Another CF neighbour parking one...

[Lillipops]

Hello fellow Mumsnetters I have for you a CF neighbor parking issue I have included a diagram so I hope it makes sense. We live in a semi detached house which has a driveway. At the end of the driveway a footpath cuts across and then there is another drive which goes down to the road. It is long enough to fit at least 4 cars because the house is set back from the road. Relatively modern development but ours and next door are the only ones in the street with such driveway. Our boundary runs from the edge of our garage down to the main road as shown in our deeds, there is a line where the concrete has been laid on the 2nd bit of the drive but other than that there is no visible division if you see what I mean. We park our car on the drive just in line with our house. A new couple have moved in next door with 3 cars. Instead of moving one of their cars off the drive to move them around they have taken to just driving across our drive to get around it. AIBU that this is so cheeky? It's really winding me and especially my partner up. This is NOT a shared drive and they are driving across our land because they are so lazy rather than just move their cars. I wouldn't mind if they had asked or queried it but they just seem to do what they like. I've attached a picture so you can see.....hit me mumsnetters

Lots of generous people on here that are happy to pay to upkeep their property that someone else is using . Sod that !

“Keeva2017
Not sure this would bother me to be honest.... however your diagram is top notch, very neat and for that reason il support you on this”

Yes, this all the way

I'd only ever heard 'chinned' to mean to punch somebody - specifically an uppercut to the chin, hence the name; but I suppose it might equally be seen as an extension of chinwag i.e. a conversation, and a heated one at that.

Context is everything here. If they were pleasant, friendly neighbours, who had asked - and who believed in give and take, doing favours for you as well - then I'd have no problem at all in their driving across the drive when it was vacant. In fact, I'd probably suggest that they do it (although I'd probably use the lower half myself occasionally or ask visitors to use it, just to avoid any future claims of rights of access).

However, they're clearly some of life's takers, who think that if you aren't using (or haven't secured) your own property/possessions, they're fair game for anybody to help themselves. Leaving concrete on your drive is massively disrespectful - vandalism, in fact.

They're no better than animals, really, who will find and take food, unless you keep it safe from them; but they don't know any better - humans (over the age of 3) do.

It's very rude and assuming . My neighbour parks purposefully across my drive including his. It's very annoying

It was the powder and sand that they use to mix the concrete that was left in front of our garage, when my partner "chinned-pulled up" the builder they swept it up and swilled it with water....water + concrete powder = concrete so it has stained the paving in front of our garage

I really couldn’t find it in myself to give the tiniest shit about this. It’s not impacting your life in any way, and you never know when you’ll need your neighbours’ goodwill.

The second part of the story changes it a bit for me but if i t were just the drive thing I would be inclined to leave it for the sake of not falling out with your neighbours.

I have lived next to my neighbours for 10 years now and the guy (recently retired) has always been a miserable bastard but we exchanged pleasantries and that's it. During lockdown, me and my bf (who doesn't live with me and my 2 dc but moved in during lockdown) decided as it was a nice day and we literally had nothing else to do, we would jetwash my drive as it hadn't been done in the 5 or so years it had been down. Next thing we know he is complaining that we are "getting water in his garage". He was stood there with his garage door wide open, which has a long drain in front of it so any minimal amount of water running onto his drive was in fact going down the drain and not in his garage but we were taking care to sweep the water away as we went.

Then a few weeks ago my parents were round helping with some gardening jobs. My mum watered a hanging basket I have on the front of my house, right next to the neighbour's side access to their garden and their path got a bit wet in the process (again, a nice sunny day so would have dried in minutes). He had a go and told he he wasn't happy with the "mess" (water) on his path and could I find another way of watering my hanging basket that doesn't affect his path.

Well, I told my (76 year old) mum and she went round and called him a miserable bastard and said her daughter was very unfortunate to have a neighbour like him!

Needless to say we haven't so much as exchanged pleasantries since and he has lost a civil relationship with a bloody good neighbour as a result of stupid pettiness.

Not saying your issue is petty but I'd say if you can get over it then do.

I think that once you've had a nightmare neighbour you are sensitised for life. So it's unrealistic to expect you to shrug it off.

Totally unreasonable to get wound up by this one.....

But that would drive me mad, I can picture myself on a Sunday afternoon on the sofa,...they have gone and done it again!...

When it comes to our property, we do not think logically.

My brain is telling me its not an issue, but I am wound up for you!

I grew up on an open plan 70s estate and these chains were a common way to divide driveways.

Or you could go with some sort of raised edging kerb when you get your driveway done.

Or a low box hedge. They require a lot of upkeep though.

It’s not impacting your life in any way, and you never know when you’ll need your neighbours’ goodwill.

I wouldn't hold your breath - they don't sound like the sort who believe in reciprocating.

They are being CF but the layout of your properties is awful.

I would be careful putting any fences up etc until you’ve checked the developer’s covenants - you may not be allowed to.

I just think it's really cheeky and it will cause wear and tear on our drive that we would then need to pay to fix.

is this a serious point? Nah, you must be joking. Unless they're driving a monster truck up and down with snow chains on, this is ridiculous.
You need a hobby, other than curtain twitching.

This wouldn't bother me as I really don't think it's going to cause that much wear and tear. But it is cheeky. However the think with the builders is a piss take and would annoy me. So I think I'd be clarifying that it's your drive. Saying something like do you realise this to the neighbours as they drive on it and they had the builders use it.

Lagney that's just what we were thinking, we are waiting to get some quotes in. Re the covenants we have checked and when the properties were built they all had wooden fences down the middle of the drive in between the two houses but over time they've been taken down as people have re done the driveways

I agree with you OP it needs nipping in the bud now
I'd probably go round to speak to them first so there's no misunderstanding, even though it's quite obvious

This would annoy me too. We live with a relatively similar set up though instead of a footpath it's a shared driveway for access to the next house along IYSWIM. There is a similar set up opposite us and a hedge separating it. On the other side, the people that live in one house have been seen to be using their next door neighbour's drive to turn around on! I'm glad my neighbours are more considerate than that.

What really pissed me off though was when someone parked a delivery van on our section of the shared driveway (which we have to maintain), delivered to one of the neighbours' houses and drove off dumping a great big puddle of oil on our driveway. A few neighbours had deliveries that day and the van wasn't signwritten so we can't follow it up, but we have to fix it.

Couldn't even start to imagine getting annoyed by this.

Live and let live, and all that...

I feel sorry for them having neighbours like you. Get a life!

A fence between the main bits would probably stop them if it came right up to the path as they'd have a very sharp tight corner to go from their driveway to yours between their car and your fence.
I'd be fuming at their builders mixing cement on your property, they clearly see it as an extension of their own so boundaries are a must.

So you could reintroduce the fence? Did it go down the full extent of the drive?

Your neighbours do sound like piss takers but they may not realise they are driving over your property?

The stain on my paving is not acceptable, I would have asked for reparation. Plus they used stole your water.
Yes to getting some kind of hedge.

TBH I wouldn't be annoyed - when I lived somewhere similar, both us, and next door had longer cars (MPV/Estate) - I noticed that all the other houses had concrete pillars at the end, dividing the drives, but mysteriously ours didn't but next door had a concrete pillar just up the alley at the side of the house where they'd clearly moved it in-between tenants.

We both used that little extra bit of manouvering room to get our cars on and off more easily, both going over the other's drive at the end to do so, and it worked perfectly.

Of course, had something changed, and I needed to park at the end of my own drive I wouldn't have heard any moaning. And if there was moaning, I'd be parking something down there permanently. In fact, to emphasise it, I would occasionally be parking something at the end of the drive so it's understood to be a favour, not a right.

I think it’s a non-issue. Definitely not worth looking petty to your neighbours over.

@makingmammaries

Park at the end of your drive as PP suggested, then they’ll have to stop. I wouldn’t let that become a habit or it will get worse.

Yes, park at the end of the drive.

If you don't nip this in the bud, next thing you know they'll be parking on your drive, too.