Moving to permit parking area but my property not eligible?

[sophinwonderland]

Hi, I will be moving into a new area soon living in a 1 bed flat above a shop, the whole area is permit parking for about 3/4m to 1m in all directions. I have a minor disability and cant walk long distances with heavy items like weekly food shopping ect but no disabled badge as can drive ok as no weight on my hip and use trolley to the car so never seen the need to get one.

I called the council to get a residential permit as I lived within the zone (it is £35 for the year which I am more than happy to pay and an extra £40 per year for a guest permit which I was going to get for my sister to use as she will visit often) but was told by the lady on the phone that I wasn't eligible for a permit.

In the area the street I will be on is the main street with shops and the street is loading only however the street behind this is residential permit only. this is the street my door leads out to not the main street so I had thought that as my door leads out to the street where it is permit only that I could get a permit. the lady I spoke to said that as my address is down as the main street I couldn't have one because nobody who lived on the main street is allowed one.

I had thought as I was in the zone it would be allowed whether I lived on the main street or not but especially as my door leads out to the street behind where it is permit parking. Most of the shops have flats above so problem must have come up, maybe those people who live on the main street either don't drive or park quite far away.

My sister suggested I email and explain what I was told and ask the council parking department if there was anywhere I could park. They emailed back to say that I couldn't have a residential permit but I could buy a permit for £350 a year that was a commuter permit and I could park on the first three roads either side of the main road with it.
I could just about afford this but i don't understand why i have to pay ten times as much to park on my street as my neighbours opposite.

My sister suggested i should write to someone higher in the council or my MP but i don't know if im being unreasonable or not.

YABU - you should have checked this before deciding to move onto that street
YANBU - Surely if you're in a residential permit zone you are a resident entitled to a permit

Thank you

Cant see a voting button, but I don't think it is unreasonable to assume you would be able to park in the residential parking spaces.
I would write to your Councillor, and higher in the Council. If no joy, the MP.

It sounds an admin mess up and no one has thought about your situation.
I would look at a blue badge. My late DF could drive, but struggled to walk far or with heavy loads and he was eligible..

Often when properties are built it is agreed they aren't entitled to parking permits as part of the planning. Could this be the case?

Yes, I would raise with your local Cllr and then MP if no joy

@littleducks

Often when properties are built it is agreed they aren't entitled to parking permits as part of the planning. Could this be the case?

I think this is the case, and OP wasn't able to research into this before moving to her property.

Is it a recently built place? A lot of new developments around our way are supposedly 'car free' so occupants aren't entitled to a parking permit.

@littleducks

Often when properties are built it is agreed they aren't entitled to parking permits as part of the planning. Could this be the case?

This was the case for the flat where I used to live. The only option was to hire a nearby private space. It is very common, and very artibary. Other nearby households were allowed as many cars as they wanted.

But you should have checked before moving!

Several new developments in my city specify that residents will not be eligible for parking permits. It is a condition on the planning permission, as there are already insufficient spaces for existing residents.
Unless you have a blue badge, there are no exceptions.

is it because the building has off street parking?
my street used to only allow a parking permit for households without off street parking.

It is a computer error showing your address as the main road but your front door doesn't face the main road.

I worked in business rates (and council tax) commerical properties were always either expanding or being carved up so sometimes we had numbers in weird orders.

I would email them again and explain where the location of your door is, if you can upload images you can take photos or refer them to google maps. If no joy I would contact your local MP, explain about the disability and the need for permit parking.

I think it's a massive issue for town planners often - there just isn't enough space on many streets for the residents to park, let alone a new development! I think that's why this happens. It's a bit sucky, but I'd maybe look into getting a blue badge or pay for the parking permit. I'm not sure there will be many other options.

can you get a blue badge?
it does sound to me like you could be.

Her address is highly unlikely to be a computer error for good ness sake.

Op I think you see the issue, you formally live on the Main Street and wish a permit for a street you don’t live on, which way your front door faces is irrelevant, what’s relevant is your address. It’s unlikely they will change your address because it will impact other properties also on the Main Street.

You can appeal it further up, and you might get lucky but they will have worked out the residents scheme only for those whose address is on that street.

@Bluntness100

Her address is highly unlikely to be a computer error for good ness sake.

Op I think you see the issue, you formally live on the Main Street and wish a permit for a street you don’t live on, which way your front door faces is irrelevant, what’s relevant is your address. It’s unlikely they will change your address because it will impact other properties also on the Main Street.

You can appeal it further up, and you might get lucky but they will have worked out the residents scheme only for those whose address is on that street.

This!

I would get a blue badge as that sounds easier than fighting the council. That way you can always move where you like without worrying about not being able to park.

I stay in a city centre with on street resident parking available. My building qualifies for a parking permit because it was converted to residential before a certain date. Any building converted after isn't eligible so assume many residents either don't have a car or have made alternative arrangements. I think quite a few either buy or rent a space from someone in nearby car parks or buildings so maybe that's an option? Not sure it would cost less than a commuter permit though.

When I lived in the same situation we were eligible for a parking permit for the road behind the main Street so some areas do allow it.

Why not investigate getting a blue badge - then you won't have to pay and will ha e more options.

If it's a new build it's quite a common thing. No idea if a solicitor should have picked this up during conveyancing (assuming it's bought?)

@bluefoxmug

can you get a blue badge? it does sound to me like you could be.

Blue badge rules are really restrictive. These are some of the eligibility criteria;

You may be eligible for a badge if one or more of the following applies:

you cannot walk at all
you cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
walking is dangerous to your health and safety
you have a terminal illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a DS1500 form
you have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines
you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment
you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child must always be kept near a vehicle in case they need emergency medical treatment
you are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
you struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces

This was a major issue at the council I used to work for. If they give you a permit they will leave themselves open to a lot of people asking for the same thing. If you are entitled to a blue badge you should get one, otherwise you will have to pay for a commuters pass.

You could ask the local Councillor to investigate for you but I doubt you will get anywhere, parking is a very emotive issue in towns; especially because as a pp has mentioned new builds are not allowed to join existing parking schemes.

Your MP will get the same reply that you did.

As people have said, it may have been excluded from the permit zone as part of planning permission for the flat. This sometimes happens in my town, usually on the grounds that it would put too much pressure on the available spaces in the zone - eg: house knocked down and block of 4 flats built in its place, meaning the number of cars increased from 1 or 2 to up to 8 (four flats with possibly two cars per flat).

Can't see voting but yabu.

You should always check parking conditions before moving.

Those of you saying an address error js highly unlikely - it's exactly what's happened to me. My council claims that my address doesn't exist (despite being in the middle of a perfectly ordinarily numbered street) so I have to phone up and have a tortuous argument every time I want a visitor parking permit.

They know where to find me for council tax, though 🤨

Hi, thanks for the replies,

It’s not a new build they are Victorian streets and the flat was converted over 10 years ago, the resident parking was only brought in two years ago because of a shopping centre being built just down the road so that shoppers didn’t use residential streets instead of the paid parking. The streets are usually not busy (have a friend a street over) and there are often lots of spaces so don’t think it would be capacity. The flat is rented so no conveyencing or anything.

I thought I had enabled voting sorry

It seems most people think YABU so I’ll try and arrange to have shopping delivered at first and speak to gp about blue badge, if I’m not eligible I’ll just pay for the commuter one

Blue badge rules are really restrictive. These are some of the eligibility criteria
You may be eligible for a badge if one or more of the following applies:
you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes.

I suggested to our lovely and very active new cleaner that she might like to use our parking area when she went into town.
“No it’s fine, I’ve got a Blue Badge”
Asthma apparently, but she happily agreed it was very mild.