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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

re parking in front of other people's houses

107 replies

Blizzardlizzard62 · 08/04/2013 18:57

I have just moved to a new area and my commute to work involves driving to the station (too far to walk) then getting the train.

At first I was paying almost £100 per month to park in the station car park, but this is clearly ridiculously expensive in addition to petrol and my train season ticket which costs a couple of grand......

I have now discovered a residential street about 5 minutes' walk from the station where I can park for free, there are no parking restrictions and there are always spaces. However today as I was parking up a lady came out of one of the houses and gave me a pretty dirty look as she watched me park up. She didn't actually say anything though. It is pretty obvious I am heading into the city to work, as I was suited and booted so it would be obvious I was parking up for the station.

As I say there are no parking restrictions so I suppose I am legally entitled to park there, but is it unreasonable to park in front of other people's houses in this manner? I should add it is a row of terraced houses which don't have their own driveways so the residents park on the road too I imagine.

I do try and mix it up a bit so as not to always park in front of the same house.

OP posts:
DeskPlanner · 09/04/2013 08:02

Dex Can you answer those who have said they have read your exact op before, please ?

Samnella · 09/04/2013 08:05

YANBU. It's a public road and the residents don't own it.

dizzyhoneybee · 09/04/2013 08:06

It's not ideal for the residents but it's not against the law and so YANBU.
I wouldn't do it because I'd be bothered by the glares but that's just me.

SoupDragon · 09/04/2013 08:06

YANBU to park there
They are not BU to find it a PITA.

Just because something is perfectly legal doesn't mean it can't be bloody annoying.

SoupDragon · 09/04/2013 08:09

Can you answer those who have said they have read your exact op before, please ?

Maybe it's just that it's not exactly a rare problem.

dexter73 · 09/04/2013 08:18

Deskplanner - it's not my op it is Blizzardlizzard62.

Trills · 09/04/2013 08:21

YAB bloody annoying, but you are allowed to park there and they would BU to say anything.

shellbu · 09/04/2013 08:22

was just going to say the same as travelincolour , make the most of it while you can .

samandi · 09/04/2013 08:24

Of course it's fine. People don't own the road outside their houses.

fluffyraggies · 09/04/2013 08:25

All i would say is please park outside one house at a time.

When i lived in London the parking was difficult, but doable.

However it only took a couple of idiots people parking between two houses and /or leaving massive gaps to half the amount of car spaces down our road.

lockets · 09/04/2013 08:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DeskPlanner · 09/04/2013 08:28

Sorry Dex. Thanks

dexter73 · 09/04/2013 08:34

No probs Desk. This thread has been done before from both sides, so I suppose it is quite a common issue.

Nancy66 · 09/04/2013 08:37

Park where you want - the curtain twitchers can fuck off.

If it bothers them that much they can go their local authority and ask to make the road turned into permit only - like the idiots on our street did due to commuter parking. Now it costs us residents £600 a year to park outside our own homes.

lockets · 09/04/2013 08:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nancy66 · 09/04/2013 08:45

Lockets - ours was only £150 or so when introduced (we are in Lambeth) but then they changed it to charge according to engine size and age of car. I drive a Golf but it's very old so I fall in the highest category

lockets · 09/04/2013 08:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lottieandmia · 09/04/2013 08:50

Yanbu - you pay your road tax and you can park anywhere there aren't restrictions.

DeskPlanner · 09/04/2013 08:51

Yeah, that's true Dex. I say park where you like, people don't own the road.But it would drive me mad If someone parked In front of my every house every day.

thermalsinapril · 09/04/2013 08:52

"In many places you need to have a lot more money to afford the victorian terraces with difficult parking than to live in a 1930s house with a driveway. Or an ex-local authority house with a driveway."

And in many places the terraced homes are the cheapest.

thermalsinapril · 09/04/2013 08:59

"If I have to walk a few streets to get to my car, so what? No big deal."

chrome100 that's fine if you're by yourself with no luggage. But what about returning from the supermarket with your toddler and baby and the month's food? Or you arrive back from collecting a fridge from someone on Freecycle? Or you're returning from a weekend away with a toddler and a sleeping baby and all your luggage?

ChunkyPickle · 09/04/2013 08:59

People get funny about it, but it's totally legal, and nothing more than you can expect if you move into a street like that.

This is why we pay higher rent, and have a small house, so we have off street parking and can walk to the station. If I paid less rent I could be in a bigger house with no offstreet parking, or non-walkable distance and having to find somewhere to park the car etc. Like anything it's a trade-off, but people get very entitled.

I once parked on a nice, wide, empty street, a fair walk from a station and took a flight away for a weekend (the parking was horrendous at the airport) - I came back to find my tyres let down (even though I wasn't parked in front of someone's house, and there were miles, and miles of empty street for others to park in. So do be careful - you could consider some kind of monitoring camera (or fake camera) if you became worried someone would vandalise your car.

thermalsinapril · 09/04/2013 09:01

"nothing more than you can expect if you move into a street like that."

Again, this might be the only option where a terrace or flat is the most affordable in the area.

It's legal but not particularly considerate.

ChunkyPickle · 09/04/2013 09:02

thermalsinapril - you knew this was an issue when you moved in - that's like living on the top floor of a building with no lift and complaining that it's hard to get the buggy/shopping up, it's just how things are, and you pick which inconveniences you can afford.

I spent a lot of time with no car - imagine trying to get a baby and a week's (couldn't carry a month's if I tried) shopping home on your own - no point complaining, that's just how it is where I lived (no delivery)

ChunkyPickle · 09/04/2013 09:07

No, you're right, she should pay the station's parking fees so that you can get your shopping home once a month, rather than exercise her legal right which she pays road tax for - consideration works both ways.

Why do you live there? Is it so you can walk to the station? The trade off being inconvenient parking in exchange for affordable rent closer to the station/town? Her trade off is longer commute (and annoyed residents) - perhaps she can't afford to move even that close to the station? I know that I was very lucky to find where I live - I could easily have ended up paying an awful lot more for an awful lot less.

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