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Parking and permits

Parking portal help

Our Parking Portal allows you to:

  1. buy and manage parking permits for residents, businesses, car parks and on-street bays (get details of permit types via Parking and permits)
  2. pay or appeal penalty charge notices (PCNs) online

There’s no paper, and no cash, so permits and PCNs are easy to deal with.

See further details about digital parking permits, PCNs and use of the Parking Portal:


Digital parking permits

Our digital parking Permit Portal allows residents and businesses to apply for parking permits online, saving time and making the process simpler.

You don't need to wait for a paper permit to arrive in the post, and our Civil Enforcement Officers will be able to scan car number plates to find out if a vehicle has a permission to park, or not.

Certain digital permits will be issued 'same day', and, as soon as you've linked a vehicle licence plate with a permit, you'll be able to park your vehicle.

We'll respond within 10 working days if we need to review an application.

All virtual permits can be renewed online, at the time a permit is due to expire.

Other benefits include:

  • the ability to make immediate changes to your permits and personal details
  • being able to swap your permit from one vehicle to another (where eligible)
  • reduced need to post evidence and documentation

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Digital Penalty Charge Notices

You can pay or appeal penalty charge notices (PCNs) through the online PCN Portal.

There’s no paper and no cash, so PCN payments and objections are easy to deal with.

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Applying for a digital parking permit

If you hold a valid permit issued before September 2021 you will not need to register for digital parking permits until you receive your renewal reminder - unless you need to apply for a separate, new permit.

The information and documents you may require will vary based on which of our parking permits you're applying for; application details for each permit type, as well as links to log in or register for Permit Portal, are included alongside the details of each individual parking permit.

You'll need to pay for your permit as part of the online application.

To apply for most permits you'll need:

  • a property address
  • a vehicle registration
  • a valid email address
  • a payment card
  • supporting documents (which will vary, based on the permit type)

Check the details of each individual type of parking permit for information on what you need to apply.

Permit start dates

Some permits will be valid immediately on application, if no supporting documents are required, or if your address is verified through the Permit Portal automated council tax address match.

Where a permit needs you to upload supporting documents, the permit application cannot be validated until those documents have been approved; you'll be informed via a pop-up message not to park your car until your permit has been approved, as doing so could result in a PCN being issued.

Once we receive your documents and approve your permit, the permit start date will be amended to the date of approval.

Checking required ResPark zones

For most permits the system will know what zone to assign your permit to, as it’s matched to your address.

For some other permits, such as single zone commercial permits, you'll be asked to choose the zone where you want your permit to be valid. If you're unsure you can use the map alongside individual permit details, to check your ResPark zone before you apply.

Purchasing more than 1 permit type

When you register a Permit Portal account, you need to select the appropriate customer type for your desired permit. On registration you'll be provided with a list of permits that are relevant to you and to your location or need.

For example, if you have a need for a resident permit and a landlord permit these fall under 2 user types: Resident and Business/Commercial. Because of this, you'll need to create 2 separate accounts, 1 for each permit.

Information about each type of permit details the account type you will need to use when registering.

Please note that if you are applying for a residential, business, landlord or property renovation permit you will need to register a Permit Portal account using the address where you require the permit, not your own residential address.

Buy or apply for permits

Permits that don’t require any supporting documents, and those where we can obtain proof of eligibility through an automated council tax address, match will show as available to ‘buy’.

These can be issued the same day unless there is a reason the automated council tax address match doesn’t recognise you and further evidence will need to be supplied.

Any permits that require supporting documents will show as available to ‘apply’.

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Visitor parking permits

If you still hold a paper authorisation card, you'll be able to apply for paper visitor 'scratch cards' in the same way as you could before the digital permit system was launched, until such time as your current authorisation card expires. Any paper scratch card visitor permits already issued will remain valid indefinitely until used.

When your paper authorisation card expires you'll be prompted to register for a Permit Portal account, and to buy digital visitor parking permits in the future.

Apply for and activate visitor permits

Once you have purchased the correct permit type to allow you to buy your visitor permits, you'll need to use the ‘Buy/Use Vouchers’ option within the Permit Portal.

You can buy visitor permits and activate them once you know when your guest will arrive and their vehicle registration.

You're only currently able to purchase 1 digital visitor permit at a time. If you attempt to purchase more than 1 digital visitor permit you'll be presented with an error message and will need to begin again. No money will be taken.

Expired paper authorisation cards

Paper authorisation cards issued prior to September 2021 have now been replaced with online authorisation permits. You'll see these listed as ‘Proof of Residence’ permits in the portal followed by the type of discount you are entitled to. Once approved these will unlock your ability to buy your discounted visitor permits.

If you don't own a car but have a need to obtain visitor permits for your guests, this is called ‘Proof of Residency Independent’ in the online portal.

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Applying for digital parking permits without internet access

We'll ensure that residents who don't have access to the internet receive all the support they need in order to apply for parking permits.

Our Customer Services Team will assist you (by appointment) at West Offices; they'll check your supporting documents and ensure you've got a receipt with details of your reference number and valid to/from dates for all digital permits.

Alternatively, all York libraries have free access to the internet for members, and library staff may be able to help you if you need support.

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Permit Portal technical support

If you are struggling to manage your permits via the Permit Portal, you can contact Parking Services for support.

The following points may be helpful in understanding some of the menu and button options.

‘Get cost’ button

When you click the ‘get cost’ button our system does a calculation in the background to determine if your vehicle is a low or a high emissions vehicle.

This then calculates how much you need to pay for your permit on the next page.

'Insufficient proof submitted' message

In order to validate many permit applications, the first thing the Permit Portal will do is look for a council tax address match. It does this in the background so you won’t see anything happen until you reach the ‘upload proofs’ page.

If a match hasn’t been found you will see a red cross and you will need to upload further supporting documents that provide evidence of your address.

If you see a green tick it means we have a positive match, although please always check if the permit you are applying for may need a second form of evidence which you will need to upload.

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Checking permission to park

Our Civil Enforcement Officers will use a handheld device, with number plate recognition software, to link permit holders to registered vehicles, including those parked with a valid visitor permit.

Our officers will confirm that a parked vehicle is covered by a valid parking permit whilst on patrol.

Members of the public will not be able to confirm whether a vehicle parked in a restricted area has a valid digital permit. If you suspect a vehicle is parked illegally, contact the parking hotline to report the problem, see Parking Enforcement for more details.

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Also see

Parking Services

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 551309