Disabled parking bays

No. To apply for a disabled parking bay, you must hold a valid Blue Badge. For information on how to get one, visit our Blue Badges page.

• the higher rate of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance
• 8 points or more in the Moving Around descriptor of Personal Independence Payment
• 10 points for descriptor E ‘Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress’ under the Planning and Following a Journey component
• a War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement

Yes. The application pack contains a medical form. If the applicant does not meet the medical criteria listed on the form, but has an enduring and substantial disability meaning they are unable to walk (or have considerable difficulty walking, including applicants with a hidden disability), they can take the form to their medical practitioner.

The medical practitioner can provide evidence to help us to assess the application. Please note, some medical practitioners may charge for the completion of forms – these costs are the responsibility of the applicant.

Yes, if the person who owns and drives a vehicle on your behalf lives permanently at your address and the vehicle is registered at your address.

No. A disabled parking bay can’t be used only for picking up and dropping off passengers. The bay would stand empty most of the time, stopping other motorists from parking, and reducing the amount of parking space for other residents.

Relatives and carers are not permitted to use disabled parking bays, unless they are transporting the disabled person or they hold their own valid blue badge.

No. We won’t normally install a disabled bay in these circumstances; we would suggest that you apply for a white entrance bar marking if you don’t already have one. If you don’t use your driveway or garage and the access isn’t shared, we can consider placing the bay across the dropped kerb.

If someone parks across your dropped kerb who you haven’t authorised to do so, you can call our Traffic Management Centre on 023 9268 8290 and ask for a Civil Enforcement Officer to visit, they may issue a Penalty Charge Notice to the vehicle parked across the dropped kerb.

Yes. We don’t usually approve an application if the applicant has an off-street parking facility, but it may be approved if there are exceptional circumstances.

When you apply for a disabled parking bay, please provide as much information as possible about your off-street parking facility and the reasons why you are unable to use it.

• Pay and display zones

No. Please note that we are unable to install disabled parking bays where pay and display operates, but a blue badge holder can park for free and for an unlimited period of time in these bays.

• Resident parking zone

Yes. If the applicant lives in a resident parking zone, we may still be able to provide a bay outside the property.

• Limited wait restriction

If the applicant has a limited wait restriction outside their property, we may still be able to provide a bay outside the property, unless the limited wait restriction is in place to allow turnover of vehicles outside a shop or public building.

• Other parking restrictions (such as double yellow lines or a bus stop)

Yes you can apply, but we may have to turn down your application. When applicants have a parking restriction outside their property, we will look to see if there is a suitable alternative location close by, but this may not always be possible.

We do our best to deal with applications as quickly as possible.

Due to the production and publication of Traffic Regulation Orders, an application will take between three and six months to process. We will let you know in writing if your application is successful.

Your application may take longer than the minimum 3 months to be processed if for example, during the consultation process, someone objects to the disabled bay being installed and this may require a report to the Traffic & Transportation Cabinet Member at a formal meeting.

Yes. In exceptional circumstances a member of the parking management team can consider applications that weren’t approved.

If you’d like to be considered as a special case, please write to us explaining the reasons for your appeal.

Yes. Portsmouth City Council operates an enforceable disabled parking bay scheme.

An enforceable disabled parking bay can be identified by a sign located next to the bay, which reads ‘disabled badge holders only’.

If a motorist is parked within an enforceable disabled parking bay without displaying a valid blue badge or disabled parking bay permit, they are liable to receive a Penalty Charge Notice.

You need to display either a valid Blue Badge or a disabled parking bay permit. Permit request forms are automatically sent to bay holders with the issue of a disabled parking bay. They can also be requested by contacting us.

No. The disabled parking bay permit is issued as an alternative to your blue badge, for parking in the disabled parking bay outside your house.

If you have a vehicle parked in the disabled parking bay with the permit on display you may not use your blue badge in another vehicle to park at or close by the same location. However, you can use your blue badge in a different vehicle if you are being taken to another location (e.g. visiting shops or attending a medical appointment) and still leave a vehicle in the disabled bay with the alternative permit on display.

After the sign reading ‘disabled badge holders only’ has been installed at the bay allocated for your use, it is legally enforceable.

You can report any vehicle parked without displaying a valid Blue Badge to our Traffic Management Centre.

Please call 023 9268 8290 or use our online form to report a vehicle between 7am and 10pm every day of the week. A Civil Enforcement Officer will attend the bay as soon as they can, and may issue a Penalty Charge Notice if the vehicle is parked without displaying a valid blue badge. We are unable to remove a vehicle from a bay.

A permit renewal letter will be sent to you around 30 days before your current permit is due to expire. Please note the parking bay permit has the same expiry date as your blue badge.

If you change your vehicle, you will need a new permit. For this, we require:

1. the disabled parking bay permit from the previous vehicle,
2. proof of address (such as a recent utility bill or driving licence), and
3. proof of the new vehicle (such as a vehicle registration document or Motability agreement).

A fee of £10 is payable for any permit that requires replacement or amendment, for example due to change of vehicle registration. You can change your permit details in person or by post – please make cheques or postal orders payable to ‘Portsmouth City Council’.

If you change your vehicle and it is either longer or substantially shorter than your existing vehicle, please notify us as we may be able to extend or reduce the bay marking to fit your new vehicle. The minimum length of a disabled parking bay is 5 metres, there is no maximum length, we identify the length of the vehicle that will be parking in the bay and add 1 metre to allow for the badge holder to manoeuvre the vehicle into the bay.

If you move from the address where the disabled bay has been installed or the bay is no longer required, please note that the disabled bay will be removed.

If the new resident of your property is a blue badge holder and meets the criteria for a disabled bay and notifies us before the legal process to remove the bay has been carried out, the bay could then remain without needing to go through the full legal process again.