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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I am slightly annoyed about a van parked outside my house. We have unrestricted parking (London terraced street).

134 replies

Mintyy · 06/02/2015 20:55

So I know the law, and I know I have no rights to the space outside my house. I honestly do and you don't need to remind me Grin. Our road can get busy but I can usually park within a 1 or 2 minute walk of my front door. So no real biggie.

But in my place would you be irritated that a largish van (think transit size) has been parked directly outside my house for 14 days now and not been moved once?

Please be honest. If it wouldn't bother you, would it really not, really and truly?

And wwyd? I am fairly sure I know who it belongs to. If I'm right, owner lives 15-20 houses away. They have a driveway which one of their cars occupies. They also have quite a large commercial vehicle, also parked on the road and also hasn't moved for a couple of weeks.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mintyy · 06/02/2015 21:29

Botanic - would you not feel that you could go and very nicely ask the person if they would move it? I knocked on his door today (no answer) was just going to say "Hello, I live at number 20 and if that's your van parked outside I wonder if you'd move it? I know you don't have to but I'd really appreciate it if you could give me a break from the sight of it and the chance to unload my shopping". If I was friendly and not ranty, would you move it if you were owner of the van?

OP posts:
Original poster
Mintyy · 06/02/2015 21:30

Yes. All weekend annoying. Two weeks and counting ... very annoying?

OP posts:
PatrickStarisabadbellend · 06/02/2015 21:30

My friend has a house where the front door opens up directly onto a village road. Her neighbour always parks his transit can right outside her door and window.

Sometimes she can't get out of her house and her lounge is dark because the van blocks out the light. It winds me right up Grin

PUGaLUGS · 06/02/2015 21:31

Absolutely very annoying.

ChaosTrulyReigns · 06/02/2015 21:31

Stuff???

THAT would disturb me could be the rotting corpse of the last window owner what complained.

Icimoi · 06/02/2015 21:32

If they've got two vans in the street, is there any possibility they are running a business from there? If so the planning authorities would be interested.

WhereIsMyFurryHat · 06/02/2015 21:34

That would piss me off a lot. I live on a street very similar to yours by the sounds of it. Greater London, terraced, on street parking. A single person moved in recently and has a car and a camper van. The latter gets left for months at a time which doesn't sound too bad but sometimes you have to park really far away, in the dark, with three kids and five bags. I curse that camper van at those times.

Unidentifieditem · 06/02/2015 21:36

Call council, pay for a bay suspension for a day, notices go up, he moves it, you park there.
Job done.

beautyfades · 06/02/2015 21:38

YNBU

ChantenayCarrot1 · 06/02/2015 21:42

Unidentified, she can't pay for suspension as there's nothing to suspend! There aren't any restrictions.

Original poster
Mintyy · 06/02/2015 21:47

I suppose it would be very very wrong of me to park my car across his dropped kerb when it is empty just to get my own back .... Grin

OP posts:
CeliaLytton · 06/02/2015 21:49

YANBU. This would piss me right off. And knowing there was nothing I could do would piss me off even more. Then I'd probably cry Blush

I think asking him to move it is wise, if they say yes it's a win if they say no you can key it

MsVestibule · 06/02/2015 21:50

Yes, it would irritate the life out of me. Something similar happened to my elderly friend - she asked him politely to not park there anymore and he didn't! Whether she would have got the same response if she'd been 40 years younger, I don't know. I think she laid on the 'I'm just a frail old woman who doesn't get out much - the only enjoyment I get out of life is looking out of my window' a bit thicker than was strictly true.

MsVestibule · 06/02/2015 21:52

mintyy, no because you'd actually be doing something illegal and I suspect you'd be even more pissed off than you are now if you got a fine!!

MeridianB · 06/02/2015 21:53

YANBU

One of my neighbours rents his house out but lent (or rented, not sure) the drive to a builder who parked a big van there for months. It only moved when he got new tenants who wondered who was parking on their drive and complained to the letting agent. No idea why the previous tenants didn't complain. It made the place look like an industrial estate and blocked off a downstairs window completely.

Ineedanewone · 06/02/2015 21:54

YANBU and I feel your pain as we have 4, yes 4 parked outside as our neighbours are 4 guys in a house share working as delivery men, and they also have 2 cars and a motorbike. Grrr but nothing I can do about it

catzpyjamas · 06/02/2015 21:55

I agree with icimoi ~ call 101 and say that there's been a van left for 2 weeks outside your house and you're worried it's stolen/abandoned. At least then the owner might come and move it if only so it doesn't keep getting reported. We had a car left outside our flat in a space usually only used for residents. After 3 weeks it was bugging me and I called local police. It turned out to be stolen (and unlocked) so it's not impossible that a good citizen nosy neighbour would report the van outside their house..

thereisnocheese · 06/02/2015 22:00

I could have written your message, transit can parked outside my Victorian terraced house in greater London, no parking restrictions but bloody annoying. Even my neighbour across the way commented on it today. Was out all day today and it moved by the time I got home, yay!

Original poster
Mintyy · 06/02/2015 22:06

MsVestibule - it isn't illegal to park across an empty drive.

OP posts:
flowerygirl · 06/02/2015 22:08

I live in Essex on an unrestricted parking street where it's bumper to bumper white transit vans.

So we got shutters, problem solved Grin Grin

ChantenayCarrot1 · 06/02/2015 22:09

Mintyy, certain Boroughs/areas of the country will issue you with a PCN if you parked across a dropped kerb. You don't need to live within a controlled/restricted area to receive a Penalty for this offence.

www.parksmarter.org.uk/dropped_kerbs/default.asp

Botanicbaby · 06/02/2015 22:12

"Botanic - would you not feel that you could go and very nicely ask the person if they would move it? I knocked on his door today (no answer) was just going to say "Hello, I live at number 20 and if that's your van parked outside I wonder if you'd move it? I know you don't have to but I'd really appreciate it if you could give me a break from the sight of it and the chance to unload my shopping". If I was friendly and not ranty, would you move it if you were owner of the van?"

Minty, yes of course I would move it if I were the owner of the van and you approached me without being ranty in which case I'd leave it for longer but then again, I wouldn't park a van in front of someone's house for weeks on end Grin. I can only assume that anyone who can be so inconsiderate may not feel the same way if you approached them nicely. More's the pity.

As I said, I would feel massively irritated too but there's not a lot you can do given the circumstances. If you do manage to speak to them, I wish you the best of luck.

Original poster
Mintyy · 06/02/2015 22:12

Ah, how do I know if I'm in one of those boroughs?

OP posts:
ChantenayCarrot1 · 06/02/2015 22:15

The only thing I can think of doing is to check the Borough' website. Hopefully they'll have some info.

XiCi · 06/02/2015 22:20

I know this would give me the rage as it happened to me a few months back. Bloke opposite had a car in his drive, a car parked outside his house, then decided he would park a third car outside my house. So fucking annoying to come back from work/shopping etc with a baby and not be able to park outside your own house. Fortunately it pissed off my next door neighbour as well as he sometimes parked outside their house and he threatened to rip his head off. The old banger miraculously disappeared. Prior to this fortunate intervention I was going to knock and speak to the person and ask them to move it. Apart from anything else it is extraordinarily rude. I would keep knocking at the persons door and ask them to move it