Enfield Council collected more than £11 million from parking tickets in 2025/26, a 25% annual increase, after doubling the number of wardens patrolling its streets. The north London authority reported a profit of £8.1 million from its parking services for the financial year, up £1.7 million from the previous year.
On-street enforcement drives profit
On-street enforcement, the largest source of income for the council's parking services, was a key driver behind the upturn. The borough, which includes Bounds Green, Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill, also took in an additional £2.75 million in profit from its street enforcement operation last year, an increase of about a quarter compared to 2024/25.
Total income from penalties issued to drivers rose to £11.5 million, up from £9.3 million the year before. However, this was offset by spending £8.3 million on enforcement, leaving a total profit from on-street parking fines of more than £3 million in 2025/26.
Restricted use of surplus
The surplus generated by parking services teams is restricted by law. It can only be used to fund approved transport and highway-related initiatives, including concessionary travel schemes such as London's Freedom Pass, aimed at older and disabled residents.
The findings were included in a recent report by Enfield Council assessing the impacts of changes to its parking and enforcement practices. The income boom follows the council almost doubling its team of parking wardens, known as civil enforcement officers, across the borough, which stretches from Edmonton in the south to Bullsmoor in the north.
Increased visibility on streets
Enfield Council said 2025/26 saw a “significant review and enhancement” of its civil enforcement team, leading to “increased visibility”. The local authority's report found that between 14 and 16 officers would previously have been deployed on average from Monday to Saturday. The council said the service “now regularly deploys up to 30” of these staff daily, adding that the hiring spree had “substantially strengthened its ability to monitor parking restrictions”.
Councils have a statutory obligation to deliver parking services, including traffic regulation across the borough, as well as parking enforcement on sites they maintain. The report, published last week, said effective parking management “encourages the turnover of parking spaces, supporting local businesses by improving customer access to town centres and commercial areas”.
The news comes as Enfield's Conservative minority administration, which ousted Labour as the largest party at the May local elections, agreed to push ahead with plans to offer 30 minutes of free parking per vehicle per day. The measure would apply to all council-owned car parks as well as “eligible on-street parking locations”. The local authority is carrying out a statutory consultation on the proposals. Council leader Alessandro Georgiou has previously said that, if the public backs the idea, the policy could “go live” by the end of November.
