An hour costs £3.85 at Friars Lane and £1.10 in Whitton. Every council tariff from 6 July, the nine zones that still charge on bank holidays, and what is free.
Richmond upon Thames put new parking charges in place on Monday 6 July 2026, after its annual review. The council says it sets charges to recover the cost of the service “so there is no need for further taxpayer subsidy”, and benchmarks against other boroughs and inflation. The decision is recorded on its parking charges review page.
The result is a borough where the price of an hour’s parking varies by more than three to one depending on which town centre you stop in. An hour at Friars Lane in Richmond is £3.85. An hour at Nelson Road in Whitton, or Taylor Close in Hampton Hill, is £1.10. Five of the council’s 25 car parks are free at all times.
The council’s car parks, and what an hour costs
Every tariff below is from the council’s own per-area car park pages, all marked “fees effective from 6 July 2026” apart from Richmond Riverside, which took its new prices on 1 July.
| Car park | Area | Bays | 1 hour | Longest stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friars Lane, TW9 1NL | Richmond | 50 | £3.85 | 4 hours, £15.15 |
| Paradise Road multi-storey, TW9 1SQ | Richmond | 337 | £3.55 | Over 9 hours, £31.60 |
| Old Deer Park, TW9 2RA | Richmond | 285 | £2.95 | 24 hours, £21.10 |
| Old Deer Park Extension, TW9 2RA | Richmond | 98 | £2.95 | 4 hours, £12.10 |
| Pools on the Park, TW9 2SF | Richmond | 150 | £2.45 | 4 hours, £10.20 |
| Richmond Riverside, TW9 1TH | Richmond | 78 | £2.95, Sat daytime | Weekends and Friday evenings only |
| Arragon Road multi-storey, TW1 3NG | Twickenham | 437 | £1.25 | Over 6 hours, £18.25 |
| Holly Road, TW1 4HF | Twickenham | 171 | £2.10 | 4 hours, £8.20 |
| Church Lane, TW1 3NX | Twickenham | 30 | £2.10 | 2 hours, £4.10 |
| York House, TW1 3AA | Twickenham | 29 | £2.10 | 2 hours, £4.10 |
| North Lane (West), TW11 0HJ | Teddington | 79 | £1.90 | 3 hours, £5.80 |
| Teddington Pool, TW11 8EZ | Teddington | 42 | £1.90 | 4 hours, £7.80 |
| Cedar Road, TW11 9AN | Teddington | 22 | £1.90 | 2 hours, £3.90 |
| Sheen Lane Centre, SW14 8LP | East Sheen | 38 | £1.90 | 3 hours, £5.80 |
| Rocks Lane, SW13 0BY | Barnes | 23 | 80p | 4 hours, £8.10 |
| Kew Station Forecourt, TW9 3PZ | Kew | not stated | £1.95 | 2 hours, £3.90 |
| Nelson Road, TW2 7BB | Whitton | 64 | £1.10 | 3 hours, £2.90 |
| Taylor Close, TW12 1NL | Hampton Hill | 72 | £1.10 | 4 hours, £4.10 |
| Old Bridge Street, KT1 4BJ | Hampton Wick | 16 | £1.85 | 2 hours, £3.85 |
| Bennet Close, KT1 4AT | Hampton Wick | 10 | Free | 4 hours, £10.20 |
Sources: the council’s area pages for Richmond, Twickenham, Teddington, Sheen, Barnes, Kew, Whitton, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick.
Two of these are worth reading twice. Bennet Close in Hampton Wick gives the first hour free to everyone, then charges £2.95 for two hours and £10.20 for four, and because of that free hour it is the one car park where the Richmond Card discount does not apply. Arragon Road is the cheapest short stay in any town centre at £1.25 an hour, but it carries a special events tariff of £26.45 on Twickenham event days.
Paradise Road is the only 24-hour multi-storey. It has a 1.9 metre height limit, a £4.95 flat rate for evenings from 6pm to midnight, and no charge at any time for disabled drivers, who press the help button at the exit. It also takes no RingGo.
Where parking is free
Five council car parks charge nothing at any time:
- Ashburnham Road (St Richards Court), TW10 7NF, Ham, 29 bays
- Ham Street, TW10 7RS, by the river, 80 bays, 2.73 metre height limit
- The Avenue, TW12 3RN, Hampton, 104 bays
- Tangley Park Road, TW12 3YH, Hampton, 64 bays
- High Street (Service Station), TW12 1NL, Hampton Hill, 47 bays, two-hour limit in the day
Most of the charged car parks are also free outside their operating hours, and the operating hours are short. Sheen Lane closes its charging at 6pm on weekdays and does not charge at all at weekends. Rocks Lane in Barnes charges only Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
The bank holiday trap
On bank holidays you can park free in a marked controlled parking zone bay across most of the borough, with no ticket, no app and no permit. The exceptions are the part people get caught by. These nine areas charge on bank holidays as normal:
- Zone A1, Richmond Town
- Byfeld Gardens, in Zone CB, Central Barnes
- Zone H, Hampton Court
- Part of Kew Road and Kew Gardens Road, in Zone KA
- Zone KC, North Kew
- Zone M1, Vicarage Road, Teddington
- Zone Z1, Elleray Road, Teddington
- Zone Z2, Ferry Road, Teddington
- Zone Z3, Bracken Gardens, Barnes
The Twickenham Event Zone and the North Kew Event Zone also apply on their event days. Yellow lines stay in force everywhere, and CCTV enforcement of moving traffic offences carries on through the holiday. That list is from the council’s bank holiday parking page.
Car parks differ too. Church Lane, Holly Road, York House, Kew Station Forecourt, Sheen Lane, Nelson Road, Taylor Close and Pools on the Park are all free on bank holidays. Old Deer Park and its extension charge on bank holidays, 11am to 5pm, as does Bennet Close, 9am to 5pm.
Resident permits: price depends on your zone, not your car
Richmond does not price permits by engine emissions. It prices them by how long the zone operates, and by how many permits your household already holds. There are three price bands.
| Zones | First permit, 12 months | Second permit | Third and later |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1, A2, CB (Byfeld Gardens), H, KS, M1, T (part), Z1, Z2, Z3, Z5 | £153.80 | £307.60 | £461.40 |
| A3, B, C, CB, CR, D, E (part Popes Grove), F, FW, G, HM, KA (part Kew Road), KC, L, N, S, S1, S2, SF, SH, SH/WT, T1, T5, WR, WT, X | £116.60 | £233.20 | £349.80 |
| B1, B2, E, ES, ES1, J, KA, KB, M, S3, T, T2, T3, T4, T6, WC, WS, X1, Z4 | £68.50 | £137 | £205.50 |
Source: the council’s resident permit costs page, updated 6 July 2026. Three and six-month permits are available at proportionally higher monthly rates. A second permit costs exactly twice the first, and a third exactly three times, in every zone. Refunds are the unused whole months, less a £10 admin fee.
Visitor parking comes as scratchcards, sold in books of ten, or as pre-booked Pay As You Go sessions. Almost the whole borough pays £17.65 a book or £1.80 a session. The exceptions are Zone A1 Richmond Town and Zone A2 Richmond Hill at £35.30 a book and £3.55 a session, exactly double. Anyone over 60 gets 50% off on proof of age. Scratchcards and booked sessions are not valid in car parks or in pay and display bays.
In zones that operate for only part of the day, one scratchcard covers a full day rather than a single session. That applies to B1, B2, E, ES, ES1, J, KA, KB, M, S3, T, T2, T3, T4, T6, WC, WS, X1 and Z4, and it is set out on the visitor permit prices page.
The Richmond Card gives residents free parking for stays of up to 30 minutes in most council car parks, and the same discount runs through RingGo residency status in the app. It is free to apply for.
Blue badge
Blue Badge holders park free at any time in the Paradise Road multi-storey, and are allowed to park in the Twickenham Event (R) Zone on event days. Badges are applied for through GOV.UK, and some criteria require a mobility assessment. Badge holders can also apply for a disabled bay outside their home, though the council states plainly that these are not reserved for one person’s exclusive use. Details and the assessment process are on the council’s Blue Badge page, or by phone on 020 8831 6096.
Parking in a mandatory disabled bay without a badge is a “serious” contravention, at the top penalty level.
Rugby days
Twickenham Stadium fills the borough’s roads several times a season. When crowds of 25,000 or more are expected the council switches on the Twickenham Event Zone, a one-day controlled parking zone around the ground, operating 11am to 11pm. Over about 30,000 the full zone covers a large area; around 30,000 a smaller sub-zone covers the roads opposite the stadium.
The council’s published fixture list for the rest of 2026 is:
| Date | Event | Kick off | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 26 September 2026 | Red Roses v New Zealand | 3pm | 60,000 |
| Sun 8 November 2026 | England v Australia | 3.10pm | 82,000 |
| Sat 14 November 2026 | England v Japan | 4.40pm | 82,000 |
| Sat 21 November 2026 | England v New Zealand | 2.10pm | 82,000 |
| Fri 27 to Sun 29 November 2026 | Nations Cup final weekend | Two matches a day | 82,000 a day (to be confirmed) |
| December 2026, date to be confirmed | Harlequins Big Game 18 |
Source: the council’s Twickenham rugby and event parking page. Residents and businesses inside Zone R get free one-year permits for themselves and their visitors. Permits for the Heatham, Cole Park, Whitton Road, Whitton South and Whitton Central zones are already valid on event days. Temporary closures typically go in about 1.5 to 2 hours before and after an event, and can affect Rugby Road, Whitton Road between London Road and Kneller Road, and London Road between King Street and Whitton Road.
Station car parks are tiny
If you were planning to drive to the station and take the train in, the numbers are against you. National Rail’s own station records give the borough’s car parks as:
| Station | Spaces | Accessible bays | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 55 | 6 | No |
| Twickenham | 21 | 11 | No |
| Fulwell | 15 | 0 | No |
| Mortlake | 9 | 4 | No |
| Teddington | 8 | 10 | No |
| Hampton | 7 | 0 | No |
| Hampton Wick | 6 | 0 | No |
| Barnes, Barnes Bridge, North Sheen, St Margarets, Strawberry Hill, Whitton, Kew Gardens | 0 | 0 or 1 | No car park |
Source: the station pages on nationalrail.co.uk, checked 30 August 2026. Richmond is one of the busiest interchanges in south west London and has 55 spaces. The nearest alternatives are the council’s own car parks, all of which are within a few minutes’ walk of the station.
Penalty charges
| Contravention | Band A | Band B |
|---|---|---|
| Serious, for example yellow lines, footway, disabled bay | £160, or £80 within 14 days | £140, or £70 within 14 days |
| Less serious, for example overstaying, bad parking in a bay | £110, or £55 within 14 days | £90, or £45 within 14 days |
| Bus lane | £160, or £80 within 14 days |
For a less serious PCN issued by camera rather than by a civil enforcement officer, the discount window is 21 days rather than 14. Source: the council’s PCN costs page. The council also warns that it never asks for PCN payment by text message, and that scam texts are circulating.
Also on Richmond Online
- Richmond bin collection days, including the bank holiday rule
- Richmond council tax bands for 2026/27
- Roadworks and travel, updated against the council’s own orders
Charges checked against the council’s pages on 30 August 2026. Tariffs are reviewed annually, and the last change took effect on 6 July 2026.
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