Parking in Croydon: Car Parks, Tariffs, Zones and Permits

The single thing to understand about parking in Croydon is that the price is not the same for everyone. The council charges by your car’s carbon dioxide emissions, in three bands, in the car parks and in five bands for resident permits. Two people can park side by side for the same two hours and one pays £3.63 while the other pays £4.85. On top of that, where you park matters: an hour in the town centre costs half as much again as an hour in Purley or Coulsdon, and Sunday is free in the outer car parks but charged in the middle. This guide sets out the borough’s 19 council car parks, the 2026 tariffs, the controlled zones and what a permit actually costs, with every figure taken from Croydon Council’s own pages.

The emissions bands, first

Nearly every number below comes in threes, because the council’s car park tariffs are split into Band 1, Band 2 and Band 3, and the band is worked out from your vehicle’s carbon emissions. Band 1 is the cleanest and cheapest, Band 3 the dirtiest and most expensive. The council links to a checker on each car park page under the heading “what band is my vehicle?”.

The practical effect is a spread of roughly a third. Twenty-four hours in a central car park is £14.58 in Band 1 and £19.45 in Band 3, a difference of £4.87 for the same space on the same day.

Town centre car parks and 2026 tariffs

Four of the busiest car parks, Wandle Road (CR0 1DX, 78 spaces), Spice’s Yard at South End (CR9 1LT, 117 spaces), Jubilee Bridge on Lower Church Street (CR0 1XF, 117 spaces) and Fairfield Hall (CR0 1JN, 258 spaces including 21 disabled bays), all share one tariff. Charges apply Monday to Sunday, 7am to 6pm, and there is a separate cheaper evening rate.

Source: Croydon Council, Wandle surface car park and the matching tariff pages for Spice’s Yard, Jubilee Bridge and Fairfield Hall.

Evening parking is much cheaper. Between 6pm and 7am the same car parks charge £1.76, £1.99 or £2.35 for the first hour by band, and all night costs £4.46, £5.05 or £5.95. If you are coming into town for dinner or a show rather than the shops, arriving after 6pm roughly thirds the cost of a long stay.

Motorcycles park free at Wandle Road, Spice’s Yard, Jubilee Bridge and Fairfield Hall.

One local quirk: Jubilee Bridge sells a Bourne Street residents evening permit covering 6pm to 9am at £15, limited to two per household.

Purley and Coulsdon: cheaper, and free on Sundays

The Purley multi-storey on Whytecliffe Road South (CR8 2AH) and Lion Green Road in Coulsdon (CR5 2NL) run a different and noticeably cheaper tariff. Both are open 24 hours, both are free on Sundays, and motorcycles are free.

Source: Croydon Council, Purley multi-storey car park and Lion Green Road car park.

What it means for you: an eleven hour day in Purley costs £8.36 in Band 1, against £14.58 for 24 hours in the town centre. The Purley multi-storey is the borough’s largest at 387 spaces with 10 disabled bays, split for payment into levels 1 and 2 (RingGo code 16404) and levels 3 to 8 (code 16415). Lion Green Road has 88 spaces, 2 disabled bays and 14 electric vehicle charging bays, the biggest cluster of charging bays in any council car park in the borough.

The other council car parks

Croydon runs 19 car parks in total. The rest are smaller neighbourhood sites, each with its own RingGo code shown on the signs, listed in the council’s find council car parks in Croydon directory:

• Clifford Road, South Norwood SE25 5JH, 26 spaces, open 24 hours (16413)
• East Croydon Surface, Cherry Orchard Road CR0 6BT, 7 short stay spaces (16401)
• Factory Lane, West Croydon CR0 3RH, 21 spaces, 1 disabled bay (16402)
• Garnet Road, Thornton Heath CR7 8RD, 28 bays, 3 disabled, 2 electric (16403)
• Granville Gardens, Norbury SW16 4EU, 112 spaces, 3 disabled (16409)
• New Addington Central Parade CR0 0JL, 136 spaces, 3 disabled (16407), plus Central Market, 26 spaces (16410), and the swimming pool car park CR0 0JB, 46 spaces (16416)
• Reedham Station CR8 4DG, 53 spaces (16405)
• Russell Hill Place, Purley CR8 2LT, 51 spaces (16414)
• Sanderstead Road, Sanderstead CR2 0LY, 32 spaces (16417)
• Waddon Leisure Centre, London Road CR0 2TA, 27 spaces, 5 disabled (16408)
• West Croydon, London Road CR0 2TA, 29 spaces, 2 disabled (16418)

Controlled parking zones

Away from the car parks, most of built-up Croydon sits inside a controlled parking zone. A CPZ is an area with restricted parking, marked by large signs at every entrance showing the controlled hours, with yellow lines on the roads where you cannot park at all.

The borough has 20 named zones, including Purley, Coulsdon Town Centre, Coulsdon Resident Only, Thornton Heath, West Thornton, South Norwood, Norbury, Sanderstead, Old Lodge Lane, Bynes Road, Napier Road, the Centre Permit Zone, East Inner and East Outer, North, South, West, N1, N2 and E2. The full list, with a downloadable map for each, is on the council’s list of controlled parking zones. The council does not publish a single table of controlled hours: they vary by zone, which is why the entrance sign is the thing to read.

Inside a zone, the rules the council sets out on its parking restrictions page are:

• Bays are marked as white boxes and may be free, permit only, or shared between permit holders and paying drivers.
• Park entirely within the white lines. Straddling them counts as parking illegally.
• Maximum stay varies by location, and once your session expires you must wait at least 2 hours before returning to the same place.
• Yellow lines between bays are loading gaps. You can only load and unload there during controlled hours.

You pay through the RingGo app or website, by phone on 0203 046 0010, or with cash or card at a PayPoint shop.

Living in a controlled zone does not change how your rubbish is handled: bins still have to be presented at the edge of your property where it meets the highway, as set out in our guide to Croydon bin collection days.

On bank holidays, most restrictions apply as normal. The exceptions are Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, when they do not.

Permit costs are banded too

Resident permits are priced on carbon emissions across five bands for cars registered since March 2001, and by engine size for older ones. To qualify you must live in Croydon and be on the electoral register or the council tax record.

Source: Croydon Council, resident parking permits: how much it costs.

The headline figures are not the whole bill. The council adds:

• a £39 admin fee on each new permit application,
• £57 extra per diesel vehicle registered before September 2015, with the surcharge scaling from 57p to £57 depending on the permit’s length,
• a £57 surcharge for a second vehicle at the same address, and
• £171 for a third vehicle, on renewals only.

If a car registered after March 2001 has no CO2 figure on its V5C, it is charged at Band 5, the most expensive.

What it means for you: an electric car on an annual permit costs £39 plus the £39 admin fee in its first year. A pre-2015 diesel in Band 5 with a second car at the address is on £342 plus £57 plus £57 plus the £39 admin fee. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive household is not marginal.

Visitor permits come in two forms, per the council’s visitor parking permits page. An annual visitor permit is only available if you live in the central controlled parking zone and is valid on evenings and Sundays only. A visitor day permit covers other times and other zones. Each household can have one of each. The council also issues business, charity, housing estate, all zone and car park permits.

Penalty charge notices

Parking fines in Croydon are not set by the council. They are set by London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, which fixes the rates for every London borough. Croydon’s own note is that most roads in the borough are charged at Band A, with a few roads bordering neighbouring boroughs at the higher Band B. The current amounts are published on the London Councils site and linked from the council’s PCN fines page. Paying early attracts a discount, and you can appeal online or by email up to 14 days after the notice was issued.

Frequently asked questions

How much is parking in Croydon town centre?

In the Wandle Road, Spice’s Yard, Jubilee Bridge and Fairfield Hall car parks, two hours costs £3.63, £4.12 or £4.85 depending on your vehicle’s emissions band, and 24 hours costs £14.58, £16.53 or £19.45. Charges apply from 7am to 6pm every day, with cheaper evening rates after 6pm.

Why does parking cost different amounts for different cars in Croydon?

Croydon prices both car park tariffs and resident permits on vehicle carbon emissions. Car parks use three bands and permits use five, plus two more for cars registered before March 2001. Cleaner vehicles pay less.

Is parking free on Sundays in Croydon?

It depends where. The Purley multi-storey and Lion Green Road in Coulsdon are free on Sundays. The town centre car parks charge seven days a week from 7am to 6pm. In controlled parking zones, restrictions are lifted on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day but apply on most other bank holidays.

Where is the cheapest place to park in Croydon?

Of the council car parks with published tariffs, the Purley multi-storey and Lion Green Road in Coulsdon are cheapest, at £1.20 for the first hour and £8.36 for eleven hours in Band 1, and free on Sundays. In the town centre, the cheapest option is to arrive after 6pm, when all night costs £4.46 to £5.95.

How much is a resident parking permit in Croydon?

Between £39 and £342 a year depending on your vehicle’s CO2 emissions, plus a £39 admin fee on each new application. Older diesels, second cars and third cars carry further surcharges.

How do I pay for parking in a Croydon controlled zone?

Through the RingGo app or website, by phone on 0203 046 0010, or with cash or card at a PayPoint shop. Each car park and bay has its own RingGo code shown on the signs.

Sources

• Croydon Council, find council car parks in Croydon, the directory of all 19 car parks
• Croydon Council tariff pages for Wandle surface, Spice’s Yard, Jubilee Bridge, Fairfield Hall, Purley multi-storey and Lion Green Road
• Croydon Council, parking restrictions and the list of controlled parking zones
• Croydon Council, resident parking permits: how much it costs and visitor parking permits
• Croydon Council, penalty charge notice fines

Tariffs and permit charges are those published by Croydon Council and checked on 4 August 2026. Charges are reviewed periodically, so read the sign or the council page before you pay.