Do you think it is rude to ask someone if they would consider moving their van when it has been parked outside your house for weeks?

[Chicchicchicchiclana]

Just that really. There is a tall van parked on the street directly outside my house (terraced street free parking) so when I look out of the window that is all I can see.

So I rang the number of the business on the side of the van and asked the person if she would consider moving it now. Her attitude was she doesn't have to and I was rude to ask. My attitude she is rude to not even consider my polite request.

What do you think? Yes, she's done nothing illegal but do you think she has been inconsiderate or not?

I think YBU. It's a public highway and I'm sure you park outside other people's houses sometimes. If the road is that close I don't think you have a great view anyway.

Is it affecting the light coming into your house?

Randolph of course I park outside other people's houses sometimes. Atm I am parking outside other people's houses all the time. My point is that 2 or more weeks is inconsiderate and even more inconsidetate if you say a straight "no you are being rude to ask me" when the person affected asks if you could possibly move it now.

Yanbu, we did exactly this after a couple of weeks with a van, he just shuffled it a bit. After that he sort of varied it. I wouldn't have said but it was a high top and it was like someone had built a wall!

I would tell the council that it's been abandoned, if it's been there for that long.

@BeanbagMcTavish

I would tell the council that it's been abandoned, if it's been there for that long.

If taxed, insured and moted the council or police wouldn't be able to do anything

Is it dusty? Draw yourself a view

Your van-driving neighbour is the rude one, almost as rude as @2155User.

@RHRA

Ahhh, another overly sensitive person.

I actually got massively pissed off with a neighbour who was clearly selling cars and one parked up for about 8 weeks outside my house. We actually live in a really nice neighbourhood where we are all considerate with parking !! I did actually loose my temper with him when yet again after a 12 hour shift on an acute ward I had to park in an adjacent road at 10 pm . He was bloody rude and disrespectful but did move the car !! So definitely say something 💐

YANBU, you asked politely and there was no need for them to be rude. A van blocking your view and reducing light into your home is not nice, I would have done the same in your situation.

Looking at it from the van driver's perspective, they probably get complaints no matter where they park the van, especially if they are on furlough/working reduced hours, so the van is outside someone's home for weeks on end. It's a pity that there isn't some sort of legislation to cover this, as it's a common problem and makes existing parking issues worse for everyone.

In our road there is an idiot who parks a high sided delivery van close to a corner junction, which reduces visibility and makes things tricky for everyone. We also have a neighbour nearby who is obsessed with his collection of old bangers, he never has less than 3 at any time and has no off street parking for any of them. They are all taxed, etc, so he's doing nothing illegal, but it is very selfish to clutter up the road with cars he rarely drives. People can be so selfish.

"I would tell the council that it's been abandoned, if it's been there for that long."

If taxed, insured and moted the council or police wouldn't be able to do anything.

Not necessarily - they can assume it's abandoned if it's been stationary for a long time, and remove it.

www.gov.uk/guidance/abandoned-vehicles-council-responsibilities

I don't think it's inconsiderate at all, as long as the van is insured, taxed and got MOT and not blocking access, then they are perfectly entitled to park it on the road outside your house

No sounds annoying. Someone near us does this. Don’t think they actually even live on our road. So my neighbour and l out manoeuvre them with our cars

you werent rude to ask if you were polite and it hasn't moved for weeks, if is a large van it may impact your view and possibly even light and tbh I wouldn't be happy either. However the van driver is parked perfectly legally and sadly theres not a lot you can do about it, but really they should park it outside their own house

So how long do you think it's alright to park outside someone's house? Just wondering what the rules are here.

A friend drove a van that was a problem for someone. Was parked legally but blocking light in a ground floor flat.

The person who lived in the flat used a funny poem to as the owner of the van to move. My friend was considerate and moved - the sense of humour helped.

Could you try that?

Is it blocking your light op?
Don't really see the issue here. We live on a street with different cars parked outside our house, our car has been in front of another house for over a week because we haven't been anywhere. Doesn't bother anyone.

Not rude to ask, but can’t believe people are advising lying to the police that it’s been abandoned!

The first thing they’ll do is call the number and immediately discover that it hasn’t been abandoned.

Could you stick a photo on your local FB page? People are always asking for recommendations for companies, maybe this will help the van owner realise they are pissing someone off. Hardly paving the way for future business in this climate if they don't give a shit.

It usually works on our local FB when someone says, anyone know who this car belongs to when it has been parked up for days with no sign of movement (we all have ample drive parking) this car was parked on a street where everyone knows everyone.

I think if there were other parking spaces available for them to move into then they really should have done it. Surely it is just polite if you have left your work van in the same place on a terraced street to move it once in a while.

Devlocop - that's a good idea but O think the van driver now know she's annoyed me. The phone call started off nice and polite but didn't end well! I'm going to take some time to write a good note and leave it on the windscreen.

Of course you're not unreasonable. I have a real bugbear about gigantic work vans being parked on residential streets.

*Not rude to ask, but can’t believe people are advising lying to the police that it’s been abandoned!

The first thing they’ll do is call the number and immediately discover that it hasn’t been abandoned.*

If it's been parked there without moving for weeks, then you have a very good case for assuming it's been abandoned. That's literally grounds for assuming it's abandoned according to government advice to councils (link posted earlier). A lot of vehicles actually won't start if they're left like that without being driven for a long time (battery problems).

You report it to the local council, not to police. Sometimes your council website has an option for doing this online; sometimes you have to phone up.

What the council normally does ime is go to the vehicle and put a notice under the windscreen wipers asking the owner to contact them. They don't normally bother phoning the number on the van at all. The onus is on the owner to contact the council and/or move the vehicle. If they don't do that within a certain amount of time, the council removes the vehicle. I've had it done before.

Of course the owner may see the notice and just contact the council to confirm it's not abandoned. However, I think there's a good chance they will also be a little bit rattled at the idea that their van might have been towed away, and move the van (and move it around more in future).

Leaving a vehicle in the same place on the road for weeks or months is something councils want to discourage - there is a fair chance they may be abandoned, and they affect traffic and street parking provision.

Although not illegal its inconsiderate of her. I'd make a mental note not to use her business but don't put a review on FB as someone suggested that's just spiteful
I'm hoping she'll think about it and move it later