Local parking guide

Parking in Nottingham

What a parking ticket costs in Nottingham, which zones apply, what it costs to park, what a resident permit costs, who enforces it and how to challenge one.

Nottingham City CouncilNottinghamEngland

Nottingham charges for parking in a way no other British city does. Since 2012 an employer here who provides eleven or more liable workplace parking places has had to buy a licence for every one of them — the Workplace Parking Levy. It is not a fine and not a council car park charge: it is a per-space annual charge on the workplace itself, and it is why the trams got built. For a driver it matters second-hand. The levy is legally the employer's to pay, but many pass it on, so a space at work that used to be free may now cost you something. If yours does, that is what you are paying for. On the street the arithmetic is ordinary: three tariff zones, £1.00 to £3.00 an hour, and charging runs from 8am to 10pm every day of the week — a fourteen-hour day and no free Sunday. Your first resident permit is free, which is unusual, and the second is not.

Nottingham City Council Nottingham England

Band 2Penalty charge band
£1–£3/hourOn-street tariff
NoFree on Sundays

Nottingham operates resident parking schemes but does not publish them as a count of zones, so we do not state a total.

What a ticket costs in Nottingham

Nottingham City Council issues penalty charge notices at Band 2.

LevelFull chargeIf paid early
Higher level £70 £35
Lower level £50 £25

What the higher and lower levels mean, and every stage if you do not pay →

Other charges you can get in Nottingham

Not every notice you get is a parking ticket. These are issued under different powers, and some of them cost more.

ChargeAmountIf paid earlyNotes
Workplace Parking Levy, for each liable parking place — paid by the employer, not the driver £592 A year, for the 2026/27 licensing year, rising annually with the Retail Price Index. An employer with ten or fewer liable places still needs a licence but gets a 100 per cent discount on them, so the charge bites from the eleventh place upward. Blue Badge holders' spaces do not count.
Bus lane penalty charge notice £70 £35 The same amount as a higher-level parking ticket, but a camera notice: the half-price window runs 21 days rather than 14.

Paying by phone

Nottingham City Council accepts RingGo. Check the sign in the bay for the location code before you start a session — it is the code, not the street name, that decides what you are charged.

Controlled parking zones

ZoneHoursDaysNotes
City centre pay and display, Zones 1 to 3 8am to 10pm Monday to Sunday Zone 1 is the dearest and Zone 3 the cheapest. Most bays have no maximum stay — check the sign.

On-street tariffs

AreaPer hourMaximum stayNotes
Zone 1 £3 No limit in most bays 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.
Zone 2 £2 No limit in most bays Same hours and days.
Zone 3 £1 No limit in most bays Same hours and days.

Resident permits

First vehicleFree
Second vehicle£35
Valid for12 months

A third permit is £50 a year. A household may hold at most three permits in total, counting resident and visitor permits together.

The codes you will see on a ticket here

Every penalty charge notice carries a contravention code. It tells you what you are accused of, and whether the charge is at the higher or the lower level.

CodeWhat it meansLevel
01 Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours Higher
02 Parked or loading/unloading in a restricted street where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are in force Higher
05 Parked after the expiry of paid for time at a pay and display bay Lower
06 Parked without clearly displaying a valid pay and display ticket or voucher Lower
12 Parked in a residents' or shared use parking place without a valid permit Higher
23 Parked in a parking place not designated for that class of vehicle Higher
25 Parked in a loading place during restricted hours without loading Higher
30 Parked for longer than permitted Lower
34 Being in a bus lane Higher
40 Parked in a designated disabled person's parking place without displaying a valid disabled person's badge Higher
52 Failing to comply with a prohibition on certain types of vehicle Higher

Park and ride

  • Tram park and ride — Clifton, Forest, Hucknall, Moor Bridge, Phoenix Park, Toton Lane and Wilkinson Street · Free with a valid tram ticket. About 5,000 spaces across the seven sites, and intended for daily use rather than leaving a car for days.
  • Bus park and ride — Queens Drive and Racecourse — £6 · £6 per car with Nottingham City Transport.

Who enforces, and where to appeal

Nottingham City Council enforces on-street parking and bus lanes, and administers the Workplace Parking Levy. There is no clean air charge: the government approved Nottingham's air quality plan in November 2018 on the strength of retrofitted buses, taxi licensing changes and an electric council fleet, with no charging zone.

Nottingham is outside London, so an appeal goes to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal once the council has rejected your representations. Note which notice you hold before you count days: a parking ticket gives 14 days at half price, a bus lane notice 21.

How to challenge a ticket, step by step →

Related rules

Other cities

Common questions

What is the Workplace Parking Levy and do I have to pay it?
Not directly. It is a charge on employers who provide eleven or more liable workplace parking places, currently £592 a year for each place. The employer is the licence holder and the council bills them, not you. But there is nothing stopping an employer recovering it from staff who use the spaces, and many do — so if parking at work has started costing you money, this is usually why.
Does every Nottingham employer pay it?
No. An employer with ten or fewer liable places must still hold a licence but receives a 100 per cent discount on those places, so pays nothing. The charge starts at the eleventh place. Spaces for Blue Badge holders are excluded from the count.
What does a parking ticket cost in Nottingham?
Nottingham issues at Band 2, the higher of the two bands available to councils outside London. The amounts are in the table above, and half is payable within 14 days. A bus lane notice is the same £70 but gives you 21 days for the discount, because it comes from a camera rather than an officer.
Is parking free on Sundays in Nottingham?
No. On-street charging runs 8am to 10pm every day of the week, Sunday included — a fourteen-hour charging day, longer than most cities apply. Blue Badge rules are unaffected.
Is my first resident permit really free?
Yes. The first permit per household costs nothing. The second is £35 a year and a third, where the council agrees to one, is £50. A household can hold three permits at most, and visitor permits count towards that three.
Is there a clean air charge in Nottingham?
No. The government approved Nottingham's air quality plan in November 2018 without a charging Clean Air Zone — the plan retrofitted buses, changed taxi licensing and electrified the council fleet instead. Nothing to pay on emissions grounds for driving into the city.
Is tram park and ride free?
Yes, with a valid tram ticket, across about 5,000 spaces at seven sites. The sites are for daily use, not for leaving a car while you are away. Bus park and ride at Queens Drive and the Racecourse is £6 per car.

Sources

Figures last checked 9 September 2026