Landlord changing parking (with diagram)

If spaces 1 and 2 were re-drawn so that they are in line with spaces 3 and 4 opposite would that solve the problem? It looks like the existing spaces opposites yours are fine, so maybe you could ask him to even them up once 6 has been added? Using the guidance quoted above about 2.4m being the appropriate width.

I agree @IfYouPutASausageInItItsNotAViennetta - this is most unfair Op & I’d be kicking up a massive fuss. (I’ve no idea where you stand legally but morally you’re right & I’d not let this go).

I don't understand the "making it fair" argument.

It looks like two bigger apartments are rented with bigger parking spaces. It makes sense, if a flat is ready to home family with four children, they will probably have a bigger car.

Would there be access to the bins with 3 cars there and losing the green bit in your diagram? Just wondered if this is another point to raise with the landlord?

Are the spots numbered and designated?

Does your lease demise flat + garden + spot #2?

Practically, you'll have to pull into the parking area, let all the children get out including taking car seat out and putting to one side with eldest child, then park the car. You could even take all the children upstairs and come back down to park the car, as I imagine the odds of one of the other 5 cars needing to move within those 5 minutes would be low?

Is the landlord also the freeholder?

You can't just go switching stuff around on a leasehold property without permission from the freeholder and a Deed of Variation drawn up between both parties.

But the lease was signed in the basis of what was shown. You surely can’t just take part if the parking, half the garden and any other area and just say it’s fair

It might partially solve the landlord's problem, but why should the tenants have to do that?

They deliberately found somewhere that came with a large enough space for them to safely park up their vehicle and are paying the agreed rate to include that.

They may well have originally seen other, cheaper flats but rejected them as an option purely because they didn't meet their essential parking requirements.

If they did pay extra specifically to have this facility and are now still going to be paying extra but without the reason why they signed up to pay for the more expensive flat In the first place - and then the added problem of where to now park their vehicle - how can that possibly be fair?

It isn't a favour that they've cheekily been taking advantage of; they're paying for it and are simply using what they've paid for.

To add, if there had been plenty of space in total in the first place (including the green area) to create three adequate parking spaces, don't we think that it would already have been divided up and arranged that way from the start - considering that there were six flats but only five parking spaces? Nobody would have deliberately left one flat without a space if there had been sufficient room for each flat to have one.

But if it's purely done on the landlord fulfilling their legal obligations, why do people bother going to look at the rental property in the first place?

I hate the way that renters are treated as second-class citizens and expected to just put up with any changes (usually making it less nice) that the landlord wants to make. Especially as they usually pay far more in rent in each month than those of us with mortgages pay.

If you've signed an agreement for a seen and known property for a certain period, the fundamental specifications should not be changed.

The landlord would be able to rent out the flat, but at a lower price than he can get if it comes with a parking space. He isn't creating the new space out of nowhere: a large part of it is being taken from what his other two tenants contractually pay for, thus they will have less space for no less monthly cost to them.

Brushing it off as 'just a bit of excess parking space' sets a precedent and shouldn't be tolerated. OP signed an agreement for a year to pay for the property including a big enough parking space for her family's needs; now it no longer comes with an adequate parking space for them.

I bet, if somebody in OP's family were a wheelchair user and they had specifically chosen a property because it came with a good wide parking space that was suitable for disabled access (albeit not advertised or officially stated as such), nobody would be saying "Well, it's still a legal-sized parking space, so you can just make do with it".

He is materially changing what you are getting for your rent without notice or consultation. For those who are saying that you still have a 'parking space'; it isn't the same size. Imagine he took a bedroom away from your flat. He couldn't get away with it by saying 'you still have a flat'. Furthermore, your flat is different from the other flats - you don't all have to have the same parking space. You're entitled to keep the same facilities as you have had since you moved in unless he negotiates to change it

In that case the camper won't fit and will have to park elsewhere and they can put their car there instead. Should solve the problem

Can the camper have the space closest to the wall as its presumably not moving often, middle space for the flat 6 then you have the new edge space to give room on one side at least for getting in easier?

This. The problem is the camper won't fit in the new space without preventing you accessing your car. Even if you have a "big" car, unless it's particularly wide you should still be able to get in and out if parked next to another car.

I would raise this with the landlord and let them find a solution. Could you maybe swap parking space so you get one on the road instead of the wall?

But isn’t a garden a garden? If he took half of it and used it to put a storage unit that wouldn’t be ok

I expect your contract will just mention allocated parking space and as long as it meets legal requirements I don't think you will be able to say the contract has been broken. Morally it is wrong that they pushed through getting you to sign for another year but I don't think they have broken any rules regarding the space. Would you be able to move and find an alternative place to rent if you were able to negotiate leaving?

I think you need to seek proper advice though rather than what people think.

A parking space is a parking space. Unless there spec of it is included in your lease then it’s one of those things. To be fair as a landlord other people’s large vehicles most likely wouldn’t be my priority

Would you feel the same if the landlord 'evened up' the space inside flats so they were all medium ones rather than some big and some small?

He can do what he likes before somebody has accepted the offer and signed an agreement, but he can't just decide to start providing less but still charging the same agreed amount. I highly doubt he's planning to reduce the rent to take account of a now much less practical parking space?

a) get rid of the kids and buy a sporty 2 seater...i mean who needs 4 kids🤣
b) set fire to the campervan so they replace it with a sporty 2 seater
c) speak to landlord and ask for a reduction on the rent because conditions changed (and use the money you saved to buy a 2 seater)

Otherwise i dont see other solution. I doubt they will change their mind about creating a 3rd parking space

I think it's quite important you avoid going down this rabbit hole and keep it generic. Look up the regs on parking space size, and look up any planning applications the landlord may have put in. I don't know if it's something that would need planning permission, but I'd be finding out and checking all the measurements of the spaces themselves and the manoeuvring space around are up to spec. Don't be scared to ring up your local planning dept, they are often helpful and quite happy to advise.

Your head is understandably concentrating on the practical details, but trying to convince a landlord not to reduce your parking space because your husband is a scout leader would do you no favours at all. When objecting to planning permission requests there is a list of factors they consider and those they don't, and to put in a credible objection you should object only on the factors they consider. I would apply a similar principle here. You just need to find out what those factors are.

I don’t see that you have any leg to stand on because really all that’s happening is the car park is being evened up to have 3 spaces on each side - spots 4/5/6 make do so you will have to too.

The camper would annoy me more. Will it even fit in spot 1 now once they add the extra spot - will it be able to pull out?

But surely if the contract said ‘garden’ the LL couldn’t later requisition half of the garden and install a storage unit and say ‘well you still have a garden’. Surely the garden/parking space on offer at the time of signing is what you are entitled to.