Request a disabled parking bay outside a property

A disabled parking bay is marked on the road outside or near to the property of a disabled person.

Eligibility

To qualify, you will need to have a valid current Blue Badge, granted under the ‘Mobility’ criteria.

In addition, you will need to provide evidence of one of the following:

• the receipt of the higher mobility component of Disability Living Allowance
• a Personal Independence Payment with 8 points or more awarded in the moving around category

You will also need to confirm that a vehicle is registered permanently at the address where the bay is required. This address must be the permanent address of the disabled person applying.

Costs

There is currently no charge for:

• applying for a disabled parking bay
• the inspection and works if you are successful with your application and the bay is provided

How to apply

You can apply for yourself, or on behalf of somebody else, with their consent.

Before you apply

Information you will need

Please make sure you have the following documents and evidence ready to upload, before you apply:

• two pictures of your Blue Badge – front and back 
• a copy of your mobility award (either your PIP with 8 points or more awarded in the moving around category or proof of your Disability Living Allowance with a higher mobility component)
• a copy of your vehicle registration documents (V5). If you have a motability vehicle, provide a copy of your vehicle invoice instead of a V5

Neighbour consultation

As part of the assessment process, we will consult your neighbours on the proposed bay. No personal information will be disclosed to them.

You may wish to speak with your neighbours about your intention of applying for a bay before you submit your application.

Apply online

If you wish to proceed, you can request a disabled parking bay, using our online form.

Request a disabled parking bay

If you have any questions about submitting an application please contact us.

What happens next

Once we receive a completed application form, we will assess the evidence provided, and if it meets the criteria, we will make a site visit to assess suitability. Details of the proposed bay, along with a letter and comments form, are then sent to neighbouring properties as part of a 3 week consultation.

Timescales

The timescales for each application vary depending on location and whether objections are received.

Typically, an application will take:

• a minimum of 12 weeks - to assess and make a decision (if there are no objections)
• up to a further 12 weeks - for the contractors to complete the lining and installation of the bay

If no valid objections are received and the application is successful, we will raise an order for the lining works to be completed on site.

Objections

If any valid objections are received, we can’t go ahead with your application. The team may need to undertake further work to investigate if a suitable solution can be found. This can’t always be guaranteed and adds time to the assessment process.

Our policy does not give us scope to overrule objections in situations where: 

• there is insufficient parking availability for the number of properties in the immediate area
• a bay cannot be positioned wholly outside the applicant’s property 
• it impacts on residents parking to the side of the bay or those living opposite (for example, on streets where parking is limited to one side of the road only or on some terraced streets where the property frontage is smaller than the length of the car)

Useful information

Pick up and drop off points

The bays we provide are to assist Blue Badge holders accessing a vehicle which is kept at the property. To justify a parking restriction on a residential street we need to ensure that they bay is ‘in use’ for most of the time by a vehicle displaying a Blue Badge.

Vehicles that drop off a disabled resident and are present for just a short amount of time can often stop in locations that would otherwise would not be suitable for parking.

This means that in almost all cases we cannot justify a bay that would be solely used as a pick up and drop off point.

Bay locations

The bays must be accommodated fully on the highway and cannot be placed on footways or verges.

Locations not suitable

We cannot provide disabled parking bays:

• for properties with off-street parking
• on streets with parking restrictions (including permit parking)
• on roads that are too narrow
• in close proximity to road junctions.

Off-street parking exceptions

We are only able to consider applications from residents who do not have off-street parking, unless the driveway or garage is clearly unsuitable. For example, if it is too narrow to park a car or very steep, it may be possible to consider a bay.

For these exceptional cases, the bay would usually be placed across the existing dropped kerb to minimise the impact on parking for the surrounding properties.

Blocked driveways

A disabled parking bay cannot be provided as a means of safeguarding access to your driveway, or as an alternative provision in case the driveway is being obstructed. Placing a marked bay across a drive makes enforcement practically impossible as the markings indicate that, as far as the highway authority is concerned, it is a suitable parking space.

Enforcement action

Our enforcement officers can issue fines for vehicles obstructing dropped kerbs (accessible dropped kerbs at the crossing point as well as driveways).

It is not illegal for vehicles to stop for a short time at an entrance to a drive. For example, when making a delivery or dropping someone off, especially if they have mobility needs.

Persistent obstructive parking can be reported to parking services with a request for enforcement action by emailing parking.services@leeds.gov.uk.

In an emergency, or if there is an added element of harassment and discrimination, obstruction of access can also be reported to the police.

Misused bays

If we receive reports that a bay is either left empty, being used by a vehicle not displaying a Blue Badge or misused in some other way, we will write to the original applicant to highlight the concerns. We may potentially ask for evidence of a Blue Badge to be provided to ensure that the bay is still required.

If we receive continued reports that the bay is being misused and we have not received any evidence to suggest that the bay is still required, we will arrange for the bay to be removed.

Enforcement

The disabled markings we provide under this scheme are advisory only and have no legal standing. We are unable to provide any form of enforcement to secure the use of an advisory bay.