Exeter on-street parking charges rise as new tariffs come into force

On-street parking charges across Exeter have already risen by up to 50 per cent in some areas after councillors approved controversial tariff increases last autumn – with the new fees now in force.

A decision to raise pay-and-display charges was made by Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways in September 2025. 

The move was then “called in” for further examination, but in October the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee gave the proposals the thumbs up.

Following the statutory notice period, the changes came into effect at the end of January 2026 – meaning motorists have been paying the higher rates for the past month.

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According to the council, on-street parking tariffs are reviewed every two years and were last updated in September 2022. 

The latest review aimed to maintain a deliberate pricing gap between on-street bays and district council-run off-street car parks.

Under policy agreed in November 2022, on-street parking for stays longer than one hour should be at least 10 per cent more expensive than equivalent off-street car parks. 

The stated aim is to encourage drivers to use longer-stay car parks rather than circulating residential and commercial streets searching for spaces, something the authority says contributes to congestion and poorer air quality.

By law, any surplus income from parking must be reinvested into transport-related services, including public transport support, highway maintenance, environmental improvements and traffic management schemes.

Across Exeter, many increases equate to around 10–12 per cent, rounded to the nearest 10p. However, some areas saw significantly larger jumps where charges were brought into line with nearby car parks.

In the central area, 30 minutes rose from £0.90 to £1.00, while one hour increased from £2.80 to £3.10. Two hours on Sundays and Bank Holidays went up from £4.10 to £4.60.

In the University area, a stay of over four hours jumped from £7.30 to £10.90 – a 49 per cent increase, the maximum permitted under the council’s cap.

Hospital-adjacent zones also saw sharp rises. In the Heavitree/Grendon Road area, two hours increased from £1.70 to £2.50 (around 47 per cent), and four hours from £2.50 to £3.70 (around 48 per cent), aligning prices more closely with the RD&E Heavitree car park.

Neighbourhood areas including St Leonards, Heavitree, Mount Pleasant and Whipton generally experienced smaller increases, with some short-stay free periods retained.

Six councillors triggered the October call-in process, arguing that rises of up to 50 per cent “in one hit” risked harming local businesses and could have been phased in or capped at 25 per cent instead.

Council officers maintained that reducing the increases would undermine the agreed policy objective of keeping on-street tariffs above off-street parking to manage demand and traffic flow.

After debate, the scrutiny committee endorsed the original decision. Members did, however, ask that the frequency of future reviews and the maximum price cap be looked at again.