrows the usable pavement width, could be sufficient grounds for a Notice.
“I always park here” isn’t a defence. The fact that a particular behaviour has gone unenforced for years doesn’t confer any right. Many drivers who have parked on residential pavements for years without consequence may find the situation changes sharply once new powers are in place.
Exemptions will exist, but you can’t assume them. Councils will be able to designate certain streets where pavement parking is permitted — typically where carriageways are too narrow for safe two-way traffic if cars park fully on the road. However, these exemptions will need to be formally designated and signposted. If your street isn’t marked as exempt, the default position is that pavement parking may be enforceable.
Modern enforcement technology changes the picture significantly. ANPR-equipped vehicles and unattended CCTV cameras aren’t just for catching people in yellow-line bays. An intelligence-led enforcement model means officers can be directed to known problem streets — which could easily include residential roads where pavement parking has long been commonplace.
A Note on the Bigger Picture
Good road use isn’t just about following rules to avoid penalties — it’s about understanding that our choices behind the wheel have real consequences for other people. Pavement parking is a habit that many drivers fall into for understandable reasons: there’s limited off-street parking, the road is narrow, it only takes a minute. But the cumulative effect on vulnerable pedestrians is significant, and the new legislation reflects a long-overdue acknowledgement of that.
The changes are designed to make streets safer and more accessible for wheelchair users, people with visual impairments, and parents with pushchairs — ensuring communities are accessible to everyone.
That’s not a bureaucratic objective. That’s a description of people walking the streets of towns and villages across the UK every single day.
The Bottom Line
Pavement parking fines are coming. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is progressing through Parliament right now, and secondary legislation giving councils the power to issue Penalty Charge Notices is anticipated before the end of 2026. Many councils are simultaneously upgrading their enforcement capability — and when those two things meet, the tolerance that pavement parkers have long relied upon will be gone.
If you have a habit of leaving a wheel or two on the kerb — whether on the high street, outside a school, or on your residential road — now is the time to rethink it. Not just because of the fine, but because the people your car is blocking deserve better.
Pavement parking can have serious consequences for pedestrians and other people who need extra space. Read my guide to vulnerable road users.
