UK shopping centres with free parking
8 of the biggest shopping centres in the UK have free parking.
Bluewater, Grenhithe, Kent
Bluewater has the largest number of parking spaces of any shopping centre analysed at 13,000. 300 of these are disabled spaces and it has 19 EV chargepoints. It’s positioned a short distance from the M25.
Meadowhall, Sheffield
Boasting 12,000 spaces (350 of which are for Blue Badge holders or disabled drivers) and 57 EV charging points, this retail centre scored highly across the different parking aspects we looked at. It’s located just a few miles from Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre.
Metrocentre, Gateshead
This shopping centre in the North East is one of the UK’s biggest with 10,000 parking spaces. It’s also conveniently located just off the A1 making it easy to access for drivers from Newcastle or further afield.
Lakeside Shopping Centre, Thurrock, Essex
Positioned just outside Greater London, this shopping centre has 11,857 parking spaces. It also has 427 disabled parking spaces.
Trafford Centre, Manchester
With 11,500 parking spaces, Trafford Centre is a convenient shopping spot near Manchester. It’s just 5 miles west of the city centre.
Braehead, Renfrew
Positioned not too far from the centre of Glasgow, this shopping centre has over 4,600 free parking spaces, 353 of which are for Blue Badge holders. There are 6 EV charging points available.
Silverburn, Glasgow
A similar size to Braehead and also located near the centre of Glasgow, Silverburn has over 3,400 spaces (258 of which are disabled spaces) and 8 EV chargepoints.
Arena Park, Coventry
Smaller than the other UK shopping centres with free parking, Arena Park has 1,600 parking spaces with 48 of those for disabled drivers.
Although after 5 hours of parking at Arena Park, a minimum of £50 spend is required in the centre.
We provide 24/7 roadside assistance.
Different parking costs at different times
Some shopping centres also offer free parking on selected days and times. For example, Queensgate in Peterborough offers free parking on Thursdays after 5pm. Meanwhile East Kilbride Shopping Centre offers free parking Monday to Friday from 4pm, for 3 hours on a Saturday and all day on a Sunday.
Some centres also have slightly different prices depending on which car park you choose. For example, Telford Shopping Centre in Shropshire charges £6 for a 3+ hour stay in their short stay car park, but only £4 for a 3+ hour stay in their long stay car park.
And while not all centres offer free parking, many offer affordable options. For example, at Centre:MK in Milton Keynes, you can park for a £1 for 2 hours. At Atria Watford, you can park for £2 for 2 hours.
Which UK shopping centres have the most expensive parking?
Looking at the cost of parking for 2 hours and a full day, these are some of UK shopping centres with the most expensive parking.
| Shopping centre |
Cost of parking for 2 hours |
Cost of parking for 1 day |
| Victoria Square, Belfast |
£6.80 |
£24 |
| St James Quarter, Edinburgh |
£6.20 |
£24 |
| Bullring & Grand Central, Birmingham |
£5.50 |
£25 |
| Trinity, Leeds |
£5 |
£32 |
| Westgate, Oxford |
£4 |
£35 |
Victoria Square, Belfast
Opened in 2008, this Northern Irish shopping centre charges customers £6.80 to park for 2 hours (the highest across all the shopping centres looked at), and £24 for the full day.
It has 1,000 spaces, 64 of which are for Blue Badge holders, and 4 EV chargepoints.
St James Quarter, Edinburgh
Opened in the summer of 2021, this shopping centre is located in the centre of the Scottish capital. The cost of parking for 2 hours is £6.20 – it costs £24 to park for a full day.
There’s 1,600 spaces available, 70 which are for Blue Badge holders, and 45 EV charging points.
Bullring & Grand Central, Birmingham
This iconic and well-known shopping centre sits in the heart of Birmingham. Featuring over 3,500 spaces, the charges are £5.50 for 2 hours and £25 for a full day.
Trinity, Leeds
Charging £5 for 2 hours of parking and £32 for a whole day, this shopping centre has just 630 spaces – there are 14 disabled spaces. It also has 4 charging points for electric cars.
Westgate, Oxford
Positioned in the centre of this historic town, Westgate shopping centre was extensively remodelled and extended in 2016 and 2017.
It costs £35 to park there for a full day (the most expensive whole day parking charge of any shopping centre looked at), but only £4 for 2 hours. It only has 1000 spaces, butelectric car drivers might find the 50 EV chargepoints appealing.
Some shopping centres are more expensive than those featured above for 2 hours of parking, but cheaper for a full day. For example, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford charge £6.50 and £6 for 2 hours, respectively. But they charge £15 and £16 for a full day of parking, which is a fair bit less than those listed above.
Electric car charging points in UK shopping centres
As electric cars become more and more popular, the availability of EV chargepoints at public places like shopping centres will become more important to British drivers.
In February 2022, 10% of drivers planning to change their car in the next 5 years said they’d switch to an EV.4
Of the 35 shopping centre car parks analysed for this study, 28 had at least 1 EV chargepoint available. Only 13 had 10 or more charging points for customers to use.
The shopping centres with the most charging points available were:
- Highcross, Leicester – 80 charging points
- Meadowhall, Sheffield – 57 charging points
- Westgate, Oxford – 50 charging points
It's important to be aware of the types of chargepoints at different shopping centres. While Highcross has the greatest number of EV chargepoints, according to Zap Map these are all 3kW slow chargers.
Meadowhall and Westgate, on the other hand, have fast 7kW chargers.
Learn more about electric car charging points.
Whether you drive electric, hybrid, petrol or diesel, we can help.
Disabled car parking spaces at UK shopping centres
The shopping centres that have the greatest number of disabled parking spaces are Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock (427) and Braehead in Renfrew (353).
Although, due to the large number of spaces available at these shopping centres, the number of disabled parking spaces only made up 4% of spaces at Lakeside.
The study showed that the 2 shopping centres with the greatest percentage of disabled parking spaces were both in Scotland. 8% of spaces in Braehead and Silverburn (both located not far from the centre of Glasgow) are reserved for Blue Badge holders.
Are shopping centre car parks likely to change in the future?
With the steep growth in online shopping in 2020 and 2021, the future of shopping centres and retail stores remains uncertain.
Changes to car parking might be introduced to encourage customers back to shopping centres. But centres located in busy city or town centre locations are still unlikely to offer free parking facilities.
One aspect that's likely to change going forward is an increasing number of EV chargepoints available in shopping car parks as more and more drivers go electric.
It isn’t just the number of EV chargepoints that’s important. Whether the chargepoints are slow, fast or rapid will also have an impact on how attractive the location is to EV drivers.
In general, shopping centres might be best to go for a mix to cater for those hoping to charge their car quickly, and those happy to leave it on charge while spending the day shopping.
The accessibility of electric car chargepoints is also of increasing importance, and shopping centres, along with other public places introducing charging stations, will need to make sure these can be used by all drivers.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, commented: "Drivers parking at shopping centres do so for convenience, but also expect to pay a reasonable charge for the privilege.
"As more drivers switch to electric cars, it is clear that more chargepoints are needed, as well as a mix of charging speeds.
"Retail outlets should also ensure that their chargepoints are accessible to all, as well as being placed in safe, well lit locations."
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Published: 23 March 2022 | Updated: 31 May 2022 | Author: The AA
