Q. I am looking to buy a one bedroom apartment in Canary Wharf but am shocked to find that most of those that I look at don’t have parking which I need. But worse than that I have also discovered that I can’t obtain a parking permit to park on the street either? Why is this and have you any suggestions as to what to do next given parking is a deal breaker for me?
A. I am sorry to inform you that this is absolutely correct. If you decide to purchase a car-free property, you do not qualify for an on-street parking permit unless you are the holder of a disabled person’s (blue) badge issued pursuant to Section 21 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Person’s Act 1970. Carfree developments are those that do not have facilities for the parking of motor vehicles. In the case of residential developments that are in a controlled parking zone, this usually involves preventing the residents from obtaining on-street parking permits, in addition to no off-street parking being provided (apart from disabled bays).Carfree Developments are a direct and innovative response to the challenge of a sustainable transport future. Often designed in conjunction with other congestion reducing measures (e.g. car clubs, lift share schemes etc.) carfree housing developments have recently increased substantially and come in a variety of configurations. Local authorities and other planning bodies are directly contributing to this process through a range of incentives to developers. These include use of section 106 planning legislation. This facilitates granting of planning consent when new developments include carfree or low car provision. Interest in carfree (and low car) developments (housing, office and mixed use) is increasing throughout the UK. If you really need car parking you have two options, the first is to switch your search to older developments that were built prior to the introduction of the carefree idea. These developments often issued parking with all one bedrooms and on the occasional development that did not you can easily obtain a Tower Hamlets parking permit. The second option is to check out whether there are any spaces available to rent within the chosen development? Often you will find that owners that don’t have a car are willing to rent their space to someone who doesn’t.