A Guide to How Parking Services Can Benefit A Landowner

For landowners, parking services can be advantageous in terms of finance and security. Read on to find out why you should consider enlisting the help of a car parking enforcement company and discover the services that could benefit you.

As a landowner, why should I introduce car parking management services?

It’s important to remember that unauthorised parking on your land can cause various problems for business owners, employees and customers. In many cases, a mere ‘private parking’ sign will do little to restrict external access to your car park and people will continue to use your premises regardless of whether or not they are authorised to do so.

These key issues will make you think twice about how your land is used for parking:

Unauthorised parking

You’ll want to stop people using your land to park illegally or parking and going somewhere else. This is very common in town or city centres as people will try and find the cheapest or a ‘free’ option.

Vehicle theft

Opening your land or private car park up to the public can cause a rise in vehicle theft. Without sufficient security measures, the cars and vans of your employees are left vulnerable to thieves.

Traffic congestion

A lack of access control can risk your land or private car park becoming congested if too many members of the public park there.

Site vandalism

Weak security can leave your premises exposed to vandalism. If you want to minimise the risk of company vehicles and equipment getting damaged or destroyed, you’re going to want to invest in some heightened security measures.

Abandoned cars

In the UK there is still a problem with old or damaged cars being left in car parks or other private areas. Ensuring you have a strong car park security solution in place will reduce and even eliminate this.

Out of hours parking

You’ll want to prevent people using private car parks illegally out of hours. This is the peak time for criminal activity, from anti-social behaviour to unauthorised meetups.

Fly tipping

An unsecured parking area is often seen as the perfect place to engage in fly tipping and disposing of other unwanted items. With car park security, you can stop them from getting in your car park or catch the guilty parties.

Revenue losses

Problems with your company parking facilities could cause you long-term financial problems. People will not pay for their parking in certain car parks – if there are no barriers, cameras or security methods they will often take their chances and not pay for parking, losing you revenue. Therefore, improving your car park security is a cost-effective investment that will protect your business.

How can I ensure parking on my land stays secure and profitable?

There are several ways you can help keep your car park secure while also generating profits. Here’s just a few parking services you may benefit from:

Abandoned vehicle removal

At Park Direct UK, we understand the nuisance that abandoned vehicles can cause. According to current legislation, a vehicle is considered abandoned if it has been left on private property for a minimum of 15 days or has no number plate. The condition of the vehicle is also taken into consideration when determining whether or not it is likely to have been abandoned, for example there is significant damage, burnt bodywork, rusted brake discs or notable amounts of dirt building up around the vehicle.

When there is a car abandoned on your private property, it can be an inconvenience in a number of ways; not only may they be causing an obstruction to you or others trying to park your own vehicles, but they can also be unsightly.On top of these issues, they may even pose a vast health and safety risk, with there potentially being smashed windows resulting in broken glass on the floor, petrol leaks that cause a fire and slippage hazard and missing wheels – all of which are dangerous.

If there is an abandoned vehicle at your premises, you now have the power to remove said vehicle from your land by contacting us here at Park Direct UK. The process is quick and simple; all you need to do is get in touch and carry out the necessary steps that we provide you with, then we will take care of the rest, managing the removal from start to finish.

Remember, an attempt must be made to find the owner of the vehicle and notice must be given if there is a registered owner. If there is no action or response within this notice period, then we can go ahead and remove the vehicle from your land.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)

ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) is a method used to keep car parks secure – another form of vehicle access control. As the name states, the system scans inbound and outbound vehicles’ plates and either grants or denies access to the car park based on various factors. The factors used to determine a vehicle’s access level can be things like if the owner has paid for their parking, if they are an employee and are on the database or if they have temporary clearance. In terms of a private car park in a retail setting, plate information is temporarily stored and once the vehicles have left the car park successfully the plate information is removed. ANPR is a popular security measure used in a range of different car parks across the United Kingdom and the globe – and we definitely recommend you look into it if you want to make your private parking area more established.

Parking enforcement

As a parking management company, we are fully aware of the difficulties your business may have with unauthorised vehicles parking at your commercial property. This can prove to be more of a nuisance than you may have anticipated, especially if it is stopping your own staff being able to park their vehicles or interrupting the efficient operation of your business.

We are confident that our services can help change this. At Park Direct UK, we specialise in eliminating any issues you have regarding unauthorised parking. With our professional and effective parking enforcement services, you can expect extensive methods to be used to efficiently tackle any unwarranted parking on your premises, from free parking permits for all necessary individuals to free warning signs.

Car park barriers

If you’re looking for an effective way to secure your parking area, car park barriers offer a simple but safe way to monitor vehicle traffic in and out of your business. The installation of car park barriers operated with proximity card reading equipment means your staff and visitors won’t be held up waiting for someone to come and open barriers, or even have to get out of their vehicles. This system will allow only those with the correct permits though, providing seamless access by emitting a signal to the reader which automatically opens the security barrier. Whether you require a heavy-duty automatic barrier for high volume vehicle parking control, a folding parking barrier or manually operated security barriers for smaller premises, there’s many options available – you’re bound to find a choice that suits your requirements.

Pay and display parking

Pay and display parking involves people paying for a parking ticket then leaving said ticket displayed in their car (usually on their dashboard), so that it is visible for wardens or car park managers to see when checking that people have paid to park and are not staying longer than they have paid for.

Pay and display rules aren’t exclusive to drivers, however, as there are certain regulations you must follow when installing one of these in your car park. It is your responsibility to display the necessary tariff, payment and display information on or as close to your ticket machine(s) as possible according to the most recent laws and legislations.

When you get your pay and display machine through us, you can rest assured that your system will be managed correctly and in compliance with the current laws and legislations, allowing for effective parking enforcement in your car park.

If you own a private car park that has enough spaces for you to be happy opening it up for public use, then you may choose to have pay and display parking machines installed, as these are an effective way to generate revenue from your car park.

At PDUK, we have a full range of pay and display machines and payment options to be installed in your car park.

Car parking enforcement and more at Park Direct UK

Park Direct have over 60 combined years of experience within the parking enforcement sector. Specialising in housing associations, residential areas, retail car parks and business car parks, we offer complete parking management services to over 900 clients. For ticketing services, pay and display options and more, get in touch today.