Kiel increases resident parking fees: up to 90 euros soon possible!

Kiel increases resident parking fees: up to 90 euros soon possible!

The topic of parking in Kiel remains exciting, and some changes are coming on June 30, 2025. The state government has decided on new regulations that allow municipalities to significantly increase fees for resident parking spaces. So far, residents in Schleswig-Holstein have paid an annual amount of 30.70 euros for their parking permit. With the new regulations, these fees can now rise to up to 90 euros per year. This is reported by the Kiel News.

The changes aim to optimize the use of public parking space. In other federal states, such as Bonn or Tübingen, residents already have to pay more than 200 euros - a price that the regulation in Schleswig-Holstein is far removed from. In cities such as Neumünster, Lübeck and Kiel there are already efforts to increase parking fees in order to ensure a more efficient distribution of parking space.

New mobility concept in Kiel

Kiel's head of mobility, Alke Voß, emphasized that the new regulation should also help create incentives for alternative means of transport. “We want to re-manage parking areas to ensure that residents can actually use the parking spaces they need,” explains Voß. A new mobility concept for stationary vehicle traffic is scheduled to be presented in autumn 2023, which addresses the challenges surrounding parking in the city center.

The demand for parking space in Kiel is particularly high in inner city and mixed areas as well as near large event venues. Residents, business people and visitors often face major challenges finding a parking space. To counteract this problem, several resident parking zones have already been introduced. These enable residents to park long-term and ensure that long-term parkers, such as commuters, are pushed out of these zones. There are a total of eight such zones in Kiel: Altstadt, Blocksberg, Düsternbrook, Gerhardstrasse, Legienstrasse, Neumühlen, Prüne and Waisenhofstrasse, like that official website Kiel.de reported.

Adjustments to parking regulations

The new resident parking zones are only permitted in areas with high parking pressure and a high proportion of third-party parkers. However, the parking permit does not guarantee free parking in the zone, because the signage decides where residents are allowed to park. In mixed parking lots, vehicles with a resident parking permit can park for free and without limits, while in other places the rules are stricter.

Another point: Kiel's neighboring city of Lübeck has already pointed out that the currently low fees lead to inefficient use of parking space. Studies from other cities show that increasing fees by 10 to 30 percent in the past led to a noticeable reduction in the number of parking permits issued. The board and administration continue to have a duty to balance the interests of residents and urban development.