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Original poster

To ask new neighbours not to block our driveway (see Diagram!

208 replies

starrain · 15/01/2020 12:37

Hi all (please see my artistic diagram- im at work so no pic)

We have recently moved into a new build, the whole block of houses have just moved in. Our driveway is on a slight incline and at the bottom of it is a lowered kerb. Our neighbours have a house which has a long driveway where u have to park cars infront on each other. They knew this when they bought the house, many other houses on the development are made like this, and if it was going to be an issue for them they shouldnt have bought it

Now she keeps parking at the bottom of our drive half on the pavemement infront of their house, partially blocking our drive.
It s real nuisance trying to get in and out.

I have asked them once that can they move it as im struggling to get my car out, to which they replied well Steve is leaving in a bit so i dont wana block him in.
We have asked them twice now and they say its causing them a problem as one leaves after the other so they will be constantly moving cars, but i dont see why we should have the problem whilst they dont, its our house our drive and dropped kerb?!

Will speak to the customer care lady at the housing development, but i fear they will keep doing it. What can we do :((

To ask new neighbours not to block our driveway (see Diagram!
OP posts:
CokeAndCrispsAndDip · 15/01/2020 13:13

I feel your pain, I'm in a new build. My drive it 2 cars next to each other and my house faces the neighbour opposite. To the side of their house is a long drive but they keep parking in front of their house which blocks my drive and we're the end of a cul de sac do nowhere else to turn. I've asked and asked and they keep doing it. I never went down the enforcing the covenant but I just dream of the day I can move

Clymene · 15/01/2020 13:16

Go and talk to customer care lady. They shouldn't be blocking the pavement OR your drive. They will have to do the car shuffle - plenty of people do. Their inconvenience is becoming yours and it shouldn't be. It's their problem, not yours.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 15/01/2020 13:16

This is an excellent example of someone having a problem and making it YOUR problem....

I would be very clear this is NOT acceptsble.

I would send them a letter.... Re what you said...

Dear neighbours...

Re your car parking blocking /making it difficult for us to access/egress our drive.

You bought your house knowing that this would be an issue for you.. (as you have 2 cars you need to move. ..)

It is NOT OK to block our drive as your solution to YOUR problem.

In the spirit of good neighbour relations, we let you know about this, speaking to you about this on x and y date, and we have also asked you to move cars on x, y. z dates.

You must find a solution that doesn't impact on us.

  1. speak to the estate whatevers....

  2. pave over your grass to make it accesible.

  3. any other solution which does NOT impact on us.

We are sorry ro make this formal. This situtauto can't continue and it is impacting on our enjoyment of our home.

Yours

Namelessinseattle · 15/01/2020 13:16

I think you need to become a bigger problem then their single drive. So every time they're there they need to move, to the point that they will find it easier to block themselves in rather than block you in. Every single time. Have a list of excuses for why you can't use the other car. And learn the gift of silence. Become immune to horror of standing in awkward silence. Embrace the silence. Hi, I need to pop to the shops can you move for a minute? Thanks. And silence.

TriangleBingoBongo · 15/01/2020 13:16

Give the customer care manager a kick in the arse. It is NOT a neighbour dispute, the CF are breaking the rules of the covenant. This needs to be dealt with.

Of course it’s a neighbour dispute. What covenants? Have you seen them?

The sales person is there to sell and won’t give a hoot now. Rightly or wrongly that’s how it is.

MrsBethel · 15/01/2020 13:17

Do: knock on their door every time and get them to move their car. They are blocking you in. TorkTorkBam is dead right, whatever excuse they come back with, that doesn't make it your problem. The response should always be: "[That's a shame], please move your car, it's blocking us in."

Don't: go all passive aggressive and park there instead. That will wind them up, they'll dig their heels in and be an even bigger pain than they are now. If you give them a reason to rationalise the whole thing as being because you're a passive aggressive twat, then they'll do exactly that and they'll forget the fact they are being unreasonable in the first place. It's just the way twats' minds work. Any excuse to make it somebody else's problem, or somebody else's fault.

Right now you are in the right, they are in the wrong. Don't muddy that by being passive aggressive. It won't help. Just be direct and make them move it. Every. Single. Time.

VinandVigour · 15/01/2020 13:17

Politely go round every time. 11 at night, 5 in the morning. I remember my parents having this problem, my Dad kept politely asking them, they didn’t care, then the fishing season started and my Dad used to leave the house at 3am, fish and be back by 11.00am both Saturday and Sunday and randomly during the week. You can see where this is going.......having been woken up by my Dad hammering on their door at 3am both Saturday and Sunday they never did it again. 😂

Durgasarrow · 15/01/2020 13:18

This is quite illegal and they should be getting a ticket for it. I would never think to do such a thing. Unfortunately, they are very comfortable taking away your space. You need to assert yourself to get it back.

Greenkit · 15/01/2020 13:19

Dont let the management team get away with passing this problem on to you, get them to sort it. They could send a letter to them.

I wouldn't park where they are parking as then you wont have the moral high ground.

Ask them to move every single time they park there and get used to saying the phrases above, along with "you knew that when you bought the house".

flouncyfanny · 15/01/2020 13:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChikiTIKI · 15/01/2020 13:21

Why can't whoever in their house who needs to go out just take the front car, if they put both cars on their own drive. That's what I would do in their situation. You shouldn't have to be finding the solution to their problem though.

BlueEyedGreeness · 15/01/2020 13:22

If they're happy to upset you then you can upset them by parking across their drive!

BlouseAndSkirt · 15/01/2020 13:22

They are seriously CFers.

YOU do not have to come up with a solution - and any solution (to their non-existent problem) needs to not involve blocking you in, even partially!

Talk to the estate managers / customer people. The really should not be parking on the pavement.

KitKat1985 · 15/01/2020 13:22

Cheeky fuckers indeed. We have a double length driveway and we quite often have to spend a couple of minutes in the evening swapping the order of the cars on the drive. It's a bit of an annoyance, but like your CF neighbours we knew it when we bought the house, and it's our problem and I certainly wouldn't dream of partially blocking anyone else's drive just to make our lives easier.

TopOftheNaughtyList · 15/01/2020 13:24

I am fortunate enough to have a drive that fits 4 cars (grown up DDs have one each), but we have to position them depending on who needs to get out first. We're always moving them about which is a complete faff, especially as we live on a main road and have to wait for a break in (sometimes heavy) traffic to get on and off. But we do it because it's necessary. Your neighbours are just being CF and need taking in hand as soon as possible. It's not acceptable that they're blocking your dropped kerb.

BlouseAndSkirt · 15/01/2020 13:25

I hav just spoken to the customer care manager who said hmm i dont think we can do anything about this as its a neighbourly dispute

Parking on the pavement will wreck the kerb they drive up every time, so that is an estate management issue!

InMySpareTime · 15/01/2020 13:26

Can you contact the council and get them to paint double yellow lines on that bit of road? Then if NDNs persist in parking, take a photo every time and send it to the parking officers. That'll stop them.

theemmadilemma · 15/01/2020 13:30

Oh god. I feel for you. I don't see this issue going away, seems like they always intended to use that space for parking.

MadeForThis · 15/01/2020 13:34

Deal with it now or it will only get worse.

CornishMaid1 · 15/01/2020 13:34

Keep knocking every time you want to go in and out that they are blocking. Even if you one want to go for a drive around the block keep doing it. Just say that you are knocking because it is more neighbouring than getting their car towed each time.

Go back to the development team. Most new builds have quite strict covenants on them these days.You may well find there are covenants that would stop them paving over a grassy area and there are sometimes even covenants that say you cannot park on any of the roads (so they can only park on their driveway). Developers generally have the same covenants across the whole development, so check yours and quote them at them. The development team can threaten them with enforcement and just keep on at the development team every time it happens.

Svalberg · 15/01/2020 13:35

Fix a towbar to your car and reverse into them.

Apileofballyhoo · 15/01/2020 13:37

Just ask them to move 11 billionty times a day. Their solution is to get two similar cars, both insured on both, car seats in both etc., so it doesn't matter which one is parked in front.

flowery · 15/01/2020 13:39

They can either swap cars when necessary or park a bit further away- I’m sure there is at least a bit of legal on-street parking somewhere nearby if it’s a new estate. They’re just lazy, which isn’t your problem to solve.

JosefKeller · 15/01/2020 13:44

After asking very nicely, I would start needing to use my car at the most inconvenient times - the car on the right of your diagram, and knock asking them to move every single time.

Shame if it's late in the evening or very early in the morning. If you are blocked by their car, what else than asking them to move are you supposed to do?

messolini9 · 15/01/2020 13:45

To which he replied we dont want to spend money on it.
Then what ARE they planning to do about THEIR problem?

My husband then said ask the housing development to do it, because ure struggling. He said hmmm, u can speak to them.
Why does the neighbour expect DH to sort this out for him?