Van lowers the tone of the area

[travellinghopefully12]

I live in a lovely complex of flats with my DP and his best friend. We rent.

DP has just bought his own place for very little money in a less well off area of town. It's a gorgeous flat but in no way livable in. We are doing it up, and eventually DP and I will move in, while our friend goes travelling.

Anyway - last week a friend asked DP if he would look after her piano in his new flat until she has her own place. I was delighted as I play, and haven't had a piano since I was a teenager.

We were stumped as to how to transport it though, as we don't own a van. A friend of a friend volunteered, and on Friday we had an adventure carrying a piano up four flights of winding stone stairs. The new neighbours came out to help, and we lovely. (It badly needs tuning now)

Afterwards we went to the pub and friend of friend mentioned she has nowhere to park her van, and moves it about places every night and often pays for parking.

We have a parking space which no one uses in the flat we rent in the 'nice' area, and DP said she can use it. She was really grateful, but she'd just driven a piano across town and lugged it up four flights of stairs, refusing to take money - all we were able to buy her was a pint of coke.

She came on Sunday and parked the Van. It's a big blue beaten-up thing, she's driven it through europe and stuff and she's a bit of a cool hippy chick, and the van has that vibe.about it

Anyway, we got an anonymous note from a neighbour last night saying 'Sorry but no commercial vehicles allowed in parking bays as they lower the tone of the area, per title deeds.'

It's not a commercial vehicle, in that she doesn't use it commercially, but DP looked up commercial vehicles, and apparently the size of it might make it legally a commercial vehicle. There is a vodafone van, a black cab and a few other 'commercial vehicles' in the area, but they are not beat=up, as it were.

The van fits perfectly into the parking space and is in no one's way.

DP was swearing about how fucking petty it is, but thinks we have to ask her to move it as the neighbour's will report us to letting agents. (We have already been reported once for 'Heavy Walking and Toilet Flushing at Night' - Yes, really.)

So - what the hell do we do?

BreconBeBuggered who was your factor? We are in scotland and ours in James Gibb. I am considering giving them a call.

If you call anyone, just ask in general for now, don't give your name or address. And also, don't say you aren't the registered keeper, (they can't check that, can only check it's taxed and insured) just that you have a vehicle you wish to park in your space for personal, non-commercial use.

Thanks karmapolice, I'm going to do that this afternoon.

I'm checking with friend now that it's all taxed and insured, so I know, and what tax category it is as Barbaraof Seville said.

x

Yes it's the attitude of the note that would stop me playing nice. If a neighbour had politely asked me in person if it would be there for long I might have considered moving it.

I manage rental properties, including some flats. Generally there is no problem in London, where no one seems to care what neighbours get up to. But on the south coast it has been a nightmare. Each block seems to have at least one Victor Meldrew. Examples from the last year alone:

1. A tenant (not mine) objecting to a clean and nice commercial van being parked on the street outside his flat. His solution: to get a friend to paint an official looking white line on the street. (Its great as parking in that street is tight so the word is out and we all park on the line, knowing we can appeal any ticket.)

1. One of my tenants getting a note on their windscreen for using the visitor parking space for a few hours - when they had visitors.

1. A furious complaint to me and the block management when a tenant's visitors got confused and knocked on the wrong door after he had let them in via the entryphone. Before 10.00pm. Apparently they were "tipsy".

1. A complaint from the residents committee via the managing agents that my tenant has been using his entry fob to access other parts of the building. They decided it was "suspicious". It turns out that his cleaner cleans flats across the complex and was using the fob he provided. I find it quite creepy that the residents committee are monitoring when a resident enters or exiting the building.

1. I parked in someone else's space when picking up keys from an outgoing tenant. Literally three cars in the car park and 50 empty spaces. I used one of three spaces allocated for a penthouse which never seems to be occupied. I was there an hour. It was the first time in two years I had parked there. A resident took a photo and sent it to the private parking enforcement company, and I was fined £80. (Despite always paying the massive service charge on time.)

1. A tenant being told off for "revving" their car when leaving the communal car park. Apparently they were gassing the whole building.

I could go on. Ignore it. Complaints need to go to the property owner via the management company. One or other will probably stop it, quite possibly because complainant is known for being pernickity, or a bully. Only when your landlord questions it, and perhaps suggests they are being pulled up over clauses in their head lease, do you need to listen since you probably want to keep your landlord on side.

As a Londoner I find this need to control your environment quite strange.

I am torn between conciliatory and provocative at the moment. I love all the suggestions to lower the tone further without breaking rules, but at the same time, we have to share the building with this person, and my natural instinct is to keep the peace.

DP lay awake for a long time last night and I could feel from the tension in his body that he was awake and angry. He thinks we should ask her to move it though.

wow
this is so odd because just the other day I heard of someone saying weird stuff about vans and I thought it was totally bonkers and they must be the only one

I can't see how this would be legally covered. If it is, then you are stuck but if it is just an idiot neighbour then ignore it. I can't believe how batshit some people are.

I had exactly the same experience when DH moved into my flat. We had allocated parking spaces plus garages (which nobody apart from me ever seemed to use); so DH parked his van in the parking space and I used the garage.
It took a day for him to get a note under the windscreen about 'lowering the tone' of the place and the van 'not being in keeping with the ambience of the building'. Checking the lease, there was nothing at all about what sort of vehicles could be kept in the place and we were pretty sure we knew where the note had come from.

We notified the management company that DH had moved in, what his vehicle registration was and that he would be using the flat's parking space from there on in. We also copied all the residents including snobby neighbour, noting that we had received an anonymous letter complaining about the van 'lowering the tone' and that, while we were initially concerned about receiving an anonymous note, clearly whoever had written it had some concerns about non-residents using the parking space - so we'd copied everyone in to inform everyone that it was above board.

Which of course set the gossip radar off on who could have written such a thing... and we had no trouble after that.

Arf Reliants don't rust, they're made of fibreglass. I had one which started life yellow, but had then been painted red - by someone using a very broad brush. I forget why, but we had to replace a door, and the only one available down the breakers was beige. It would have looked lovely outside OP's flat.

I would just ignore tbh.

I'm still waiting for my friend to get back to me on its tax disc category...I will call factoring as soon as I know, unless I am at work by the time she replies. Am on a late tonight, and should be using the day productively, but getting really het up about this instead.

NoFuchsGiven - could ignoring get us into trouble? We can't afford to have our lease terminated early. It's impossible to find somewhere to rent in this city, especially in August/September.

Also- we love this flat - and DPs flat is no where near livable.

How about a motorbike? A rusting falling apart one with a bunch of spare parts laid around it?

I might be being stroppy about this on your behalf

Reliants don't rust, they're made of fibreglass

Only the bodywork that keeps the rain out. Structurally, there's a steel chassis which doesn't have much in the way of corrosion protection, which holds the wheels and engine in roughly the right position. The chassis rot furiously.

i334.photobucket.com/albums/m411/knac1234/RELIANT%20ROBIN/PTDC0052_zpse37d3bfe.jpg

I would ignore it too. I don't engage with anonymous notes.

Right. I'm a bit of a reluctant expert on this.

In February I moved into a rental property on a lovely estate. I have 2 new unbattered vans. The landlord was aware we have these.

Within a week we had a neighbour knocking and complaining that they are not supposed to be here as it says so in the deeds. Indeed it does.

I took legal advice. We could not find any legal precedent where someone has been taken to court and forced to remove their commercial vehicle. Not one. To do it would cost tens of thousands of pounds even supposing it were even possible.

We had 2 letters from the managing agents. We rang them abd they even told us there was nothing they could do but they were obliged to send the letters anyway.

So we have ignored it.

We will be moving out early next year into a property we have bought. It's not a nice feeling knowing someone has taken umbrage but there's not much we can do about that really.

Feel free to PM me

I just messaged you doglady x

OK, we've chosen to ignore the note, for now. See if he reports us to the agency.

Lowers the tone, love it! Sound like my neighbours. We live in a very nice well-to-do area, surrounded by old farts. Hear comments all the time about our van as the oldies gossip in the street. Also comments about my partner and his dreadful workman's attire, obviously working class, how on earth could we afford to live round here.....? Etc etc. we are business owners with a very high turnover/ profit margin but they assume we are impoverished because we own a van and my partner comes home filthy from work instead of in a suit. Silly people.

Agree with Death, polite note about discussions with a copy to the letting agents with original note from neighbour which I hope you've kept.

Does your lovely helper with the van know how much longer she'll be leaving it there? If she's not using it commercially and isn't living in it ... some people carriers are van sized.

Combining ideas from a couple of posts above with my own. Make an A3 size notice like this, large font size, and blutak it into the most visible window of the van.

"To the writer of the anonymous note regarding this van.

Thank you for your concern but my legal documents regarding this parking space make no mention of what vehicles can be parked in it. It is going to be parked here regularly until approximately February after which you will never see it again. If between now and February any action is taken to prevent this, it will be replaced with the ugliest, rustiest and most horrible looking non-commercial vehicle I can find, (example pictured) to ensure that you get to continue your delightful attitude to the tone of the area.

p.s. you may find in future that talking to people with respect rather than delivering snotty anonymous notes is a better way to gain the cooperation and good will of your neighbours"

zoobeedoobee why do they have this issue?

Muststopandthink I Love That Car (Can we get a shit untaxed one and get someone to park it there - none of us drive.)

Flatmate is suggesting painting a mural of Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon on the van. Maybe we'll do that.

Did you leave the van travellinghopefully12? I really hope so. Did you ever contact the agent/factor? Any more complaints?