Help me work out what our neighbour is up to!

[Reallybadidea]

We have just lost our house sale due to "concerns about the neighbours". This is, in part, because of the number of cars parked on and around the house (plus rubbish dumped in their garden).

We think the cars are to do with running some sort of business from the house, but we can't for the life of us work out what it is! Every week or two, a new or nearly new car appears. It stays parked outside our house for a few days/week then disappears. This morning we saw two men turn up (no sign of neighbours) with a clipboard and inspect the car. They then drove off in it. What the hell is going on?! We don't think that they're for sale, at least not to the public, because we can't find them on auto trader, parkers etc. Any ideas what they're up to?

This may seem like a stupid question. But I have seen similar threads on here and I am bewildered.
Don't you talk to you neighbours?

Don't you talk to you neighbours?

No.

Ha ha @reallybadidea I was just going to say the same. Have you asked them? Why not? Just knock.... tell them you live next door. Explain you are for sale and a prospective purchaser was curious as to why there were so many cars....Easy. what's the worst that can happen?

what's the worst that can happen?

They could threaten me, which is what happened last time I spoke to them.

I would imagine it’s something like this:

www.yourparkingspace.co.uk/using-yps/space-owners

I would do an online search for parking spaces in your location and see if it comes up. Once you’ve identified the website/app he’s using, you could complain to them that the parking is outside your house and has affected your house sale. They won’t want bad publicity.

Could be test driving the cars?

check vehicles out on DVLA car registrations to see if they are valid to be on the road.

vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

Could he be fencing stolen cars? Or do I just watch too many crime dramas on TV?

What happens when someone drops off their car? Does he give them a lift anywhere?

I'd be tempted to follow one of the cars - intriguing.

Hi Reallybadidea.
Its unusual for permission to be granted to run a business from a Local Authority/Housing Association home if it disturbs neighbours.
Running a business without permission goes against the tenancy agreement so it maybe worth finding out who the landlord is and asking some questions about this.

If it weren't for your sale being in jeopardy I wouldn't generally pass this info on,but you can't have your life impacted on in this way due to someone else's disregard.
Your neighbours are potentially breaking their tenancy agreement, so that's their choice and they'll understand the consequences too.

Thanks MuthaFunka61. Yes, I'm not interested in getting someone in trouble for the sake of it, but losing our sale has been the last straw really. We know it's council owned, but I'm loathe to potentially stir up a hornet's nest without proof of what they're up to. I don't think that they're renting a parking space because these 'temporary' cars are never on the driveway and also we're rural so can't quite see who would want to leave their car here.

Car delivery for a leasing company. Customer orders car from lease company but delivery and collection are contracted out to your neighbors.

New car is delivered to them to take to customer. They will also collect old car at end of lease. Clipboard people are inspecting condition.

These are the sort of people you see hitchhiking on motorway junctions with trade plates, if they can deliver the car and get back home for free they earn more money from the transaction. It's not suspicious and has been a legitimate, if insecure, way of earning money for decades.

That explanation sort of makes sense, especially as he has previously worked as a delivery driver. BUT why would the clipboard people be inspecting the brand new car outside his (our) house and driving off in it if he is responsible for delivering it to a customer?

We had exactly the same thing with our old neighbour! Nice cars just constantly turning up for a few days, parked all over the place and then leaving again.
We never did get to the bottom of it as he was a horrible man and I was too scared to ask him

How interesting Rosieposie. Whatever the job is, it's seems they only give it to horrible people

Morning Reallybadidea.

I think its time to start making some serious enquiries.
It maybe that a copy of the council lease is available online (I know mine is),so you could research the council's tenancy agreement quite easily.
I'd then begin to record the vehicle number plates and the duration of their stay. I'm suggesting this as I have a vague recollection of some neighbours doing similar when random cars began appearing on the street I lived in. In this instance the police started impounding the vehicles.
I'm not raising this to suggest that you follow this course of action but to suggest the possibility of illegal roadside parking.

You will have to make a solid case to report to the council inorder for the housing officer to approach the tenant and there are some good suggestions by pp on how to gather information. I'd suggest you gather this over a period of months rather than weeks.

Without wanting to cause alarm,this male is holding you hostage by infringing on your liberty and threatening you with aggression.

Have you considered emailing CAB for advise about your legal standing?

Unlicensed repo operative, repossessing lease cars on behalf of the owners?
It's not always like it's shown on 'Can't pay, won't pay'!

If he's threatening and nasty I'd be reporting him to the housing association. I'm in Australia so unsure if rules are similar but are there not rules about anti social behaviour?

@MuthaFunka61 yes, I'm going to be keeping a careful log on what cars are parked around the house and when. I've viewed the tenancy agreement online and if they are running a business from the house then they are in breach of it.

@howlongcanausernamebebeforeits the trouble is that a) I don't have any strong evidence of his behaviour b) if I formally complain then I will definitely have to declare it if/when we sell our house and so I don't want to make any complaints until I can conclusively prove he is breaching his agreement and even then, only if we are still unable to sell the house because of what he's up to.

TBH I feel rather guilty in trying to pass the problem over to someone else if we sell. OTOH they may not have any issues - he does seem to specifically have it in for us personally.

Good luck

My neighbours do this, but they have no driveway and the cars don't stay. They bring them here and clean them - really, really clean them - seats out and everything. Every nook and cranny done.

They are paid by two brothers who buy cars at auction, clean them up (but don't really work on them, as they are not high value cars) and then sell them through their car yard. It is probably mildly dodgy, but unless you dislike the sound of hoovering and East European techno on a summer afternoon, they aren't problem neighbours.