Note left on car after parking outside someone's house.

[Thumbs]

Yesterday, a car was parked outside my house and there was no space on the pavement along my house so I parked around the corner.
There was no dropped curb so naturally presumed I could park there.

Spent my day doing things around the house when DH comes in saying there's a note on the car and that i've parked in front of their drive.
I read the note and it said something along the lines of
"Please don't park across our drive again, there are plenty of spaces on this street. Thanks."

I have never met this person despite living on the same street and never really took notice of their house to have known they have a "drive". Most of the houses on my street do not have drives apart from the odd one who has had their kerbs dropped.

But I was always led to believe that a 'drive' always has a dropped kerb. There is no dropped kerb outside their house.
Anyway I moved the car but DH told me it's obviously a drive even though it doesnt have a dropped kerb and he apologised to the owners of the house.

I feel stupid now because according to DH it was obvious.

No dropped curb = glorified patio.

Your husband IBU.

If they haven’t got a dropped kerb then you can legally park there. Ignore.

Of course it’s not a drive, without a dropped kerb, how on earth would they get their car on & off without causing damage?

I don’t think you did anything wrong.

How do you feel about your DH apologising for you? Lovely that he backed you up, I would remember that.

"A patio with aspirations".

That is brilliant

You didn't park in front of a drive, if they want access there at all times, they need to pay to have the kerb dropped. So while I wouldn't park here (even though I technically could, but wouldn't as a courtesy) if it was obviously used for a car (a car sitting there, or a sign saying access needed or whatever) I don't see that you made a huge mistake.

I think legally you're correct but if it was obviously being used as a parking space, it's unnecessarily inconsiderate to park in front of it.

If you really didn't notice, it's just a mistake.

The annoying thing about these situations is that you don't get a chance to argue explain your reasoning with the accuser and /or to apologise to them (despite them being in the wrong).

If they don't have a dropped kerb then basically what they've done is the cheapskate way of having a drive.

They aren't prepared to pay to have a dropped kerb but they also think that now they can "reserve" that section of the street for them to get on and off their drive

By not paying to have the kerb dropped they've left themselves open for cars parking across their drive. You haven't done anything wrong

I think legally you're correct but if it was obviously being used as a parking space, it's unnecessarily inconsiderate to park in front of it.

It’s unnecessarily inconsiderate to pretend you own the road. If there are other spaces, they can park in them, can’t they?

The street was busy hence why I couldn't park along the pavement by my house so had to go around the corner, saw a space, parked there,
Their house and their next door neighbour had spaces outside, I just happened to park outside their house as there was no difference between the two houses - both concrete outside with some plants.
This house I parked infront of just happens to mount the curb.

My house is concrete on one side of the front garden with.a bit of grass on the other, to me it's just like me leaving a note on the car infront of my house saying it's my drive

I think if you didn’t realise it was aspiring to be a drive then ywnbu to park there and it is correct that if there’s no dropped kerb you can park there. BUT I probably wouldn’t do it again once I realised

No you were not unreasonable. ..

Was there a car parked in their “drive”, OP?

Of course there was no car parked on their 'drive' hence why I never noticed

The bottom line is, even if they had a car parked on their “drive”, they have no legal access. So you can and should continue to park there if you need to. Cheeky bastards.

If people did that with their gardens without having applied for a dropped kerb, our council would, pretty sharpish, put a bollard on the pavement so that they couldn't drive over the pavement. Pavements often have services, eg water pipes, under them which gradually get broken due to cars driving over them. The payment to drop the kerb also covers reinforcing the pavement.

If there wasn't a dropped kerb, it isn't a drive.

Its a KErb, not a CUrb. You got it right first post, why change it?

If there was no dropped kerb you did nothing wrong. If it was obvious they use the garden for parking, I'd have parked elsewhere if able

If the curb isn't dropped then it's not a drive. You can knock your own wall down all you want but it doesn't give you a drive. You have to apply to the council for a kerb to be dropped to have a drive. No dropped kerb means you can park there.

Exactly...certainly not a legal one.

Legally it may not be a drive but you're a CF if you do so .

@Thumbs

Of course there was no car parked on their 'drive' hence why I never noticed

No need for the snippy reply

@VivaMiltonKeynes but couldn't be said the other way around? That they are a CF for feeling they have the right to stop people parking outside their house despite their house being no different to mine?
There are no permits on this street and as mentioned before only 2 houses have legal drives,
In the same way I can't stop that car parking outside my house yesterday, they can't stop people parking outside there's

Your DH was the one who was BU as were the house owners. No dropped curb, no drive. You have every right to park there. Just hope they are not nasty types who would do anything to your car if you did though.

[quote Thumbs]@VivaMiltonKeynes but couldn't be said the other way around? That they are a CF for feeling they have the right to stop people parking outside their house despite their house being no different to mine?
There are no permits on this street and as mentioned before only 2 houses have legal drives,
In the same way I can't stop that car parking outside my house yesterday, they can't stop people parking outside there's[/quote]
The people who parked in front of you are CFs too in reality even if legally no.

I'm not going to park outside their house again but I don't blame anyone in the future who does as their house looks like every other house on the street, it is not being a CF to do so when there is no dropped kerb

@BIWI

Well yes, then you were being unreasonable. Why didn't you look properly at where you parked?!

It would be illegal to park on the 'drive' if no dropped curb. So OP didn't do anything wrong. She did look...