To think my neighbour isn't *entitled* to park outside my house?

[TempusEedjit]

Sorry this is long!

Some background - we've lived here for four years, the neighbours across the road who are in the house directly opposite ours have lived here for two years, they have four cars between them and no driveway of their own.

Our front drive has space for two cars but if both are parked there then one blocks the other in. This sometimes means that if DH gets home after me but knows I'm going out again later then he will park on the road directly outside our house so we don't have to mess around moving cars out of the way. Both of us will park on our drive though whenever possible, which is more often than not.

Anyway one morning I went to leave the house to find our neighbour's car parked across our drive. DH was parked on the road as he'd got home after me the night before but I was leaving before him that morning. DH knocked on neighbour's door to ask him to move, cue rant from neighbour saying it was our fault for being selfish by taking up a space on the road when we had a drive. DH explained about blocking in etc and there was plenty of space further up our road (maximum 50 feet away) but neighbour still thought we were being unreasonable.

Anyway over the last few months neighbour has taken to parking outside ours by default even when he has spaces outside his thereby leaving them free for his wife or son to park there later. If DH is literally gone for 15mins dropping his DC off at their mum's then neighbour will go out and move his car into that space whilst he's gone.

So we are having our front drive repaved, it's obvious access is needed for the workmen as there have been diggers and machinery outside for the past week. Workman told me yesterday that neighbour was very disgruntled at being asked to move his car and only did so when the workman warned him it might get damaged - despite this he was parked outside again this morning and upset at being asked to move again! (Our own cars were parked further up the road).

Anyway today a man from the council turned up saying there had been a complaint that the workmen had cracked the pavement slabs outside our house. Upon inspection it was obvious the cracks were old (they even had moss growing in them) so he just marked them for future reference and said he'd be back to check again next week.

I'm sure it must be the man across the road who's responsible as I can't think who else would report us as both of our neighbours either side are fine about the work as our front drive has been an eyesore since before we moved in.

Aibu to think that our neighbour is an entitled arse and if I want to park outside my own bloody house for whatever reason then I can? And would you say anything to them?

Why can't you just switch your cars around that few times a month that you park on the street?

Why shouldn't your neighbours have four cars?! There may be four car-driving adults who live there, who each need their own! And they have just as much right to park on the road. They have more need given that they don't have a drive.

Maggie - the OP doesn't mind the neighbour parking outside her house, she accepts he's paid his road tax and so can park anywhere, she minds that he doesn't want her to park outside her house (with her taxed car) and feels it's ok to tell her she should keep that space for him.

On our road, all the houses on our side are set back a little so there's space for 2 cars one behind the other like the OPs house sounds, and most houses have 2 cars, yet pretty much every other day someone is parked in the road for similar car swapping reasons. I regularly park on the road rather than blocking in DH's car when I know he's got to go out later, most people end up shuffling cars, often leaving one parked on the road. (and if I know I'm going to have a visitor like my parents/PIL, I'll often move my car onto the road when there's a space so they can park on the spare place on the drive rather than down the street if the road fills up with cars later on)

Car owners without a drive/enough off-road parking for multiple cars do need to remember they don't have a greater right to the parking spaces on the road than those who do have drives. Having a drive doesn't mean you have to use it. (we officially have 3 parking spaces as we have a garage, however our garage is the bikeshed, it's only the old man across the road who actually puts his car in his garage on our steret)

BIWI - he's got every right to park ont he road, but if you are going to have 4 cars and no off road parking on a busy road, you can't get an arse on if you can't park them all close to your house, or tell other people who live in the road where they are and are not allowed to park to accomodate your desire to have all 4 cars parked on the road but close to your house.

The neighbour having more cars than space is really the neighbours problem, if he only had one or two cars, it wouldn't be an issue if the OP wanted to park on the road outside her home. (I would be parking on the road outside my house every time it was empty just to piss him off break the habit for him)

But I can see how he would 'get an arse on' if he can't park near his house, because his neighbour is parking their car on the road, despite having a driveway.

Thank you Dinosaurs and others who get that my gripe is that I object to me being told where I should or should not park by him, not that I want to dictate where he or anyone else puts their car.

As for me not wanting to switch my cars around, it's more of a pain for me to do that then it is for him to walk a few yards further along the road (as indeed I do myself if the space outside ours is already taken). Why should his convenience trump mine when I have as much right to park outside my own house as he does?

BIWI he knowingly chose to buy a large, expensive house with no driveway. If his household only had three vehicles between the three of them who live there he would comfortably fit them all outside his house without issue (as he does indeed do most days). It's his fourth, extra vehicle that he also wants in close proximity to his house that is causing the issue. Why should I myself park up the road to leave the space free or faff about switching cars around when it's he who has caused his own logistical issues and would certainly not extend the same courtesy to us if places were switched?

Meh. I have the opposite problem, I share my driveway with three other houses and we all manage wonderfully. House 4 that is side on to our driveway and has there own personal double driveway and large garage to boot has taken to parking on our driveway rather than in front of their house on the road, or using their garage, making it awkward for the rest of us.

We're being really Bristish about it and seething passive aggressively in their general direction. They feel they are entitled to do this as they have about 10" of mud at the edge of part of our shared driveway that is their property.

becker in the Highway Code, instructions beginning with 'do' or 'do not' are advisory, and not enforceable by law. Only instructions with MUST or MUST NOT are enforceable, and the relevant legislation is also mentioned.

Failure to comply with an advisory instruction can be taken into account when deciding liability in the event of an accident, but you can't be prosecuted just for not following the rule.

Also the rule on not parking on pavements is only law in London, it's advisory elsewhere.

the road is narrow enough that most people have two wheels on the pavement when they park

Anyone who does this is VU. Pavements are for people, buggies, wheelchairs and blind people using their sticks on the kerb as a guide.

Refuse to engage.
Keep parking where you like.
If cuntychops has a go smile and state you can park where you like without breaking any laws. If cuntychops kicks off just walk away. Ignore him as much as possible. If he parks blocking your drive ring up to get it towed.
You can't win against little Hitlers like this, but you can protect your blood pressure by ignoring him as much as possible.

Anyone who does this is VU. Pavements are for people, buggies, wheelchairs and blind people using their sticks on the kerb as a guide.

Not everyone that does it has a choice. And some are told to do it by the police as alternatives are worse.

Why the fuck should op have to amend her driveway?!? She isn't complaining about not being able to park on the road outside her house, but complaining about her neighbours entitled attitude that he has dibs on the space outside her house! He should get a fucking drive if it bothers him so much!

I'm surprised by your UK laws. These are ours.

Parking fine for parking in own driveway
It often surprises people that in Australia they can receive a parking fine for parking in front of their own driveway. Most people have the view that if they block their own driveway that are not impacting anyone, other than themselves, so they should not be fined. However, this law is in place for the following reasons:

1. Council officers have no way of knowing if the property belongs to you or not when they fine you.
2. Blocking the driveway can prevent emergency services from accessing the property in an emergency, such as fire.
3. Blocking the driveway can prevent other vehicles from using the driveway to turn around.
4. If your vehicle abuts onto the footpath, it is possible to disrupt the path of a blind or physically disabled person. You might be restricting access for the elderly and people with disability. People in wheelchairs or on motorised scooters find it particularly difficult to navigate around vehicles parked on driveways across footpaths.
5. Parking in the driveway can impede the view of other cars further down the street who are entering or leaving the property.
6. The property owner does not own the part of the driveway that extends out past your property boundaries. The part of your driveway outside your property boundary is owned by your local council.

The only time it is permitted for you to park in a driveway is when the entire part of the vehicle is contained within private property. But you can be fined if even just a small part of your vehicle buts out onto the footpath.

We need to downsize and I have fallen for a gorgeous cottage.Dh will not even consider it as only street parking.

This thread has made me change my mind as I could not deal with parking' tit for tat' wars.

Oh well ,back to the drawing board.

OzzieFem If think you have a different idea of what "parking in a driveway" is. In the UK the driveway is land contained within private property so the owner can park on it.

I meant to say "I think", not "if think" !

Thank you Dinosaurs and others who get that my gripe is that I object to me being told where I should or should not park by him, not that I want to dictate where he or anyone else puts their car.

But in your OP you talked about him being made to move for your workmen.

Instead of dropping the kerb, why don't you create a 'turning bay' within your driveway. Then you can both reverse in, one at the back of the drive, one in the bay and be pointing in the right direction and ready to go. This would make it easier for you both, never mind what neighbour thinks.

You lost me on " two seater" op it obvious who is selfish.

"OP we have 3 cars and a driveway for only 2, we prefer to leave DD car on the road as its small and old, she doesn't use it everyday.
DH and I try to get our cars the correct way around for the morning so he doesn't have to faff around before work"

so with this one, i would say YABU - the car that doesnt get used a lot should be the first one in the drive (blocked in) and not taking up a space all the time on the main road...

Re the OP
I would just park over his side, and ignore him completely. and report him when he blocks your driveway

Park on the road, make a point of it from now on. Just do it for a month and see how hysterical he gets about you parking perfectly legally on the road outside your own home. This will therefore leave a space on your drive free for visitors and deliveries. "I prefer to park on the road, the car's taxed and MOTed so it's perfectly legal." big smile.

Quite frankly, he needs to get over himself believing he "owns" any part of the road. If being able to park where suits was such a big deal for him, it should have been factored in to his house purchase choice. (and if the OP got a bigger/longer car than a small 2 seater, their two cars may well not fit back to back on the drive anymore anyway, he could only park outside her house because they choose to park on the drive and to buy cars that fit one behind another.)