Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to tackle unauthorised parking on private property; and what support is available to people who wish to remove unwanted vehicles parked on their property.

The Government is currently supporting Sir Greg Knight’s Parking (Code of Practice) Bill that is seeking to create a code of practice for the private parking industry. There are, however, no current plans to further strengthen powers to tackle unauthorised parking on private property.

Landowners can manage parking on their land under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. They may also employ a parking operator to undertake enforcement on their behalf.

Councils currently provide the support to remove unwanted vehicles. They have a statutory duty to remove vehicles that are abandoned on any land in the open air, including on private land such as car parks. There is no statutory definition of ‘abandoned’, and it is for councils to determine whether any particular vehicle has been abandoned. Council officers may legally enter private land in order to investigate and remove abandoned vehicles.