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?
AIBU?
Van lowers the tone of the area
travellinghopefully12 · 13/07/2016 12:02
I wonder would they be as brave if it was a big bloke that owned the van? 
Go on, copy the note and put it on ALL the commercial vehicles. Just imagine the note writer shitting himself when he hears his neighbours giving off about it.
Would be really interested to hear how you got on? We had a similar scenario with out next door neighbour.... Single woman (husband left her) living in a nice street of new ish builds but 95% residents are working families. Anyway .... Crazy lady next door hated men and hated vans so DH and his transit has no hope! Van was always on our drive at night and he was out in it most days. she's regularly would knock on the door late at night with 'van rage' telling us to move it of our very own drive and park it down the street 😂
It got so bad that I got my solicitor to investigate .... Basically lots of new deleloments have covenants such as no commercial vehicles and no for sale boards but they aren't an indefinite clause .... Ours lapsed after 5 years so she had no valid argument. I took great pleasure in delivering this information to her ... And we never heard a peep our of her again! 
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