Parking

[obviousNC101]

Slightly different parking one for all your parking thread lovers out there.

I live in a fairly new "village" in a city which is made up of lots of blocks of new build flats. It has a 24 hr concierge and restricted parking which is enforced by a private company along with the concierge.

There is a car park under each block of flats so all residents have one space and then there are 2-3 spaces outside each block which are "visitor bays". To use gear you have to go to the concierge and ask for a permit to put in the window, usually with permission of the resident you are visiting.

Officially these permits are supposed to be for 4 hrs only but it's always been the case that you could go to or email the concierge in advance and ask for an overnight pass for a visitor or just a longer one if necessary.

I've lived here almost a year and in that time the visitor bays have never been full. I've never had an issue getting a longer pass for anyone and generally it's all been fine.

Received an email yesterday to all residents saying that they will now be enforcing parking restrictions properly and that all passes will be 4 hours only. Overnight or longer passes require estate manager approval in advance and shall only be given for medical or moving reasons.

The streets round here are all permit only and as we don't live on them we can't get a permit. The nearest open parking is a 5 min walk IF you can get a space.

So my understanding is that I can never have a visitor for more than 4 hours unless they park a walk away, despite the fact that there are likely to be spaces available. I imagine the council will make the open streets permit only soon too when people start using it for this...

Aibu to think this is unreasonable? And what recourse do I even have on this?! Help.

To use gear you have to go to the concierge and ask for a permit to put in the window

So where you live there is a permit to obtain drugs?

My local hospital, a major London teaching hospital, does not have parking, not even for staff. There is no feasible paid-for parking available either. (What there is would be too expensive for a visit of more than an hour or two.) It would not be a viable plan for anyone to travel there in a car that needs to be parked.

Also, it's council policy that new developments (of which there are many high-rise ones) are not allowed to have parking, not even for residents.

It is possible for people to get about without travelling in their own car, so I'd say a ban on cars does not equal a ban on visitors.

Also, five minutes walk away is nothing. I know someone (in another country) who lives in a development of several 25-storey high-rises, the residents car park is a separate multi-story building, so residents are five minutes away from their own cars.

Just because a visitor can't park directly outside your flat does not mean you can't have a visitor. YABU. They can get public transport or walk 5 minutes. Plenty of houses have no dedicated parking but visitors manage.

We often park more than 5 minutes away so it doesn't seem that bad. However, don't you have a residents ' association that discusses these things? Could you bring it up at the next meeting?

I don't have an easy answer, but I do sympathise. Where I currently live in London is exactly the same, even down to the number of hours. (Do you live in my area, I wonder?!?)

On my development, the tightening up came about because some residents were using the on-street bays as unofficial extra parking spaces. So you'd see flat 12's second car parked up for days or weeks at a time. In time, the on-street spaces all filled up with residents' cars, meaning short-term deliveries and suchlike (Tesco van, plumber etc plus emergency services, visiting doctors) couldn't get on. They've now introduced ANPR, a strict time limit and fines. Some of the residents who had second cars - and didn't want to pay £30,000 for a second space in the underground car park - grumbled but by and large it has solved the gridlock problem.

That said, it is a nuisance for visitors, as visitors' cars aren't allowed in the underground car park at all. And all the streets nearby are double red lines. The nearest NCP is a good ten minutes' walk away, and costs £30 for 24 hours.

We've got around it by generally discouraging our overnight visitors from coming by car. It's unideal for some, but then it is London and we do have good public transport options a few minutes' walk away. The ones who do have to come by car come less often, and stump up for the NCP. We visit them more often instead.

You could raise it with the management company but if your estate manager is anything like mine, the rule book comes first. And there will probably be a reason for them tightening up the policy. Have you had a change in management company recently? Sometimes that's the thing that triggers the dusting-off of the rule book.

I do sympathise, though. We have all sorts of rules passed down by the management company. I don't want to get into it here because it's outing but some of them are just bizarre. And there is zero flexibility.

They are only enforcing the rules that you must have agreed to when you bought / rented your flat
I understand that it must be a pain but something must have happened to make them do this

Maybe the couple of spaces outside your block are never full for ages but maybe they are in other blocks. And, as a pp said, th se are the rules you're agreed to

Fairly straightforward, YABU and you have no recourse.
One of the spaces should be a disabled bay, so if you have a visitor who really needs to park at the door they can.
You knew the rules when you moved.
That's all she wrote!

ShatnersWig I thought the same! We clearly have gutter minds and are missing the point of the thread

So what about Disabled visitors????

Is the on street permit-only parking 24 hours? Or 8.30-5.30 weekdays?
Are there pay and display bays? There usually are in CPZs . In which case no problem overnight.
5 minuted walk away is hardly a big deal.
Cities and housing developments can’t just continue to support endless parking. Your flat / ground rent would be a lot more expensive if there was loads of land given over for your guests to park in.

You knew all this when you moved in!

In most boroughs Blue Badge holders can use on street parking bays, including residents. Or pay and display bays free.

It always shocks me on these types of parking threads where people are saying "YABU it's no problem to park 30 miles away and walk - I climb Mount Kilimanjaro in my lunch break daily" But what about Disabled people? I have a blue badge and for this reason I will never ever even visit London! I NEED to be near my car at all times and parking your car in London (can't remember if OP said she was in London but a PP did) seems like a heinous crime?!

Presumably one of those visitor bays outside your block OP is a Disabled Bay? If not then that is disgusting! And possibly in breach of the Law? Not 100% on that though

SickofThomas - if you have a blue badge you don't have to pay the congestion charge and can park anywhere. Just as you can in other cities

She hasn’t covered the Blue Badge provision so I wouldn’t assume there is none. And as I said, Blue Badge holders can use bays in CPZs, there are dedicated B.B. bays in COZs and in central London there are on-street Disabled Bays and all attractions with car parks have dedicated bays. Big shops like John Lewis or places like the National Theatre have car parks with B.B. bays...

There is good info online about where every Blue Badge Bay is in central London.

To be fair, the OP not PP were asking or commenting about disabled parking.

Whereas London is highly densely populated and congested with cars, I actually find it easier getting the right parking when taking my disabled Mum somewhere than in her regional market town.

The point is that it is unreasonable and non-feasible to expect on the doorstep parking for all able-bodied Londoners, partly in order to prioritise some space for B.B. holders.

Sorry just to clear a few things up:

Yes the streets around me are all permit only for 24 hours

Disabled bays are separate. I have no issue with these. Please don't bring disabilities into this where it's not relevant.

Lots of people are saying I agreed to the rules. When I moved in it was made clear to me by the concierge and the estate agent that longer term permits were available if requested and if bays were free. I have been here almost a year and it has never been a problem getting one. So yes I did agree to the basic rules but for a year they have been enforced differently and so I think it's a bit unfair to suggest that I shouldn't have expected this to be ongoing as it was represented to be.

I am in London yes - but not central... Greater London. Nearest train station is 15 mins away and very few buses. Lots of my friend have babies so the 5 (more like 10 when youve found a space) minwalk with all the paraphernalia is actually not great

I appreciate the responses. Maybe I do have no recourse. But I'm Still not convinced IABU to be annoyed given that things have been different for a year and that is how it was sold to me...

I mean, I would be annoyed too, but there's nothing you can do really.

I live in a small town on a high st and can't get parked outside my house at all, I'm not delighted about it but meh the other benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Apparently the number one criteria that 'second steppers' look for in a property is private parking, it's obviously really really important to most people! (And sorry for being the first to mention disabled parking, I knew someone would eventually)

Who emailed you with this decision? Is it a factor? If so you should be able to get together with other flat owners and, if there is majority agreement, make a change.

It really is a non-issue. When I lived in London, I was around 15 mins walk away from the station. We didn't have residents' parking at the time, though that has now been introduced in the area, but we could never guarantee a parking space outside the house and parking five minutes or more away was the norm.

I might know where you are or a similar set up, it’s crap, it just pushes peoples cars further out which impacts on them. It causes issues with shopping & trades people. If bt or virgin are in town your screwed, it’s also hard for them as they get tickets.
It’s sold as “green” but actually i don’t think it solves it.

Lots of my friend have babies so the 5 (more like 10 when youve found a space) minwalk with all the paraphernalia is actually not great

^ I am sorry but comments like this really make me laugh. People who cannot or don't want to drive manage to walk all the time, for further distances than 10 minutes, with babies (even multiple sometimes) and all the needed stuff.

I really think some car drivers simply forget it is possible to get around without driving door to door.

Oh BTW we do drive and have a car but I choose to walk and use public transport where available as it is healthier, better for the environment and removes the hassle of finding parking!