To buy a cheap car and park it infront of my house so no one else can

If you buy a moped or motorbike, you would also need to tax & insure it, if you keep it on the road.

If you are a beginner, the licence & insurance can be over £1000.

Therefore this is not potentially a cheap option.

Do it. A trailer is a good idea.

Years ago I lived in a flat where the neighbours parked their giant, rundown camper van in front of our window. It completely blocked out the light (and the view - we lived on the sea front, so this was a little bit heartbreaking) for two and a half years. It never moved once. Whenever I asked them about it they claimed they were planning to restore it. After one such conversation they painted it canary yellow - with matte emulsion, so it then flaked all over the ground for months afterwards, and looked even worse.

I’ve no idea how they got it MOTed. Probably just didn’t. It was a long time ago, pre internet, and I was very young, so reporting and enforcing stuff like that wasn’t like it is now.

Would it be cheaper to park your own car in the space the van is in, leaving your drive free?

Except you are being wildly selfish. Planning to block a spot on the public road on purpose, simply to inconvenience your neighbour who is just parking on the public road which is perfectly reasonable. You're doing it out of spite and selfishness. Find another hobby.

This is utterly pathetic

I don’t spend a lot of time looking out of the window so couldn’t care less what is parked in front of my house.

if you can still get out, YABU. Just reverse in so you can go forwards getting out.

Well I think it's obvious that some of the people that would park their van in front of house are posting on here. It's just common courtesy not to, and that seems sadly lacking these days.

I fully support this. I wish we could too! Parking in our street is a bloody nightmare, and for some reason right outside our house is everyone’s favourite place to park.

Get a large skip instead. It will be much cheaper. Depending on your window level, it may not be visible from your ground floor windows.

I live in Yorkshire - but old cars are still worth a fortune! If I sold my ancient diesel Skoda today I could get more than I paid for it ten years ago - which is absolutely ridiculous.

Yes absolutely do it.

Ask your council for a planter instead. DD did this because vans would pull over outside her house in a quiet road and let the engine idle for ages while driver had a break, whatever. The noise was extremely irritating, plus fumes.

Why not park your own car in the van spot when you get the chance? You don’t need to park it in your driveway

Can you park your car outside your house next time the van moves?

Even if it isn’t a long term solution, it might get them out of the habit of parking it in front of yours.

I don’t think you’re unreasonable about objecting to a big van blocking light and the view. If you’ve got a big work van you should be considerate about where you leave it.

We did this, maybe 15 years ago.

It was a tiny old mews house and the layout was odd - our bedroom was ground floor and the road wrapped around the house. One of our neighbours took to parking right beside the bedroom, coming and going at all hours, slamming doors, reviving the engine, peering in our window, working on the car on the road at 4am etc. We spoke to him about it and he said that he wasn’t going to park in his own driveway as the noise would disturb his girlfriend. Total twat.

We were trying to protect our peace not a view so bought an old van, then used it for storage.

Do it. What colour though? You’re going to have to clean it otherwise it will look dreadful.

Do it, buy the car.

Our neighbourhood had this problem, everyone has good size drives & a neighbour decided to park their van outside of anyone’s house but their own.

For those who don’t think it matters because its legal to park on a public road, you’re right it is, but looking out daily to the side of a van (which in our case was often half on the pavement too) is horrible. Especially when you know the owner has an empty driveway, and chooses not to use it, despite knowing he was annoying pretty much everyone on the road. (Which I think made him do it more!) .

If it’s a work van, can you speak to the company?

Buy the car OP, pity you can’t buy two, one for outside your house and one for outside of theirs! 😉

I think the previous suggestion of a trailer is the best, but buy two trailers and wheel clamps. Park one outside their house and one outside your house. Fit the wheel clamps and never move them again.

Wondering if all the people who gaslit me on my thread , claiming that “I’ve never seen people shuffle around cars or not park on their driveways, you sound unhinged OP”

…

could come in here perhaps and see the reality?

Would a scooter / moped be better? One you can drive on a car license. Big enough to park to protect your dropped kerb, would push the van along a bit and there look to be some cheap ones.

Wouldn't a motorbike work better OP?

Great idea. Although we had to put a skip on the road once and it was a bit of a nightmare with the council. We had to have a skip licence (another money spinner for the council). Eventually you ha e to remove it and deal with people putting their rubbish in it.

If you had enough money why not consider also buying the shittest most massive van you can find. When they go out shopping park it outside their house. THEN deny you have anything to do with it. All they can check is that it is MOTed and taxed. Thry can't check the registered keeper.

We chose not to buy a house just because the house next door had a van like this. Bad enough pulling up to your house and seeing it.

I have every sympathy, someone used to do that outside my old house. Blocking the view of a lovely green/ trees area that was part of the reason I bought the house.

I get it OP. Some previous neighbours of ours had a huge van and they always left it outside the house, completely blocking our view from our living room window. And made it darker as the living room faces west, and made it difficult getting off our drive.