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Why buy a house with no parking if you have 3 cars

365 replies

Wineisrequired · 26/05/2021 07:11

So parking where I live is awful. Made worse by people buying houses with no driveways or parking. So you now have extra cars and vans being parked on the side road. If you have that many vehicles why buy a house with no parking . Is it me and shall I just shut up. I know it’s not a given right to park near your house but parking miles away because new people moving in have lots of cars parked really grates on my nerves. Anyway rant over 🤣

OP posts:
Librariesmakeshhhhappen · 26/05/2021 09:46

In my little lizard brain, I dont know why anyone would buy a house without parking. But then I use some critical thinking and its pretty bloody obvious.
People need to live in certain areas for work, family, whatever. Houses cost what they cost and their budget is their budget. House with parking can also be very rare so are at the higher price end in some areas.

People have to buy what they can afford. If that means no parking then no parking it is. They're allowed to park in the street just as much as you are. Dont you realise how silly you sound, complaining about people buying a house with no parking when you also bought a house with no parking.

emeraldcity2000 · 26/05/2021 09:47

I don't understand the view here that it's because you can't afford a driveway.... period properties are usually more expensive than new builds and quite a lot more expensive...at least where I live... surely it's personal choice about style of house?!?

PaperbackRider · 26/05/2021 09:49

A monthly lease on a car can easily be almost as much as a monthly mortgage payment, depending on the car and area. Plus petrol, insurance, mot/repairs

IT probably can, but usually it doesn't. Mortgage payment for a house like mine: 1500 a month. My car, bought 7 years ago for 3k.

MrMucker · 26/05/2021 09:51

There are a few options.
Think about dropping the curb in front of your house and making a small driveway if there's room. Expensive, very, but cheaper than buying a house with drive.
think about lobbying your council with the issue. Lots of streets in our town have allocated parking and permit only spaces, which resolves the issue of unfair.
People are saying OP is selfish for being irritated, without distinguishing selfish from "irritated". And yes, it is irritating if you are a one car household, and return from work late to find no space due to vehicles parked which are only used at , say, the weekend.
Just because people are entitled to do something does not exempt them from being seen as hogs.
It's the same as very tall people being perfectly entitled to sit in front of very small people in the cinema. Is the small person "selfish" for finding that irritating?!

earthyfire · 26/05/2021 09:52

My neighbour across the road has 2 cars and a massive drive but has most of the drive as grass so they have one car on the road, not my business however, they always block my drive so I'm always asking them to move. The solution would be to get rid of some of the grass which they don't maintain anyway so they could fit their second car on the drive. A couple next door have 4 cars, 2 on their drive and the other 2 on the road, it's just the two of them and they NEVER go out. So why they need 4 cars is beyond me.

Babbly · 26/05/2021 09:52

@emeraldcity2000

I don't understand the view here that it's because you can't afford a driveway.... period properties are usually more expensive than new builds and quite a lot more expensive...at least where I live... surely it's personal choice about style of house?!?
I think it's a bit of both. Where I live there are period properties slightly more set back from the road where the little courtyards have been converted into driveways and ones where almost identical period properties were too close to the road for that to happen so they've retained the courtyards and the parking is on-street only. The ones with parking are using a solid £50,000-£100,000 more - and I think all the people who have the on-street parking would've wanted a driveway if they were the same price (who wouldn't?). You're right though, it's about balance of priorities. Those in the period houses without parking could easily afford a modern build with parking but they don't want to live in them.
ChicChaos · 26/05/2021 09:52

Maybe they think your car is the problem OP. I expect their reasons for moving in were pretty similar to your own.

misspattylacosta · 26/05/2021 09:55

@MsTSwift

God I love our residents parking zone. I pay that fee with grateful pleasure. Sod off freeloaders or get a ticket!
In many areas, it doesn't really solve the problem at all. There are still more resident cars than spaces.
Jocasta2018 · 26/05/2021 09:56

In London zone 2, we had a max of 2 permits per house (that you had to pay for) & most people only had 1 car.

Before they brought the permits in, it was bedlam!

It was free parking to all. People driving up to London for a day would leave their cars on the street & get the tube into the centre.

It was a good day for Hammersmith residents when they started to charge for street parkingSmile!

DynamoKev · 26/05/2021 09:58

Why buy a house with no parking if you have 3 cars
Perhaps they have no realistic alternative.

Despite the howls from people, car ownership has actually got progressively cheaper in real terms since cars were invented.

IF we were serious about this stuff we could do like they do in Japan with the KEI cars - cars cannot be larger than a given size and no-one can own one in a big city unless they can prove they have a place to park.

As with most things, no government wants to be the one to act though.

misspattylacosta · 26/05/2021 09:59

Not much can be done about existing properties, but it is ludicrous that new developments are authorised when they don't factor enough parking space. The fake "encouraging people not to drive" is complete bollocks. People still need cars, and the public transport system is nowhere near good enough to make people give up their car.

(there are many of course) but I do not anyone in Central London who doesn't have a car, despite the various tax and parking problems. It's still easier to have your own car than rent one every time you want to go away at the weekend, go into an area ignored by frequent public transport, go shopping.

Cadburyflakeicecream · 26/05/2021 09:59

I can’t afford a house with any parking. I live in an ex council terrace. I live here and need a car and dd has a car when she’s home from uni - we live in a village with v poor public transport she couldn’t get to her work placements without a car and I can’t run her as it doesn’t work. If DS or Dd1 come to stay they bring their cars because poor public transport.

That’s why a household might have three cards - adult children living at home.

And I can’t afford anything else.

What am I supposed to do?

DynamoKev · 26/05/2021 10:01

Those in the period houses without parking could easily afford a modern build with parking but they don't want to live in them.
Is this true?
Even if it is, it assumes new build is available - there's not a lot going in most big cities.

KnottedFern · 26/05/2021 10:06

Why bother buying a house at all when they have 3 cars they could live in. Honestly OP what an ignorant post!

'Decent cars are expensive. 3 cars/vans even more so. It has nothing to do with ‘not being able to afford’ a house with a drive. Most gazillion £££ mansion blocks in central London don't have driveways or off street parking so that's your theory out the window the capital.'

Don't be ridiculous, it has everything to do with not being able to afford it! Most people don't live in London funnily enough and can't afford to have gazillion £££ mansions and expensive cars! They buy what house they can afford in the area they can! If there is more than one adult in the house that needs to drive then they need to get a car each! It's not rocket science. Cars are cheaper than houses!

Alaimo · 26/05/2021 10:06

In my neighbourhood on-street parking is banned nearly everywhere, and it's bliss. Instead there are designated resident car parks dotted around. While it means you might have to walk a couple of minutes to your car, it also means it's much safer for kids to play out, or walk themselves to school, and cyclists don't have to watch out for car doors being opened right in their path. It was genuinely a revelation when I first walked around the area and to not see every street full of cars. Even with the high cost of a parking permit for the resident's car park, I still much prefer this over the 'dump your car wherever is convenient' approach.

Crowsaregreat · 26/05/2021 10:12

I think the question really is why one household needs three cars. But if you bought your own house with parking then it wouldn't bother you, right?

CounsellorTroi · 26/05/2021 10:15

Despite the howls from people, car ownership has actually got progressively cheaper in real terms since cars were invented.

True. There was a time when being a two car family was seen as an indicator of affluence. Now it seems to be the minimum any household can manage with.

misspattylacosta · 26/05/2021 10:17

I think the question really is why one household needs three cars.

Because there's 3 drivers?
Because they like the cars?
Because it's easier to have a small run-around car and keep the family car for bigger trips?

There are tens of reasons.

PaperbackRider · 26/05/2021 10:19

I think the question really is why one household needs three cars

That's only a question if you're too thick to work out the simple answer: they want or need 3 cars.

Doggitydog · 26/05/2021 10:20

I think new builds do come with parking, they have to legally to satisfy the planning rules. You don’t have a space to park your car then OP? Why did you buy that house?

Cadburyflakeicecream · 26/05/2021 10:21

@Crowsaregreat

I think the question really is why one household needs three cars. But if you bought your own house with parking then it wouldn't bother you, right?
I have an adult child at home when she’s not at uni. and have two other adult children one of whom lived here until last year.

There is one bus a day to my village and one home and these don’t mesh with healthcare shifts. So the children need cars.

I don’t have a partner at the moment but if I did he would have a car most likely.

Surely it’s not that hard to comprehend?

fakeplantsdontlookreal · 26/05/2021 10:21

My friend bought a house without parking as it was the only way that they could afford to buy a house. She hates it now and is desperate to move, but can't afford parking and a garden..... They have 2 cars, which are essential here as it is a rural area with very limited public transport, so getting rid of a car is not an option. They have to park in the street round the corner, which annoys those residents, but there is nowhere else to park.

The properties are ex council and have huge gardens, so why didn't the council build a strip at the end for a road with parking on for the residents?. It just wasn't seen as an issue back then though as there were either 0 or 1 car per household.

In my road, we are all lucky enough to have driveways, and we have all widened them so that we can fit on what we need , mine is 2 wide, although there is only me now, and the neighbours fits 4 due to their DC.

In my previous house, which was terraced and on road parking, we all knew each other and were considerate. nobody parked outside anyone else's house, and if you had 2 vehicles, you parked 1 further away. That worked really well.

New builds should all be built with 2 parking spaces. There is not much you can do about the old terraced streets, but years ago, not many people had cars, and now families can have 2-4, so things are very different.

Doggitydog · 26/05/2021 10:22

3 cars? Shock Nice one, Greta is crying.

Cadburyflakeicecream · 26/05/2021 10:23

My house was built in the 1970s and not every household, especially in council estates, had cars.

Times have changed but there is literally nowhere to put extra car parking. My kids park in the residents car park mostly but there are times when that’s not suitable and they need to park outside the house.

Cadburyflakeicecream · 26/05/2021 10:25

@Doggitydog

3 cars? Shock Nice one, Greta is crying.
If Greta wants to organise decent accessible public transport then I’ll use it. There isn’t any and I have appointments to get to and 2 of my kids are healthcare workers with night shifts. There’s no bus that works to get them to and from work and no one they can car share with.