Residents on a Walsall street are facing thousands in parking fines after a housing association commenced enforcement action without what they say was adequate warning. On February 1, 2026, WHG introduced fines for those parking in its South Street Gardens car park, a site residents had used freely for many years.
Residents caught unaware by sudden enforcement
Arun Singh Sidhu, Zubair Ahmed Shah and Wajid Rasool Mir are among many residents who parked at the site unaware of the incoming penalties. Before their first fines arrived through the post, residents continued to use the car park and later received several fines one after another. Arun said he has received three fines which have now accumulated to £500 and is being threatened with bailiffs. Zubair and his direct relations have been issued fines totalling more than £1,750. He said much of this has been paid off as his children were in the process of buying their first homes and did not want the debt to prevent them from being approved for a mortgage. Wajid received two fines; the first he paid and the second has now escalated to £170.
Residents accuse WHG of unfair handling
Residents have accused WHG of handling the situation unfairly as they were not warned about the enforcement action. South Street residents said they are prepared to pay the initial parking fines but are calling on WHG to cancel any subsequent penalties. But WHG will not commit to writing any off and said signage was put up in December 2025 warning people about the changes.
Arun, 24, said: “We’re trying to take accountability, rather than paying all the fines, we’ll pay the initial fine but the other fines are quite unfair. But WHG isn’t having it. They really don’t care. We’re getting letters from solicitors now that are saying if we can’t settle the accumulated debt you can expect a visit from the bailiffs. It’s gone to extreme levels and they’re taking it further. It’s quite stressful it’s risen so much. One of my neighbours has accumulated £850 for one vehicle. We could have come to an understanding but WHG doesn’t want to budge.”
Councillor calls for compassion
Leader of the Walsall Community Independents, Councillor Aftab Nawaz, said the social housing organisation should show a level of compassion. He added: “It would have been the right thing to send letters out to residents on South Street before they started enforcing. To say they don’t have to do that because it’s their land and they can do what they like is really arrogant. A social housing organisation should have a level of understanding and compassion for people not well off. People have been fined a lot of money, and until that letter comes to you, you’ve parked a few more times. A lot of people have been asked to pay up to £900 because they’ve parked in a place they’ve parked for many years. All the residents want is for WHG to meet them in the middle and pay one fine each.”
Zubair, 53, said: “If there was formal notice through the letter box, everyone would have stopped parking there. It would have caused a kerfuffle but if we had that formal notice it would have been the end of it. It would have avoided all these fines. WHG has just put up a brick wall and that’s it.” Wajid, 51, added: “WHG is still not accepting that we pay the first fine, then not extra charges. We could have finished the problem but they have not agreed.”
WHG defends its actions
Fay Shanahan, corporate director of operations and IT at WHG, said: “The two car parks at South Street Gardens are provided for the use of WHG customers, who pay for these facilities through their rent. Over time, customers raised concerns that spaces were increasingly being used by unauthorised vehicles, making it difficult for residents and visitors to park. Following consultation with customers, we introduced a permit scheme to help ensure these spaces remain available for them. To support the introduction of the scheme, signage explaining the parking arrangements was installed in December 2025 and we allowed a grace period before enforcement began on 1 February 2026. All of our customers were made aware of the restrictions taking effect and there are 10 signs on the car parks to alert drivers to the resident permit scheme. WHG does not receive any income from the parking charges issued. We recognise that receiving a parking charge notice can be concerning. Anyone who believes a notice has been issued incorrectly can appeal directly to All Parking Services, where each case will be considered on its individual circumstances.”
