Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

To ask not to park outside our house

255 replies

aibuhun · 06/12/2018 17:12

We live on a tight street so if you get back late you will not be parking on that street or you will have to park right at the bottom and walk up (our street is long 5 min walk at least).
Sometimes OH pops to the shops in the evening and someone will take the spot right away so in the morning I have to carry two DCs bags coats right to the bottom. DD is 10 weeks old and DS has just turned two and he hates walking!

I'm getting fed up now and I never say anything as I know you can't fight over a spot but would I be unreasonable to ask them to not park there when I see them pulling up?

They are never neighbours either they are always people visiting Angry

OP posts:
ForgotwhatIcameinherefor · 07/12/2018 17:58

Another solution nobody has mentioned would be for DH to pop down on his own in the morning and move car back up ready for you once some residents have gone to work and the parking has thinned out.
To make you feel a better, I’m writing this as a single parent in an even worse area for parking - we live near the town centre and our permit parking zone is oversubscribed, so i can return “home” and literally have NOWHERE to park - at ANY distance. So we have to find something else to do until parking on single yellow lines is permitted. We can’t get home at all! Then I have to get ya up and out by 8am the following morning which is inconvenient on a week day but really really rubbish on a Saturday morning!!! Lucky you the end is in sight. I am stuck here.

MsLexic · 07/12/2018 18:00

You cannot reserve a public road, well known fact. You don't own it, so you can't.

MsLexic · 07/12/2018 18:01

PS. I have same problem, not being unsympathetic just factual. I have mobility problems too

Boulty · 07/12/2018 18:02

YABU

Hopefully you have not asked people not to park there since you do not own the public road.

This comes from buying/renting in an area without its own parking first come, first served. Next time look for a home with parking, wider road, etc etc, etc.

A 5 min walk to your car is not so bad.

classicaz · 07/12/2018 18:04

As others have said it’s a total pain but it’s the downside of having no off street parking.

We used to own a house in a very crowded steeet where no one had off road parking except for us. We were the only house in the street with a garage and it was a major factor in us deciding to buy the house. Yet people would STILL park in front of our dropped kerb and block access to our garage! When I challenged them they would often get defensive and irate, and accuse us of being unreasonable because our garage was taking up a space (!!).

I got so sick of the parking wars we eventually moved again.

Iloveacurry · 07/12/2018 18:05

YABU

You need to move to somewhere with a driveway.

busybarbara · 07/12/2018 18:06

Good luck if you're a single parent and have to park a distance away while also carrying around the weekly shop. You basically have to leave your baby home alone while you sort it out. But it was good inspiration to move to a posher area I guess.

Wrongintherightway · 07/12/2018 18:07

Sorry but if it's on street parking anyone can park there and you have no claim on it

YABU to expect no one to park there just because you want to,

Racecardriver · 07/12/2018 18:08

What’s the problem? We park our car a ten minute walk away (flat in the centre of town so car park is further away). It’s not really an issue.

ItsPeanutButterJelly · 07/12/2018 18:08

YABU - what is you're husband got back late and tried to park further along the road only to be asked to move because that person didn't want someone else parking in "their" spot which happened to be outside their house? Would your husband say "fair enough" and go into the next road over or "eff off! I need a space so I'll park in this one!"

PrincessDando · 07/12/2018 18:09

It pisses me off royally when people try to stake a claim to the road outside their house with cones and the like. I paid my road tax I'll park where the hell I like so long as it's on a public road.

Vivianebrezilletbrooks · 07/12/2018 18:13

Yabvu. You can't demand people don't park outside your house if you dont have a dropped kerb or a driveway yourself.It is public highway. If it is a big issue you should have bought a house with a drive or move to one with a drive. We had a drive on one house we owned then moved to one without,thinking we could get a drive put in but we never did(and I now know it probably would have been refused) and parking did become as massive issue for many reasons so when we sold that we bought a house with ample parking.
Just read your update, OP.
Good luck with your move! Smile

ToftyAC · 07/12/2018 18:15

I understand. I’ve been there. It’s fine to piss and moan because it’s a massive pain. However YABVU.... you do not own the road outside your house.

LegoAdventCalendar · 07/12/2018 18:16

Yup nightmare I don't think people understand until they are in the situation.

A nightmare? Don't be so melodramatic. It's a temporary inconvenience, one of those things that go with living in a place like that. We lived in a second floor tenement flat with 2 under 3 and no off street parking. That's life! We had to learn to cope.

Lots of workrounds have been suggested here, like your h going to the shops on his way home from work or walking to them in the evening.

Some folks in our road would try to cones or wheelie bin stunts, it's actually illegal to block the road like that, but I had no problem moving them onto the pavement and parking there. It's a public road.

worrierandwine · 07/12/2018 18:18

Sympathise entirely OP, our lives are ruled by bloody parking. We love our little house that we are slowly making our own, we have lovely views and a decent size garden but parking is a big issue. I don’t think YABU to want to be able to park outside your own home each night but don’t expect any understanding or sympathy on MN. In RL you and I could have a glass of wine and bitch about how unreasonable people are for parking in “our space” but in MN world you’ll just get loads of YABU because “technically” it’s a public road Xmas Wink

Chocaholicjellybelly · 07/12/2018 18:18

YABU. You don’t own the road outside your house.Anyone can park on any road as long as they’re not blocking any driveways and there are no road markings/signs to indicate no parking allowed.My Dd lives around a 10 minute walk from a major football stadium.When it’s a match day she has to carefully plan her day.If she needs to use her car she needs to make sure she’s back well before kick off otherwise she won’t get parked anywhere near her house, never mind in her own street.

mumlost1940 · 07/12/2018 18:20

There is a niche market opportunity in your parking predicament. A bloke in a pub told me about "Rent A Dosser". For as little as a groat, one will be sent along to kip on your vacated parking place until you get back.

Toughtips · 07/12/2018 18:22

A long 5 minutes? So just a five min walk? Yabu. Make sure your next purchase has a driveway.

Understand it can be annoying but they're entitled to park on the road.

puddlesplashing · 07/12/2018 18:23

Why can't you husband use his own car for late night shopping trips? Then you still have your spot.

Supermum29 · 07/12/2018 18:24

It’s rubbish but yabu... if parking is a necessity then it should be factored in when looking at a property! Sorry if that seems harsh.

Rhiannon13 · 07/12/2018 18:25

We had the same problem on our road because a few of the houses are Victorian terraces with no parking, so we asked the local council to set up a parking permit scheme. Is it worth looking into doing this OP?

Holidayshopping · 07/12/2018 18:33

We used to live near the football ground. If we went out during a match, we’d lose our space, so we tried hard not to.

Do you really urgently have to go to the shops late at night THAT much that it’s a problem?

notacooldad · 07/12/2018 18:34

One neighbour I used to have put his wheelie bins in the parking space to save it.

We had a neighbor that did that on a street we used to live on. I'm not sure if someone got fed up with him doing it and reported him but a police officer and PCSO had a stern word with him and said it was breaking the law and causing an obstrucIon. They said it was the same with putting cones out.pesumably

Apparently people do put cones out and others ( presumably people who want parking spaces report) them. People usually get a reminderthat they aren't supposed to do it!

IceBearRocks · 07/12/2018 18:49

Get a smaller buggy!!!

Palaver1 · 07/12/2018 18:52

Try it and see where it gets you