NDN parking in shared drive (with diagram)

[ZenNudist]

Ive posted about this before. NDN has been parking in our shared access for ages and from time to time we get on him and he stops but he always resumes.

Our two houses share a driveway which is gated and deeds say shared access. Neither party is allowed to block the Access. Because its very narrow we dont park round the back. We made a front parking space and offered at the time to get theirs done too at just the extra material/labour cost rather than paying for a full job later. They declined so they have a garden at the front instead.

Ive drawn two very shaky cars on my diagram to show that if he parks in front of the gate on the shared access it blocks me from parking on my own drive. We have asked repeatedly with various levels of politeness and he is often really rude when asked to move his car.

What is my legal recourse here? I see it as the nuclear option and too upsetting to contemplate, but it would be good to understand my options for stopping this if continued reasonable requests fail.

[Collaborate]

Legal recourse is damages and an injunction. Check your home insurance for legal cover.

[ZenNudist]

Well i dont ever want it to get that serious and an injunction sounds difficult to enforce. It looks like damages would cover my costs but they havent got any money so what would i do? Get an attachment to earnings?

It seems like legal recourse would be more gruelling and costly for me than tbem and in the meantime they could step up tge dick behaviour without me wanting or being able to retaliate as i dont want to sink to their level.

[ShesNoNormanPace]

So is he driving on your dropped curb to get there?

[prh47bridge]

Enforcement of an injunction is straightforward. Any breach of an injunction is contempt of court. You go back to court and show that there has been a deliberate breach and the court will take action.

You may have greater difficulty enforcing damages if they haven't got any money. If they didn't pay any damages awarded you would have to go back to court for enforcement. There are a range of enforcement options available, one of which is getting an attachment of earnings.

If you win in court you will be able to recover your legal costs from them. And if you have legal cover on your house insurance your insurer will pick up the bill.

Not saying you should go down the legal route. It may escalate the situation in the short term. But you asked what your legal options are.

You could, of course, get a solicitor to write to them. That carries no legal force whatsoever but may be enough to get them to stop.

[ZenNudist]

We share the dropped kerb. Its our shared drive area he is parking on. I decided i have no heart to truly go the legal route. Its his girlfriend who has name on thedeed and shes this strange surrendered wife sort that says she cant make him stop but it really upsets her that he ignores her. She likes us and doesnt want to fall out.

[EggysMom]

I would say that, by parking there, he is blocking the official shared access - which doesn't only run between your two houses, it projects between the two front gardens all the way to the kerbside.

So when you say nobody can park on the shared access, is that in the deeds? It might be worth reminding him of that fact. But how, in a way that he'll listen and heed, I don't know.

Maybe you should just park there first? For a week?

[PotteringAlong]

Also remember you have to declare any neighbour disputes now if you want to sell. The legal option is basically making your house unsellable.

[Caselgarcia]

Every time he parks there, even if you don't need to get off your drive, go round and ask him to move. Early morning or late night would be best, inconvenience him as he inconveniences you. If he moans you can always point out you offered to assist with a drive for them when you did yours and its a shame he didn't take you up on it

[ZenNudist]

Castlegarcia we went down the route of reminding him every time to move it. He was often really rude and many times deliberately wait ages to move it then drive off. If i were waiting with dc in the car to get on my own drive he would be really hard work and never say sorry. It gets stressful but it stopped him for a while then he starts doing it here and there until its all the time again.

We have showed them the deeds
Its a leval document dating back to 1901 that says the drive is for the peaceful enjoyment of both houses. It was amended in 1936 to say motor vehicles not to block the drive. It also says the householder must prevent visitors from blocking the drive. He is aware of this but just ignores it!

The homeowner (his girlfriend) wants to sell in the next year so it would not benefit her if we went the legal route. Ironically we would also be spiting ourselves if we made it difficult for her to sell.

I would be so happy if they moved. Sadly im not 100% sure its going to happen. The offending NDN doesnt want his gf to sell the house as he gets to live there for free and she would move back to her home country where i doubt he wants to go.