My neighbours are doing my head in.

[BeanCalledPickle]

Context. Terraced house. Neighbours are guy in his nineties and his two grown up children. Older guy obviously has a lot of care needs as there is a constant stream of medical visitors etc. We frequently see him 'escaping' and being chased down the road by his children. They always seem pissed off and I doubt it's a particularly fun existence. Had the fire brigade there at the weekend which is concerning in itself but ultimately not my business.

We are a family of three, soon to be four. I'm eight months pregnant. I have a nearly two year old.

My annoyance is with the fact that they always park over their drive which has the effect of blocking us in, or indeed out. They are careful to never park actually the strict entrance but we can only get on and off the drive at an angle so if they are at the edge we can't move. To be fair if I knock and ask them they move the car. But I'm really nervous that in an emergency, like going into labour in the middle of the night, we wouldn't be able to get out. Also When I come back in the car there is no where to stop on a busy road to go and ask them to move.

What can I do? I don't want to make their life more difficult. They obviously have their hands full. And are polite about moving when I ask, I just don't want to have to ask!!

They also have an extremely squeaky door upstairs which wakes me up. I normally get round this with earplugs but I'm about to have a new born. It feels so unreasonable to ask them to oil their door and I can't emphasise enough how much I don't want to contribute to their general life difficulties but it's SO LOUD!

What do you reckon??

I have experienced this problem, I lived in a ground floor flat with owned driveway for us and the people who lived above us used to park "right across" our driveway. Despite many polite requests, where I got the same cheery reply "Oh no problem, we'll move right away", whenever I traipsed upstairs to ask them to move their car so we could get out, they continued to park there as they had 2 small children, so did not want to walk to a local space.

Like you, it became a nightmare when I was heavily pregnant and on maternity leave and wanted to go in and out during the day at unusual ( for me) times. They were used to me being at work all day, so had a window of freedom. I started to stress about not being able to make appointments etc. And I was fed up of traipsing upstairs when 8 months pregnant.

I found it very effective to knock very soon after they came in from a journey, within ten minutes, so long enough for them to take off their shoes, coats, make a cuppa etc, then ask them to move. Then I'd return home 15 mins later and ask them to move it again... eventually they stopped blocking me in.

Forgot to add my parents are getting an extension of their dropped kerb, 1970s houses with all got garages and driveways but their dropped kerb is very narrow so not much room. Taking ages for the council to come out and do it costing alot more than it should.

We do have a dropped kerb. It's just not big enough to get us on the drive without us going over theirs due to the angle of the house. We have asked for it to be extended but council said no because of street light!

Just ask nicely about your labour worries, and have a cab number to hand just in case. Is there no way you can get round this by reversing in or vice versa?

Re the door, I suggest it's better tackled now before you have a crying baby for them to put up with! The hassle factor with house maintenance is finding the tools etc, especiallywhen they don't actually live there, so ask if they'd mind YOU oiling their door for them and have some WD40 to hand. That said it might sound a bit precious when they are about to put up with a newborn through what are evidently quite thin walls!

You shouldn't be using someone else's dropped curb to access your own drive/parking, unless is a proper shared dropped curb or you have right of access. You shouldn't be mounting the curb without a dropped curb to access your property. You will damage the curb eventually and do not have the right to cross the pavement which is likely to belong to the council. (Unless a private road of course).

Dropped curbs should be installed by an approved contractor or/and the council. This is because there are often cables/pipes etc under the pavement which need moving/avoiding and securing in the proper manner so the weight of your car going over then won't cause harm. The contractor will need liability insurance - that is why is it expensive. If a tree/light needs to be moved then this will bump the cost up. Planning permission is required for certain classes of road (e.g A roads) or in certain areas (some conservation areas).

If in doubt, check with council.

Bit of a tangent there - years ago I worked for a Council highways dept - this type of conversation was common!

Best of luck!

Sorry X posted there.

We did check with council. Who said no they wouldn't drop the kerb because of the street furniture and because we have all the access we need from the existing dropped kerb.

It is a bit crap but I can't see what you can do about it. Is there no way to reverse in?

The squeaky door may be so that they can hear him coming and going. I'd also be a bit hesitant to start complaining of noise when you're aboutvto throw a newborn in the mix. If the squeakings that loud and the old man is constantly getting up during the night, they'll probably be awake if you need them to move the car at night.

In an emergency you could bump up/ down the kerb and wouldn't think twice. Annoying day to day though.

this is how I understand the drives and kerbs:

the dropped kerb is shared, then there is the line of the footpath, then their drive going straight in after that line, and yours angling away?

Do you own your house? Your rights over what seems to be a shared dropped kerb and a right to cross the footpath should be in there. It very well maybe that the dropped kerb is YOURS, not theirs. Just cause their drive goes straight in, doesnt mean they have more right to it than you! It might have been put in for your house, then theirs tacked on, rather than the other way around. If the houses were built at the same time, ownership probably goes right down the middle so you are both are crossing into each other's half every time, then over the footpath, and you park completely in your drive, while they are leaving the tail end of their car in the footpath, which effectively blocks your access. It sounds to me like the last to arrive at their house should be finding a spot along the street so as not to block the footpath. Which would happen to solve your problem too.

If you rent, you can ask your landlord what the deeds say, or research it yourself at the council if they dont want to get involved.

After that, you could keep asking for them not to block you, for very good medical reasons of your own (both impending labor and then small children at home). You could do like Sybil and ask so often they give up. You could suggest they are blocking the footpath, and shouldnt. You could threaten to get them ticketed (that could backfire if parking enforcement cant be bothered). You could try leaving your car back so far on your drive that they can't carry on with their habit.

So here you go. My car at a angle so needs to reverse out over dropped kerb at angle. White car parked on road so nothing to be said about that. Their driveway starts at wall. They will often be parked right up to wall but with gap for footpath course. I can't get in if they are.

Street light to left of white car.

Looks like you'll have to keep asking them to move, unless they are actually parking right over your section. Our house is similar - it's annoying (our neighbours do it too, even though they have a drive) but if they are parked on the street legally, and it's just a bit of a tight angle then not much you can do.

The people we bought off had tiny car so bet it wasn't an issue!!

Why are you parked at an angle?
Surely if you reverse a bit and strighten up you could get out and bump one wheel down the kerb?

I would explain to them about you being worried about going into labour and being blocked in.
i would also say it to them about the squeaky door.

i have a lot of experience with older people and it does sound like the old boy could die at any time. at that age they can go overnight.
re: the fire brigade - i'd say he locked himself in one of the rooms by accident. a very common problem with older people especially those with dementia or alzheimers.

Yeah is there a reason you're parked at an angle?

The dropped kerb on your side looks more than wide enough for you to drive straight in. Your parking and driving in at an angle is the problem.

Oh sorry, should have explained that angle is because house sticks out so if I drove straight in I would be stuck out over the pathway. Another thing that might be less of an issue with tiny car!

Wouldn't the council let you extend the dropped kerb up to the street light. I think you are being unreasonable to expect your neighbours visitors to move and not park there just to allow you access to your drive.

oK but you could straighten up by reversing back on to the pavement and forward towards your sticky out bit of house in one or two goes and then reverse off cleanly?

My neighbours had a squeaky back door that drove me batshit, they had 3 small kids who were in and out every 5 minutes.

I went round with a can of oil and some kitchen roll and when she opened the (front) door I smiled sweetly and said just come to oil yr hinges, marched straight in and did it.

She was too stunned to argue.

Nope, believe me I've tried! When they are parked over their drive I can't get in at all.

And no council said a blanket no.

Could it be a combination of things? It looks like the parked cars on the street stop you manoeuvring out as much as their car.

I'd probably park on the road or get a smaller car.

Or appeal to the council.

Whilst the lamppost is a good reason to reject your original application, that shouldn't stop you just making the drive a bit bigger.