Neighbour won't park in their garage

[crystalcmps]

Hello, I've browsed these forums for ages but now have a question I've been pondering for some time that I hope people can help me with.

We've lived in our house for 3 years. It's a terrace on a private road of about 10 houses. All the neighbours are friendly and mostly get on with each other.

The family on one side are usually ok, although have been driving me up the wall lately.

Since before we moved to the street, this family have insisted in parking in a space further down the street which really should be our space, as we are one of the few houses without a garage. However, we didn't let it get to us and just parked outside our house. I know it annoyed the previous owners.

Now, the family are renting a garage and still insist on parking in this space which I think seems rather unfair as they are using their garage purely for storage and could quite easily fit the car inside. I reckon it's simply because it's quicker for them to park in the space rather than having to open and close the garage door, but it means that they are effectively denying us of a space. There are no other spare spaces in the street so we have to park in front of the house which makes it hard to get in and out of the front door as we need to park right by the door.

Should I ignore things or have a word with them? Or are they entitled to do what they want?

Help greatly appreciated!

[Mumsyblouse]

This is absolutely ridiculous, sorry, you don't own the space or the right to part there. Perhaps they like being able to get in and out to the stuff in the garage. If you feel so strongly, why not pay out and rent a garage yourself and park your own car in it.

I can never get over that people think they have a space just because they would like it- and as for the inconvenience of parking outside your own home, I think you are looking for problems tbh.

[comewinewithmoi]

You don't own the road.

[CelticPromise]

YABU. Anyone can park anywhere they like on the street. I don't know anyone who parks in their garage!

[DontPanicMrMannering]

Rent a garage

Park in front of their house?

How narrow is the street if you can't open your door because of parking?

[marriedinwhiteisback]

Ooh OP. We are moving in a few weeks to a terraced house in a gated development. We have converted the garage into a utility room at one end and "electronic games room" for the dc at the other. Therefore we will never be parking in our garage. We have a space outside the garage and a separate space with our door number on it. For DS's car we are going to have to box and cox over the visitors spaces and rather than pay silly amounts for residents permit for 9.30-4.30 parking outside.

I have a feeling we would be unpopular with you. But my friend who already lives there tells me that there are always two or three spaces in side for visitors.

[RigglinJigglin]

Yabu if you don't own the space.

If I remember rightly from when we lived on a private road (unadopted) the residences all had a responsibility to the upkeep of the road. Very few actually maintain them.

Our solictor explained that say in the event of a major sewer collapse the landowners would be responsible for the repair equally shared, but in the event that someone slipped in front of our house we'd, by proxy, be responsible if they sued upto the central point in the road to the front of our house. I used this to battle with our neighbour at the time, if someone slipped because of their shoddy parking I'd be sending lawyers their way.

Never fully understood it and was one reason we sold! I'm sure property law types will explain it better than me.

[cardibach]

Surely if spaces were allocated, then the space outside your house would be 'yours'?
How does it cause accessibility issues? I can't visualise that.

[ConfusedPixie]

"For DS's car we are going to have to box and cox over the visitors spaces and rather than pay silly amounts for residents permit for 9.30-4.30 parking outside." I really wouldn't do that if I were you, uyou'll piss all of your neighours off rotten. I work in a building where somebody does this. He's been asked 100 times not too, stopd for a week and then goes back to it. Just get a parking permit, if you have two cars you need one.

[HavantGuard]

You could check your deeds. In some cases with private roads you own the bit outside your house.

[justmyview]

It's a public road. YABU.

I kind of get that it's a bit irritating, but you have no greater claim on the road than they do

[crystalcmps]

We can't rent a garage as there aren't any spare. This family just happen to have got lucky by renting one off someone down the road who wasn't using their one.

I know they have space to park as they regularly leave the garage door open. They have also had friends and relatives parking in there.

When we get the space first, they park in front of their garage, so I have no idea why they can't do this more often if they don't want to park in the garage.

All seems a bit selfish to me as they are perfectly aware that they are making it hard for us to park by doing this.

[crystalcmps]

The street is pretty narrow so we have to park right by our front door in order for other cars to get past. This makes it hard to get into the front door.

[movingaway]

Our two immediate neighbours own garages behind their houses. They never use them for parking, in our street it's just pot luck who gets a space, sometimes I have to park on the next street along. It would never occur to me to complain to the garage-owning neighbours! Nobody owns the space.

[crystalcmps]

movingaway - I'd be pretty unhappy if I had to park on another street as my neighbours chose not to park inside or in front of their garage.

I something feel that people take advantage of others' good nature, and it's very British not to complain about things when they're unfair.

[impecuniousmarmoset]

Who on earth still uses their garage to park their car in?!

Sorry but you don't own the space, and it's entirely unreasonable to expect them to use their garage for putting their car in. This isn't the 1960s - modern cars don't need to be kept under cover, and storing them is just not what garages are for any more!

[Lagoonablue]

I am kind of sympathetic. Though if they did 't have the garage where would they park? Do you have designated spots?

Parking is very emotive. On our street no one has off street parking and most have 2 cars. It is a bloody nightmare.

[Anniemousse]

It's annoying but you have bought a house without designated parking, on a road where if you park outside your house, you have difficulty getting in through your door.

Houses with garages/ drives/ designated parking spaces usually cost more, for this reason, you are paying for the certainty of convenient parking.

I have a drive, not a garage, but if I had a garage it would be used for storage not parking!

[crystalcmps]

When they didn't have the garage, they parked in this space. I had hoped that once they got the garage, they would either park inside or in front of it.

Anniemousse - our house certainly wasn't cheap! Funnily enough, most of the houses with garages are smaller and cheaper than ours.

[movingaway]

crystal it doesn't bother me because at most it takes me an extra minute or two to walk to my house from the car. It's no big deal. If I have shopping to unload I just stop in the middle of the street while I unload, then go and park. Half the time it's people from round the corner who couldn't find a space on their road when they wanted one taking up the spaces.

What's the alternative? My friend used to live in a street where people put road cones in 'their' parking spaces, which I am sure is illegal!

[TigerBabyyy]

Have a word with them.

Be nice about it. Also ask them that if they really dont want to park in front of there garage, could you park in front of there garage instead?

[havatry]

You don't have a right to dictate where your neighbours or strangers park, perfectly legally.

If it's that important to you, obtain yourself some private parking.

[Offler]

Having suffered on street residential parking for 10 years, we were very pleased our new house has 2 allocated spaces and a garage! We only have 1 car, so always room for visitors


Our neighbours who have 1 allocated space all have more than 1 car, in fact our immediate neighbours have 4! They have taken to parking one car right out side their garage, not a designated space, narrowing the forecourt so it makes it trickier to get our car out. The other neighbours have started to follow suit. There are no parking restrictions on the road.

[DeWe]

We don't park in our garage because it's a ridiculous angle to the house and would be almost impossible to manoover a car in and out. Plus the garage doors are about 2" wider than our wingmirrors (and it's not a huge car) so would be very hard to get in and out.

[quoteunquote]

www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=24

really good advice, ^^ knowledgeable.

Are there covenants in deeds about usage of the private road?

[southeastastra]

would piss me off too op, round here new houses were built with garages and drives to keep the road free for parking for the houses that have no room for either yet most have converted their garages to rooms. people can rant that you don't own the road etc but i would be equally as peed off as you, just nowt you can do about it unfortunately.