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

[starrain]

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 :((

What are the penalties for ignoring the covenants? Is it a simple small penalty or could they lose their house?

Either way, keep taking pictures every time you see a problem so that you can send the developers lots of evidence that the covenants are being broken.

Maybe also ask on the Facebook and twitter pages what the procedure is for dealing with the covenants being broken as you’re already having problems.

And before anything - check you have legal cover on your house insurance for the house so that it’s covered - if they see a Facebook post or evidence that it was already a problem when you took out the cover then they won’t cover it.

I would be campaigning for a couple of bollards on that pavement area!

Are the roads and pavements local council or are they private roads managed by the estate / development?

@starrain

i will have to say something.

That ‘something’ needs to be ‘MOVE YOUR CAR*

@Wingedharpy

I gave them benefit of the doubt that theyr only doing it because we are not there. so the first time i went to them i expected an 'oh my gosh so sorry we will move it right away' because that would be my reaction.

Instead i was met with ummm well, Steves leaving soon.

when i enquired about covenants before i seem to remember that they are enforced by the owner taking the person who is breaking them to court. Cant see why the developer would want the cost/inconvience of doing this. i dont think there are any fines etc as such (not sure if something can be specified though i the covenant.....)

If I was to visit your house in my wheelchair @starrain, I probably couldn't get past the ignorant neighbours car and wouldn't be able to get onto the road if there's no dropped kerb... Likewise if you want to go a walk with a pram, are you expected to put your pram onto the road? What if you have a toddler? It's hardly teaching them road safety if they have to cross from behind a parked car, whether it's only access to your house or not...

If they won't stop doing this, I would honestly park at the bottom of their drove, blocking "Steve" in, so they can experience the inconvenience for a change!

I think you need to approach it from the angle of ‘Understand it’s easier for you guys to park there instead of moving cars, and at the moment while we’re not moved in it’s not a massive big deal but I wanted to get it sorted that you understand it can’t be a permanent solution for you to put your second car there - it will become an issue once we move in, because you’ll be blocking our drop curb so obviously you can’t park there.’

Then wait.

Just keep repeating they can’t park there because it blocks the drop curb.

when i enquired about covenants before i seem to remember that they are enforced by the owner taking the person who is breaking them to court

They can be enforced by anyone who derives a benefit from them - meaning other homeowners in the development could in theory take action.

But as the solicitors motto goes:

"quod pro vobis pretiosi" or It'll cost you

when i enquired about covenants before i seem to remember that they are enforced by the owner taking the person who is breaking them to court

Yes, this, OP would need to apply to court for an injunction.

That said, OP hasn’t actually read her TP1 which will detail covenants on her estate - I highly doubt there is one prohibiting parking on the curb. OP would likely need to rely on a more general principle of law like the right to quiet enjoyment or a catch all covenant of not causing a nuisance.

But I doubt OP wants to spend money in legals sorting this.

Also, despite what some are saying, the developers have now sold the land, no longer benefit from any covenant and thus can no longer look to enforce it.

They sound like total toss pots OP.

Also, despite what some are saying, the developers have now sold the land, no longer benefit from any covenant and thus can no longer look to enforce it.

But neighbours can, if they derived a benefit from them and have the wherewithall.

OP, if they're parked there before both of your cars are home, can both cars access the driveway?

The best thing is to try to get this sorted while the builders are on site, trying to sell the last houses. Same with any snagging issues. Once the last house has been sold they probably won't care.

Since you can't trust that the neighbours will do the right thing, it may be best to try to get a permanent solution in place. Either changing the landscaping, adding bollards to stop people parking on the pavement or changing the driveways.

My husband is even nicer than me so il have to do all the talking:(

There's nice and there's being a doormat. Agree with all the comments saying don't accept that this is your problem, it's theirs and they need to sort it.

@ ProfessorSlocombe

Why on earth would OP’s neighbours get involved. To take legal action you need to show a loss-this doesn’t affect their neighbours. Who would spend money on their neighbours parking issue? I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make?

Instead i was met with ummm well, Steves leaving soon

And did you reply “I don’t want to wait for Steve, I want the car moving now?”

Nip it in the bud OP, or you'll be back posting in 12 months saying "oh we can't wait to move because of CF neighbours"

@Biancadelrioisback "OP, if they're parked there before both of your cars are home, can both cars access the driveway?"

Why does this matter? Both cars cannot get off the driveway when the neighbours park outside her home, so they are taking their problem of having to move 2 cars due to shape of driveway, and putting it onto @starrain, even though they purchased a house with a double driveway to avoid that problem?

Bottom line is, they’d rather inconvenience you than themselves.

I would knock every single time, and I might even consider saying that I’d park on their drive if they were going to continue to park across yours.

It’s not hard to move someone else’s car for crying out loud. They’re being so lazy!

You're all right. Sometimes we go over, and she hasnt parked there. So il have to wait til we are there and she does it. Once we are actually living there, I know for a fact myself and hubby wont stand for it and will be constantly pestering them to move.

We need to think of something?

Erm, no, YOU need to think of something as YOU are the ones with the single file driveway - which YOU knew about when YOU bought the house.

@starrain How's it going? Has there been any developments?

@starrain How's it going? Has there been any developments?.

@starrain

OMG I feel so much for you. These neighbours sound like a PITA!

Have there been any more developments? I would be worried that even if they are given a warning by someone (council/police/housebuilders,) that they will adhere to it for a while, and then just start slyly popping the car at the bottom again (half on the pavement/blocking you in.)

I am worried for you that this is a problem that won't go away until these neighbours move. I pray that they are in private let (some houses on these developments are,) and they leave within a year!

It's probably no consolation, but I (and my DH) feel your pain. Although we have not had such a bad issue as yours (being totally blocked in most days,) we have had issues in the house we live (on and off) for the 5 years we have lived here.

We have an astra, and we live at No 15, and the house opposite (No 14,) has 2 cars and a van, and a 2 car wide/2 car long driveway, that holds 4 cars. The man (Lee) owns the van, and the woman (Lucy,) owns a Peugeot, and the 19 y.o. son (Jack) owns a fiesta. As I say, it's a 4 car driveway, so the 2 cars AND the van easily fit on. But one vehicle will have to be behind the other 2 IYSWIM.

Last summer, Lee was popping in and out several times a day, and leaving the van on the road, half blocking our drive, so that Lucy and Jack could get out all right, during the day! He would leave it all evening and overnight through to mid morning sometimes, so Lucy and Jack could get off the drive without him having to move his van!

It became SUCH a nuisance, as it made it really hard for us to get in AND out of our drive, and when other people were parked on the road opposite too, it was extremely difficult to get out, and we kept scraping the tyres, and clipping the pavement. We had a few occasions when we just could not get out, and asked him to move the van so we could get out (then as soon as we drove off, he popped it back in exactly the same place,) so we struggled to get back into our drive later!

Upshot is, like your neighbour, they were doing everything they could to make life easy for themselves, and so they didn't have to keep moving vehicles to get in and out, and to hell with everyone else.

A couple lives in the house next to them (No 16,) and they frequently have visitors (and that house ALSO has a 4 car drive.) Yet the visitors are too bone idle to spend the 15 seconds it takes to park the car on the drive, and they often leave it DIRECTLY opposite our drive. Sometimes for half an hour, sometimes for 2 hours.

We have asked them time and again to move the car as we cannot get out, and they say 'oh sorry, yeah sure!' All nice and friendly, and then 2-3 days later, one of the fuckers blocks us in again. What pisses me off is that they have a four car drive, and still park on the road!

We have got to the point now, where, if we know we are going out later that day, we park on the road. At least we can be sure we will get out then! Funny thing is, when we DO park on the road, it makes it impossible for THEM to park in the place they want to park, and they have to park further down the road and walk an extra 30 yards (around 100 feet.)

And as they walk up the road, they glare at our car on the road like 'WTF have they parked THERE for?' A few months back, I even heard one guy (visiting No 16,) say 'why is the astra parked there? Why are they not on their drive?!'

What a fucking cheek! So it's OK for THEM to park wherever the fuck they want, making it awkward (and even impossible sometimes) for us to get our astra in or out, but it's a different story when WE park on the road. (And what's more, why don't they park on the FOUR car drive of the couple they're visiting opposite us?!)

We are never blocking the access to their drive, we just park on the road, NEAR our drive. But it stops them parking exactly where they want. Although, a few times, we have had van man Lee AND one of the people next door to him, park so badly/so close to ours, (when OUR car is on the road,) that the traffic struggles to get past.

If the road gets blocked (if a big vehicle needs to get past,) hell will freeze over before we move OUR car (if ours was there first, which is always is.)

The parking issues (for us,) don't affect us massively, and sometimes, we can go 3-4 weeks at a time without an issue, but if I am being honest, it is a bloody niggle. Especially with having to put the car on the road a few hours before we go out, just in case we can't get out later!

God, I feel better for that rant.

Good luck OP, I am crossing my fingers for you.