Residents living within one of the borough's Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) can buy a resident parking permit, if their vehicle (or vehicles) is registered at their address within the CPZ.
Residents with more than one vehicle registered to their address can put up to two vehicles on their permit at no extra charge.
You can apply for a residents' permit for the parking zone where you live. The permit entitles you to park in any residents' bay in your parking zone.
Residents' permits cost £60 a year or £24 for three months.
How to apply for a permit
Complete an application form for the permit you need. These forms are available at the Parking Shop, AccessPoint Catford or you can download and print forms here.
When you have filled in the form, take it in person or post it to the Parking Shop with:
- proof of residence (your council tax book, your latest council tax bill or an entry in the public version of the electoral register).
- each vehicle's registration document confirming that your vehicle is registered at the address for which the permit is required.
You can also take your form and proofs to AccessPoint Catford. We cannot issue you with your business permit here, but will send it to you in the post.
Temporary permits
You may need a temporary permit if you have just moved into a Lewisham Controlled Parking Zone, but do not yet have your Council Tax book or have not yet registered your vehicle at your new address.
To obtain a temporary permit, take your vehicle registration document to the Parking Shop and complete the relevant section to re-register the vehicle at your new address.
Staff at the Parking Shop will send this to the DVLA and will issue you with a one month resident's permit to cover the period until you receive your new vehicle registration document.
The Parking Shop also keeps a stock of council tax registration forms. You can therefore register for council tax at the Parking Shop.
Permits for company cars
If you have a company car and live within a controlled parking zone you are entitled to apply for a residents' parking permit for the company vehicle.
In addition to your Council Tax registration, or inclusion on the electoral register, you will need to provide a copy of your vehicle's registration document registered in the name of the company and a letter from your employer on their headed paper confirming you as the authorised driver/keeper of the vehicle. Please ensure the letter quotes the registration number of the vehicle.
What happens next?
Your permit will have the letters denoting the zone to which it applies clearly on it. Each set of parking bays will have a sign stating which zone it is in and the type of parking permitted in it.
Your permit does not entitle you to a space outside your own house. There are places where space is at such a premium that a permit will not necessarily guarantee you a space in your street, and you may occasionally have to park in an adjacent street within the zone.
The charges explained
The Secretary of State requires that we charge for permits (the zone must be self-financing) but Lewisham keeps the permit cost as low as possible.
At present there is no upper limit on how many permits a resident can purchase, providing they meet the criteria set out above.
People occasionally comment that they have paid their road tax, and ask why they should have to pay again to park outside their own house. In fact we each have an equal right to use the road; it is a public highway. When you buy a permit, you are paying to exclude other users during the CPZ operating times, usually commuters.