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.
↓ Less commuter parking and less high street footfall as hybrid working and online retail pull demand away from station and town centre sites.
↑ Population growth driving demand for housing, healthcare, leisure and childcare beyond available real estate.
↑ Councils, NHS trusts and transit authorities under growing pressure to deliver social and commercial value from underused land.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The opportunity looks different depending on who owns the asset.
Councils & Combined Authorities
Town centres and high streets
Car parks possess strong potential to act as catalysts for broader urban regeneration and placemaking initiatives.
By rethinking these central assets, councils can support multi-modal access to local high streets and drive consistent footfall generation. Crucially, repurposing these high-traffic areas unlocks valuable land for impactful social value offerings, bringing essential services - such as healthcare and community hubs - directly into the heart of towns and cities where accessibility is highest.
Neighbourhood health and community services
NHS & healthcare
In areas where regional healthcare infrastructure is overwhelmed and lacking the physical space to expand, strategically located car parks present a highly viable solution. These underutilised, adjacent sites provide new, accessible opportunities to rapidly grow clinical capacity.
By transforming these spaces, trusts and integrated care boards can deliver diagnostic provision and active health programmes exactly where they are needed most, providing immediate relief to local infrastructure while longer-term plans take shape.
Stations, rail land and the housing pipeline
Transport & Rail
Station and transit-adjacent car parks naturally benefit from concentrated, predictable daily footfall. This presents a prime opportunity to deliver entirely new uses and value, moving far beyond simple vehicle storage.
By introducing services that build directly into people's daily routines and address specific needs at a local level, transport operators can transform these transit hubs into multi-use destinations that better serve both the commuting public and the surrounding neighbourhood.
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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