Britain’s Parking Frustrations and Solutions

For many Brits, parking can be a sensitive subject, and it’s easy to see why. We spend thousands of pounds on our motors, and the last thing we want is to see any scratches or dents. That’s why, for many people, a driveway or a garage is a must for any new home. After all, off-road parking is now the 5th most popular property ‘must-have’.

But what do Brits really think about parking, and is the issue really as tense as it seems to be? Here at Peter Vardy, we launched a survey to find out.

Our Survey Findings

Our survey contained three parts: discussing popular parking frustrations, the locations of issues that ignite our rage, and the possibility of ‘creative parking’ to combat the issue. Let’s take a look at the results:

 

Revealing Popular Frustrations

To understand people’s attitudes about parking, we asked them what their biggest frustration was, either as a driver or a passenger.

The top response (48%) was an insufficient number of spaces available, where there was simply not enough space for the usual level of demand. This was a particular problem for residents of Nottingham and Southampton.

Space continued to be a problem with our second most popular answer. 35% of people told us that their biggest frustration was a lack of free spaces when demand was higher than usual.  This was a problem highlighted most commonly in Manchester.

Only 15% of respondents told us that badly parked cars were their greatest frustration, which suggests that occupancy is the greatest issue, rather than inability to park. However, our survey showed us that bad parking remains a big issue in Belfast, where two thirds of respondents told us that badly parked cars were their main problem.     

Overall, 10% of people struggle to park at home, while 7% of people struggle to park at work.

Parking Problem Hotspots

A lack of on-street spaces was apparent in city-centre locations, with demand often outstripping supply. Almost 30% of respondents told us that the city centre was where they experienced the most problems parking. In Sheffield particularly, this appears to be a bone of contention, as over half of respondents from the city told us it was their main issue.

Supermarkets also appear to be a trouble causer, with almost a quarter of respondents telling us they personally experienced the most problems parking there. This number was even higher in Birmingham, with 38% of respondents telling us that parking at supermarkets is their main issue.

Other popular problems occurred at shopping centres (17%), home (10%) and multi-storey car parks (8%).

Is ‘Creative Parking’ the Solution?

So, how have the public responded to the challenge of a parking shortage? Well, the answer appears to be creative parking…

Of those we surveyed, 26% said they had parked, or had been the passenger of a car that had parked 'creatively'. Creative parking appears to be a particularly popular solution in Scotland with those residing there told us they’d used this solution, followed by South East England (44%).

In individual cities, Edinburgh was the most popular for creative parking solutions, with 78% of drivers using admitting to using this solution, and 89% confessing that they either have used it or would if they had the opportunity. On the other hand, creative parking is least popular in Leeds, where only 15% of drivers use this tactic, and under a third said that they either have tried it or would have if they had the opportunity.

Are You the UK’s Most Creative Parker?

Think you take the crown as the UK’s most creative parker? Let us know! We’re running a competition between Monday 22nd January 2018 and Monday 12th February 2018 to find the UK’s best innovative parking solution.

 

To enter, simply tweet @petervardy with an image of the parked car in question and include the hashtag #PVParkingPro. If you’re chosen as our winner, you’ll receive £100 of High Street Shopping Vouchers.

Get parking and send us your tweets today to enter. Good luck!

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Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to the Peter Vardy Creative Parking Competition ("Competition") run by Peter Vardy Holdings Limited, registered at The Wright Business Centre, 1 Lonmay Road, Queenslie, Glasgow, G33 4EL Co. Reg. No: - SC319442 (Scotland) ("Company"), and by entering yourself into the competition, you will be deemed to have read and accepted these terms and agree to be bound by them. If You do not agree with the terms of the Competition you will not be entered.

1. Participants qualifying criteria

1.1 You must be:

1.1.1 Resident in the United Kingdom

1.1.2 Over the age of 18

1.1.3 Provide a valid email address that the individual will be contacted by

1.2 You will not be permitted to participate in the competition if you are an employee of the Company, their families or anyone else who is related or associated with this competition or its operators.

2. Participants Obligations

2.1 Entries can be submitted via Twitter, and entries must include an image, as well as both the handle @PeterVardy and the hashtag #PVParkingPro to be eligible to win

2.2 The competition opens on 22/01/18 and you must publish your tweet by 11:59pm on the 12/02/18.

2.3 Any entry which does not comply with these restrictions, in the sole discretion of the Company, will be disqualified from the competition.

3. Competition Prize

3.1 The winner of the Competition will be required to provide their full name and address

3.2 The prize consists of £100 worth of high street shopping vouchers

3.3 The company reserves the right to substitute the prize (or any portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value at its sole and absolute discretion. Any and all expenses incurred by accepting the prize, are the sole responsibility of the winners.

3.4 By entering into the competition, the winner agrees to participate in publicity following the Competition, should it be required or requested at any time. This may include use of their name and image for online and offline publicity, communications, and in any other media outlets worldwide without any fee being paid.

4. Company obligations

4.1 The winner will be determined by Peter Vardy Holdings Limited and will be announced by 13/02/18. The winner will then be contacted via Twitter by the Company to confirm they have won the Competition. The decision of the Company is final, and no correspondence will be entered into after the decision.

4.2 Any Personal Data (defined in accordance with s.1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998) provided by You will be stored by the Company for no longer than 14 days from the Completion Date of the Competition. Your Personal Data will only be shared with parties who are directly involved in the running of this Competition and will not be passed onto any other third parties without your prior notification.

4.3 The Company will take no responsibility for any loss of entries and proof of transmissions will not be accepted as proof of receipt.

5. Limitation of Liability

5.1 Events may occur that render the competition itself or the awarding of the prize impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the company and accordingly the company may at its absolute discretion vary, amend or cancel the competition without notice (in particular if it or the website on which the competition is operated is affected by any denial-of-service attacks, viruses, hacking or any other technologically-harmful material or act) and the entrant agrees that no liability will attach to the company as a result thereof.

5.2 To the extent permitted by law, the company and its agents and representatives hereby expressly exclude any liability whether in contract, tort, criminal law, breach of statutory duty or otherwise for any direct, indirect or consequential loss, damage, injury or disappointment (including without limitation any pure economic loss) suffered or incurred by any entrant, winner or any third party whether foreseeable or not in connection with:

5.2.1 any act or omission of the company in developing, planning and administering the competition;

5.2.2 any entry or attempted entry into the competition.

5.3 The company will not be liable for any inability of any person to enter the competition because of any unavailability of such page, failures in computer systems or networks, other malfunctions, or for any other reason.

5.4 The company will not be liable for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network, cable, satellite, Internet Service Provider (ISP) or lines, computer systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, including any damage to the entrant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials relating to this competition.

5.5 All conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute or common law are expressly excluded from these Terms.

5.6 Nothing in these Terms will exclude or limit the company's liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

6. General

6.1 If any provision of these terms (or part of any provision) is found by any court or other competent authority to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the other provisions will remain in force. If any invalid, unenforceable or illegal provision would be valid, enforceable and legal if some part of it were deleted, the provision will apply with whatever modification is necessary to give effect to the commercial intention of the parties.

6.2 No failure or delay by a party to exercise any right or remedy provided under these terms or by law or any abandonment of any such right or remedy will constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy will preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.