York is one of the UK’s most popular retail and vistor destinations but parking prices have been ratcheted up so much that sales are sliding. A rethink is needed, argues York High Street Forum chair and retailer Phil Pinder
Is York the most expensive city in the UK to park a car? It’s beginning to look that way.
Since April 1, parking rates in York have surged. A typical example is Monk Bar car park, where two hours now cost £4.85 per hour from Sunday to Thursday, and £5.30 on Fridays and Saturdays. That’s a rise of 56% and 71% respectively from the previous £3.10 per hour.
To make matters worse, all-day parking has now become more expensive than a penalty charge itself, a bewildering reality that makes popping into town riskier, but ironically, more financially viable if you don’t bother paying at all!
Over the past two months, York has experienced its first year-on-year drop in monthly retail sales since the pandemic. That’s not just worrying, it’s unprecedented. Despite the usual mix of warm and rainy spells, retail footfall and spending have declined sharply. In June alone, sales plummeted by 10.6% compared to the previous year.
Overall customer visits fell by 6.8%, while spend per head dropped by 4.1%. Transactions across the board are down by nearly 10%. Even sectors more resilient to price spikes such as fashion and food and drink reported double-digit declines. This isn’t a shift in travel behaviour, it’s a shift in destination. Shoppers aren’t choosing to travel by other means, they’re simply travelling to shop elsewhere.
It’s not just tourist visitors feeling the sting. Local residents are being pushed out too. The York Minster Badge is a scheme designed to support city residents and offer reduced rates for parking. A two year badge now costs £45. That means a resident would need to make over 22 two-hour visits in two years just to break even. The badge used to come with free evening parking, which has now gone in place of a discount on the £4 charge to park overnight.
We’re also seeing a troubling trend in customer demographics. Contributions from residents within the York Council area have dropped by 2.5 percentage points. Meanwhile, visitors from further afield are rising by 2.3 points. That shift may appear marginal, but its implications are major. The city centre is beginning to morph into a visitor economy, rather than a community-driven one. It’s as if York is being rebranded into a city for tourists, rather than a place for locals to live, work, and thrive.
“If York becomes unaffordable or inconvenient for its own people, we don’t just lose sales, we lose soul”
This matters because the high street is more than just bricks and mortar. It is where commerce meets community, where friends bump into each other on the cobbles, families make a day of shopping, and small businesses breathe life into historic buildings. Lose the locals, and we lose something irreplaceable.
Pricing policies should support, not stifle, access. In times when economic recovery is fragile and the cost of living continues to climb, making it harder for residents to visit their own city is simply short-sighted. York’s strength lies in its people and we must ensure they’re not priced out of their own community.
I appreciate the role of councils in balancing budgets and encouraging sustainable travel, but strategy must be rooted in impact. The current approach is causing real harm.
As city centre traders, we are urging City of York Council to take a fresh look at the parking strategy, not solely through the lens of revenue but through revitalisation, sustainability, and economic balance.
While we support the goal of greener travel, we must be careful not to penalise those who choose to shop by car. Not every visitor has access to viable alternatives, and discouraging their return risks hollowing out the local economy. Cars aren’t the enemy, empty shops are. People with cars do not suddenly choose to travel by bus or bike because you double car parking charges – they simply choose to shop elsewhere!
Accessibility must go hand-in-hand with environmental goals, not clash with them.
A thriving city can’t lean on tourism alone. It relies on loyal residents, repeat local customers, and a high street that reflects community pride.
If York becomes unaffordable or inconvenient for its own people, we don’t just lose sales, we lose soul. It’s time to make our city centre welcoming again for everyone who calls York home.
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