Well-heeled Kensington locals say they face parking nightmares as council proposes permits for second residence house owners in UK’s richest borough

Residents in London‘s richest borough of Kensington and Chelsea claim they are facing a parking nightmare after the council announced plans to give parking permits to second homeowners.

Allowing applications from second home owners would be a change to previous rules which meant permits were only issued to people whose addresses were listed as their main home.

This, the council said, would plug a revenue gap caused by the decrease of car ownership in the area – potentially raising as much as £350,000 a year.

Kensington and Chelsea is often ranked as London’s richest borough thanks to its expensive properties and high wages.

Council bosses say that, due to the fall in parking permit applications, the additional allocations should not create ‘undue pressure’ on existing space.

However, residents have argued this would be ‘unfair’ on those who live in the borough full-time – and may actually drive people to get rid of their cars.

Jesus Amilbuiu, 56, works in Chelsea – but says everyone he knows in the area is ‘trying to get rid of their car’.

He said: ‘Having a car in London is a nightmare. You have the Congestion Charge, ULEZ, and the difficulties with parking.

‘If this makes parking even more difficult for people around here – I reckon more will just get rid of their cars.

‘Everyone I know around here is already trying to do that. I can drive but I don’t have a car in London. It’s just not worth it.’

For local resident Maureen Smith, 70, parking in the borough isn’t currently an issue – but she believes it could become one if second homeowners are given permits.

She said: ‘There’s generally a lot of places for me to park on my road – so it depends on how many people apply for this permit.

‘If a lot do and residents start suffering, then I think that’s unfair.

‘I also don’t really think people with second homes should get a permit. What if someone has two homes in Chelsea? Do they get two?

‘Then it’s just allowing people with multiple cars to have multiple spaces. That also doesn’t seem fair.’

Kensington and Chelsea Council says it would cap the number of new permits issued to 2,000.

Meanwhile, Cllr Cem Kemahli said that all residents who pay council tax should be able to ‘benefit from the services the council has to offer’.

Married couple Steve and Margot Mitchell, who just moved to Kensington from Sydney, Australia, agreed.

Mr Mitchell, 51, said: ‘If people are paying council tax then it seems they should be able to get a permit.

‘If it’s someone who lives in the countryside and is only ever here for short periods of time, then maybe it should be they can apply for temporary permits instead.

‘But equally, if they’re never here, there will still be places for other residents to park.

‘What seems most important is that residents have parking spaces. It’s not so much about who owns the property – but more about who’s living there.

‘We’re not owners but we’re residents. That’s why we need a space.’

Meanwhile, Margot said an issue would only arise if people were getting second permits for second cars.

She said: ‘It’s fair enough if people with homes here have a permit. But I’d take an issue with people getting two permits because they have two cars.

‘I just think it being tricky to park is something you accept in a city. We all chose to live here.

‘There’s great public transport and we can all use that instead of driving everywhere.’

Some local businesses were also fearful that a new wave of parking permits would dissuade their clients from coming to the area.

Oray Oz, 41, who works at a hair salon, said: ‘A lot of my clients are local and so they can walk or use their parking permits – but some come from out of the borough and parking is already a nightmare for them.

‘If there are more parking permits there may be less places they can pay to park.

‘And if those with parking permits have less places available that could affect them too.’

Kensington and Chelsea Council said that no decision has been made yet – and that the policy is currently under consultation.

Meanwhile, in a letter sent to residents, Cllr Kemahli said: ‘We know from the Census that over 25,000 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) residents have second addresses, of which over 10,000 are in the UK.

‘It seems reasonable to assume that some of these residents will wish to register their RBKC address as a second home.

‘I believe all residents who pay council tax ought to be able to benefit from the services the council has to offer and am proposing that residents of second homes in the borough should have the option to buy a permit.

‘With falling permit applications in recent years, this additional eligibility for some residents should not create undue pressure on existing space.’

Cllr Kemahli explained that the number of residents’ parking permits in the borough had dropped from 36,652 to 31,329 between 2013 and 2024.

This, he said, aligned with falling car ownership – which had dropped by 8.5 per cent in that time.

It is hoped that introducing permits for second homeowners will help raise the funds the council has lost from the decline.

The council’s proposed changes are to remove the restriction that prevents residents of ‘second homes’ from buying a parking permit, introduce a separate permit type for residents of ‘second homes’, priced the same as other residents’ permits, and cap the number of these new permits issued to 2,000.