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Original poster

A parking one - potentially aggressive neighbour

67 replies

Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 12:18

Our house is at the end of a very short dead-end lane and we have only one neighbour directly next to us (diagram hopefully attached because I'm not sure how else to explain the layout).

We've lived there 8 years, our neighbours have lived there 3 but the previous owners were their parents and they'd visit the house regularly, so are used to parking there. We both own our houses.

In order for our neighbours to park, they have to pass our house/car. For 8 years this hasn't been a problem, we've always made sure to park close to our front door/garage gate and they can pass with no issues. They have 2 cars, we have 1.

During the summer we rent our house out to holidaymakers (we live in France) and have done since we bought the place (we live in it ourselves the rest of the time). This past week we've had guests and we told them to park in our spot and to make sure not to block the neighbours in. Half way through their trip I receive a message from the neighbour saying that our guests had parked "ridiculously" and he ended up scratching his car against the wall surrounding our other neighbours property (green in the diagram) as he was trying to park. I checked our doorbell cameras and the car was parked in the same spot we always park in, bumper right up to the garage gate (so parked even better than we tend to). I told the neighbour that (in a nice way) and he said something about "yes but they have a big car", but we've had plenty of larger cars including tradesmen vans etc in front and it's never caused an issue. The guest genuinely couldn't have parked any closer to our house.

We're going over to the house on Saturday and I'm worried that the neighbour (who has quite a temper) is going to try and get us to pay for the scratch and I'm really not sure what to do/say to him.

Personally, I'm not interested in paying him anything as I think it's his fault. Him and his wife have almost hit our car countless times when they come down the drive as they drive far too fast down the small lane, and we have proof that the car was parked absolutely fine.

Another reason I'm pissed off is because for years we've come home to there being 4 cars in front of their house (totally unnecessary as there's free parking everywhere in the village, the nearest being 50 metres away) whenever they have guests over, which means we either can't physically park in front of our house, nor can we leave if their guests arrive whilst we're home. Essentially, he knew all about the parking situation because he grew up in that house before he bought it and has been regularly taking the piss about it with us and I think this is just another of those times.

So, I don't want to pay him, but I also don't want to fall out with him and his wife. We're amicable, we say hi, we help each other out etc.

What the hell do I say/do if he asks us for money to repair the scratch?

A parking one - potentially aggressive neighbour
OP posts:
OldGothsFadeToGrey · 02/07/2026 12:25

You say no. His driving, his scratch.

LeilaLandi · 02/07/2026 12:27

Great diagram

IdentifyingAsAWoollyMammoth · 02/07/2026 12:28

Tel him to f* off.

Outstanding diagram by the way.

FinallyMovingHouse · 02/07/2026 12:30

As they said on Grange Hill.....just say no (this reference will be lost on anyone younger than 50!!)

JamJar187 · 02/07/2026 12:30

"Fuck off chancer" are the only words you need to say.

Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 12:45

Oh thank goodness. I'm usually a bit of a pushover and wasn't sure if my anger was misplaced or not, but good to know it's not if it does come up on Saturday. I suspect it will because when this all happened we were in another country for a very unexpected funeral and neighbours response was pretty brusque and he kept repeating the same thing, condolences but my car is scratched.. Ugh, now I'll be anxious until the weekend about all this.

OP posts:
Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 12:45

Hahah thanks, glad the diagram is approved by Mumsnet standards.

OP posts:
TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 02/07/2026 12:49

We have photographs of where the guest parked at the time and they were parked correctly. It is your responsibility to ensure you don't hit a parked car or the surrounding walls. There is obviously other parking nearby if you had concerns, we regularly have to use it when you have guests......

Magicpaintbrush · 02/07/2026 12:57

I know you want to stay on good terms with nobhead neighbour, but that goes both ways - HE isn't attempting to stay on good terms with YOU, is he? If he gets funny about him tell him to take some lessons to improve his crappy driving. Also remind him they have hit your car on numerous occasions. The cheek of him.

Wiaa · 02/07/2026 13:03

His driving caused the scratch, if there wasn't enough space to pass the parked car then he shouldn't have tried. You are not responsible for either car in anyway

Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 13:06

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 02/07/2026 12:49

We have photographs of where the guest parked at the time and they were parked correctly. It is your responsibility to ensure you don't hit a parked car or the surrounding walls. There is obviously other parking nearby if you had concerns, we regularly have to use it when you have guests......

Ooh that's a good one, I'll remember that, thank you! It's a good way of mentioning they've inconvenienced us in the past so perhaps they should let this go.

OP posts:
Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 13:07

Magicpaintbrush · 02/07/2026 12:57

I know you want to stay on good terms with nobhead neighbour, but that goes both ways - HE isn't attempting to stay on good terms with YOU, is he? If he gets funny about him tell him to take some lessons to improve his crappy driving. Also remind him they have hit your car on numerous occasions. The cheek of him.

Yeah, true. He's very much the type to kick up a fuss at the slightest inconvenience, hence my worries that he's going to be a pain in the arse but actually if he isn't making much effort with us then why bother.

OP posts:
Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 13:08

Wiaa · 02/07/2026 13:03

His driving caused the scratch, if there wasn't enough space to pass the parked car then he shouldn't have tried. You are not responsible for either car in anyway

That's exactly what my husband has been saying to me, glad to know we're not unreasonable!

OP posts:
TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 02/07/2026 13:08

Deadpan. "Non" also works.

SaraHoliday · 02/07/2026 13:27

Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 12:18

Our house is at the end of a very short dead-end lane and we have only one neighbour directly next to us (diagram hopefully attached because I'm not sure how else to explain the layout).

We've lived there 8 years, our neighbours have lived there 3 but the previous owners were their parents and they'd visit the house regularly, so are used to parking there. We both own our houses.

In order for our neighbours to park, they have to pass our house/car. For 8 years this hasn't been a problem, we've always made sure to park close to our front door/garage gate and they can pass with no issues. They have 2 cars, we have 1.

During the summer we rent our house out to holidaymakers (we live in France) and have done since we bought the place (we live in it ourselves the rest of the time). This past week we've had guests and we told them to park in our spot and to make sure not to block the neighbours in. Half way through their trip I receive a message from the neighbour saying that our guests had parked "ridiculously" and he ended up scratching his car against the wall surrounding our other neighbours property (green in the diagram) as he was trying to park. I checked our doorbell cameras and the car was parked in the same spot we always park in, bumper right up to the garage gate (so parked even better than we tend to). I told the neighbour that (in a nice way) and he said something about "yes but they have a big car", but we've had plenty of larger cars including tradesmen vans etc in front and it's never caused an issue. The guest genuinely couldn't have parked any closer to our house.

We're going over to the house on Saturday and I'm worried that the neighbour (who has quite a temper) is going to try and get us to pay for the scratch and I'm really not sure what to do/say to him.

Personally, I'm not interested in paying him anything as I think it's his fault. Him and his wife have almost hit our car countless times when they come down the drive as they drive far too fast down the small lane, and we have proof that the car was parked absolutely fine.

Another reason I'm pissed off is because for years we've come home to there being 4 cars in front of their house (totally unnecessary as there's free parking everywhere in the village, the nearest being 50 metres away) whenever they have guests over, which means we either can't physically park in front of our house, nor can we leave if their guests arrive whilst we're home. Essentially, he knew all about the parking situation because he grew up in that house before he bought it and has been regularly taking the piss about it with us and I think this is just another of those times.

So, I don't want to pay him, but I also don't want to fall out with him and his wife. We're amicable, we say hi, we help each other out etc.

What the hell do I say/do if he asks us for money to repair the scratch?

Is this a 'private road' on your house deeds?

Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 13:31

SaraHoliday · 02/07/2026 13:27

Is this a 'private road' on your house deeds?

Show quote history

No, the lane leading to the houses is public, but we each own in the individual area directly in front of our houses, i.e where each of us park. A few weeks ago he was talking to my husband and seems to be under the impression that he owns the space in front of his house, but that we don't own the space in front of ours (he's wrong, but he was convinced for some reason).

OP posts:
wojono · 02/07/2026 13:32

No, it's his fault he scratched the car. If he couldn't get past the other car he should have parked somewhere else and asked the guest to move it, not try to squeeze through a space which was too small. If he'd scratched the guest's car rather than scratched his own on the wall, the scratch on the guest's car would have been his fault and his insurance would have had to pay for it.

Duvetdayneeded · 02/07/2026 13:33

Tell them to do one and go get a life

SheilaFentiman · 02/07/2026 13:33

FinallyMovingHouse · 02/07/2026 12:30

As they said on Grange Hill.....just say no (this reference will be lost on anyone younger than 50!!)

“You’ve got everything inside of you
Have faith in yourself, your dreams will come true” 🎵

@Slowlymelting The car that is moving is liable for the damage over the stationary car, because it is the moving car which can course correct, decide to park elsewhere etc. This also applies to the poor innocent wall that he scraped.

Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 13:35

wojono · 02/07/2026 13:32

No, it's his fault he scratched the car. If he couldn't get past the other car he should have parked somewhere else and asked the guest to move it, not try to squeeze through a space which was too small. If he'd scratched the guest's car rather than scratched his own on the wall, the scratch on the guest's car would have been his fault and his insurance would have had to pay for it.

That's true, and I can guarantee that if he had scratched my guests' car and not the wall, there's no chance in hell he'd even tell them about it let alone pay for it or get his insurance involved.

OP posts:
OutOfApricots · 02/07/2026 13:36

I wonder if the other neighbours have complained to him because he damaged their wall. Seems to me that he might have carelessly hit the wall himself, they complained, and he is now trying to shift the blame on to you and your guest for their car being in his way.

Do your other neighbours have security cameras / ring doorbell or similar?

Original poster
Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 13:40

OutOfApricots · 02/07/2026 13:36

I wonder if the other neighbours have complained to him because he damaged their wall. Seems to me that he might have carelessly hit the wall himself, they complained, and he is now trying to shift the blame on to you and your guest for their car being in his way.

Do your other neighbours have security cameras / ring doorbell or similar?

Edited

The other neighbours are never there, they inherited the house and only use it during the school holidays, so no cameras around and none of them around to have a go at Angry Neighbour. But again, it's not as if he'll offer to pay to repair their (brand new!) wall, so I think he's just being a bit of a dickhead to be honest.

A couple of weeks ago we parked slightly further out (still plenty of space for him to park without even coming close to our car) and I heard him shout to himself "Why are people always parking in front of my house!" even though we weren't even close to his property. People are strange!

OP posts:
Bridgertonisbest · 02/07/2026 13:42

Slowlymelting · 02/07/2026 12:45

Oh thank goodness. I'm usually a bit of a pushover and wasn't sure if my anger was misplaced or not, but good to know it's not if it does come up on Saturday. I suspect it will because when this all happened we were in another country for a very unexpected funeral and neighbours response was pretty brusque and he kept repeating the same thing, condolences but my car is scratched.. Ugh, now I'll be anxious until the weekend about all this.

Your car was scratched? Who was driving? You were, well then it’s a “you” problem.

if you get pushback gently explain that it was his choice to squeeze through what he thought was a narrow gap rather than either parking elsewhere or asking the car owner to move their car.

the liability is wholly on him

SeenYourArse · 02/07/2026 14:08

Tell him the facts as you’ve told us here strongly, then have a proper boundary/property border survey done and put up a fence or wall as this is crazy, he cannot be allowed to continue thinking he owns all of the land and just allows you to park on it! This will cause you nothing but problems moving forward. Do not pay him for anything he’s an entitled prick.

UncharteredWaters · 02/07/2026 14:17

I’d subtly point out that he’ll also need to pay to fix the neighbours wall to him.

‘oh what a shame, you tried to squeeze through and now you have a bill for your car and ‘Kathy and Jim’s lovely wall…where they terribly upset?’