Can you park on a yellow line if it’s across your own driveway?

[ComtesseDeSpair]

Have googled and can’t find anything. Currently looking to move house and one I like very much only has a small driveway and I have three cars. However, there’s a single yellow line on the road across the width of the driveway, obviously to prevent people from blocking it (the front garden has basically been paved to create the driveway, and it possibly isn’t immediately obvious that it’s not just a garden iyswim.)

If I owned the house and the driveway that the yellow line protects, can I block my own driveway? Could I appeal any tickets or ask for a dispensation on the basis that the reason the yellow line is there doesn’t apply to me??

Are you sure it's yellow, not white? White ones are advisory to allow access, yellow usually are no parking at certain times only and indicated by a small sign on a post or something nearby.

^^ I was about to write that too

No you can’t.

In some countries you can get a permit with a code which allows you to park in front of your drive (leaving the rest of the spaces for others) but this has yet to reach the UK.

No, you can’t. Restrictions for certain days/times of day should be noted somewhere (usually a sign post). And, if you have a dropped kerb, you’re technically not allowed to block that either.
Could I appeal any tickets or ask for a dispensation on the basis that the reason the yellow line is there doesn’t apply to me
Tbh it’s odd that it’s a yellow line and not a white line. Are you sure there’s not another reason it’s there? Is there a turning opposite for instance?

Definitely yellow. Thanks all for commenting. Very helpful @mathsquestions. Seems illogical, is London where parking is tight anyway.

Thanks @Judashascomeintosomemoney No turning area - just a small quite narrow street of terraced houses facing a green with parking allowed down one side of the street except for outside this house and the one next door which both have the paved front garden driveways.

Think about it logically. The traffic warden comes up the road. They see a car parked over your drive.
How do they know it's yours and not a random person?

And if you think that leaving a note would work, then that would just become a popular thing to do while parking over your drive.

I always thought yellow lines were to stop roads from being blocked / traffic being restricted, not to stop people from blocking driveways.

You say it's a narrow road with parking down one side, would you be causing an obstruction in the road if you parked across your driveway?

Why do you think it's to stop the driveway being blocked? If it's a legal driveway, there's a dropped kerb, and that is all that is needed to tell people not to park there.

The yellow line is to stop people parking there to stop the road being blocked/made dangerously narrow.

Why do you have 3 cars, how many people live there? Is there somewhere else you could park? If you're seriously looking at this house, you probably need independent advice from the council or whoever rules on these things as to what the rules are for this exact situation, in case it is not standard.

Has it got a dropped curb OP? I wouldn't buy it if not, as you'd have no legal right of access onto the driveway, let alone permission park in front of it.

The yellow line is not to prevent people blocking your drive way. It will be there as they wish to restrict parking on that road. And this also applies to you. You cannot park there and would get a ticket if you were caught.

The yellow line is not to prevent people blocking your drive way. It will be there as they wish to restrict parking on that road. And this also applies to you. You cannot park there and would get a ticket if you were caught.

^This

The yellow line is not to prevent people blocking your drive way. It will be there as they wish to restrict parking on that road. And this also applies to you. You cannot park there and would get a ticket if you were caught.

This.

It is very unusual to have a short yellow line across two driveways - are you sure it is official? Previous owner got fed up with his drive being blocked and got a can of paint? There must be an official sign nearby (wall, lamppost etc) which states when the restrictions are in force for it to be legal. - is there one?

Ring the Council to check if it's real?

No

You’re driveway doesn’t extend past the end of it. It doesn’t encompass the public road.

Any yellow line isn't enforceable unless the legalities have been complied with, i.e. formal/legal approval of the council, plus it has to be the right width, plus it needs 90 degree ends, and the accompanying plate on a lamp post or similar to say what/when the restrictions apply.

If every one of those aspects hasn't been done properly, it's not enforceable.

It's quite common for local councils to go around painting roads or putting up signs, but they're often not enforceable because the formalities/legalities aren't compliant.

The street is a straight and even one way road with a terrace of houses along one side and a green opposite. On the side with the houses is resident permit parking all the way along, except for about 10 metres of single yellow line across the paved driveway area (and dropped kerbs) of these two houses. There's nothing different about that particular 10 metres of the street which would be a reason for restricting parking outside those houses, except that they both have the same feature of front garden converted into driveway that none of the other houses have. Logically, it would therefore appear to be connected to that feature, but I accept it may not be. I know you can request the council paint a yellow line and restrict parking purely to prevent other vehicles blocking access - my office requested it as people kept parking across our bin store and loading bay.

I have three cars because they each have a different purpose (day-to-day transport; weekend sportscar; campervan) and I like them. No more, no less.

I didn't think that perhaps the owners of the houses might have painted the line there themselves out of frustration. That sounds very much like something I'd do!

Thanks muchly to all for all comments and musings. Will obviously need to contact the council (or ask current owners) if I take purchase any further. (Or irritate my new neighbours forever more by parking on “their” bit of street in front of their house, as I know from MN some people very strongly about!)

I know you can request the council paint a yellow line and restrict parking purely to prevent other vehicles blocking access

White lines are used to protect driveways not yellow.

But, if you have 3 vehicles and you know parking is a potential problem, then realistically, you'd be best looking for a more suitable property surely?