Car Park Innovation
An evidence-based approach to turning underused car parks into revenue, social value and place.
Built with TfL's Places for London. Used by transport authorities, councils and asset owners with sites that should be delivering more.
CONTEXT
Car park land is one of the most underutilised asset classes in the UK. Most organisations know it. Few have a way to act on it.
↓ ~30% lower average occupancy in off-street car parks than pre-pandemic levels
↓ Fewer car trips as EV policy, low traffic neighbourhoods, and ULEZ-style schemes reduce car use by design
↓ Less commuting as remote and hybrid working has structurally reset parking demand
↓ Less high street footfall as online retail continues to pull shoppers from town centres and retail-adjacent car parks
THE OPPORTUNITY
The opportunity looks different depending on who owns the asset.
Councils & Combined Authorities
An empty multi-storey in a town centre is a placemaking opportunity with no clear path forward. We help councils build the evidence to decide what a site should become and defend that direction to planning committees and investment boards.
Town centres and high streets
ICBs and trusts need space close to where people live. Many underused car parks sit in those locations, where diagnostic provision, community services, or active health programmes could deliver significant value to the communities around them, often while longer-term redevelopment plans take shape. We help make impact happen now.
Neighbourhood health and community services
NHS & healthcare
Over a hundred Network Rail station car parks run below capacity nationally. Some can free surface land for housing. Others sit idle for years inside the development pipeline. We help asset owners model what each site is worth in its current use versus an alternative, before any commitment is made.
Stations, rail land and the housing pipeline
Transport & Rail
THE CHALLENGE
How do you maximise the value of a car park and prove a new use will work?
Most organisations with underused car parks have ideas for what else those sites could do. Very few have tested those ideas against real local data, built site-specific evidence or developed a case strong enough to get stakeholders onboard.
Without that, ideas stay as ideas. Sites stay idle.
OUR APPROACH
We provide a systematic, venture-building approach to turn intent into validated, delivery-ready propositions.
01
Data-Backed Design
We layer public and proprietary datasets to surface options that instinct and manual analysis miss. Geospatial data analysis, our own IP, and AI-powered frameworks identify alternative use options based on area profile and asset performance.
Demand Potential — Who is present and reachable around the site
Asset Performance — How the site is used today and what capacity exists
Supply Gap — Where local demand is unmet or underserved
02
Test and validate
We treat each potential use as a startup proposition. Hypothesis, test, evidence, iterate. We do not hand over a report. We go to the sites, validate with real people, source operators, and build commercial proof.
Desirable
Will people actually use this?
→ What is this area missing?
→ Would you use this, and how often?
→ What would you be willing to pay?
Feasible
Can this be delivered at this site?
→ Does this align with local priorities?
→ Are there site-specific constraints?
→ Who do we need around the table?
Viable
Does the financial and social value model stand up?
→ Is this site commercially deliverable?
→ What have similar uses generated elsewhere?
How: Startup-style experiments that de-risk concepts. Focus groups, prototype-to-pilot testing, real customer feedback. Small-scale and designed to produce evidence for decisions.
03
Activate
Validated concepts become funded, partnered, and operational.
Business Case — Package demand evidence, feasibility sign-offs, and financial models into a case built for planning committees and investment sign-offs
Delivery Partners — Source and negotiate with operating partners. Define commercial models, lease structures, and what success requires at site level
Pilot-to-Scale — Move from validated concept to live activation with a clear implementation roadmap, funding secured, and stakeholders already aligned
Get the full info pack.
✅ Places for London case study (PDF)
✅ Webinar walkthrough of our methodology
✅ Interview with Places for London
✅ Access to upcoming private community and events on this topic
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