Is neighbour being a CF parking this way or AIBU?

[GoodbyeRosieQueenOfCorona]

Outside of our house there is space for 4 cars between dropped curbs, as per diagram 1. The old boy two doors down normally parks on one end, I normally (but not always) get the space the other end, leaving space for 2 cars in between.
The house next door is rented, and the people that lived there when we moved in only had one car so there was never any problems with parking. But they went and the new renters who moved in a couple of months ago have two cars, so there's always a little bit of a tussle for the spaces out the front since then.
It really irritates DH but that's mostly cos he works shifts and is often the one who doesn't get a space and sometimes has to park quite far away. But I've always had the attitude that it's a public highway and it's first come first served.
That was until today. Me, DH and DS been out for the afternoon in DH's car and came back to find the neighbour's car parked right in the middle of the two spaces. (As per diagram 2) We were both a bit "really??" but went and found another space further down the road, parked and walked back.
A bit later on the neighbour 2 car turns up, neighbour 1 comes out, moves his car back, neighbour 2 parks up and they both go in next door.
Me and DH were now cos it now seems like neighbour 1 deliberately parked in the middle in order to keep a space for neighbour 2.
AIBU to think that this is a bit cheeky? Of course it's public highway and we've got no control of how they park, but we've always been mindful when parking to make sure we are being considerate. We might not bother in the future!

It is cheeky to reserve spaces like that so next time I'd be inclined to block them in

If they make a habit of it then I'd be totally incensed - wars have broken out over less! I'd sit indoors seething while my BP climbed.

YANBU my 2nd of neighbours used to do this with their cars and watch me hoiking the baby/shopping etc halfway up the road. It led to sour relations and they thought it was fair game as the street is a public highway. I thought it was inconsiderate and rude and totally unneighbourly. Selfish twats.

If they do it again go round. Knock on their door and say your car is in the middle, please can you move it closer to one of the others so we can park.

It's not right for them to be deliberately space hogging. But they might be happy to move it and realise you're on to their little plan.

I had a thread on the exact same thing with my neighbour a couple of weeks ago.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4275523-Parking-with-diagram

I think the general consensus was "annoying, but not much you can do about it".

It's not four parking spaces though is it? It's a stretch of road that can fit four cars if everyone parks as you would like. Do they actually go out to move the car and let he other park, or could they just be leaving themselves move room so they aren't trying to maneuver in and out of really tight spots? They may be blissfully unaware that you feel four cars can comfortably fit there and they feel realistically only 3 cars fit or they may not be comfortable squeezing in.

Ignore me. I read the op a while ago and have clearly lost the plot since.

@Brunilde

It's not four parking spaces though is it? It's a stretch of road that can fit four cars if everyone parks as you would like. Do they actually go out to move the car and let he other park, or could they just be leaving themselves move room so they aren't trying to maneuver in and out of really tight spots? They may be blissfully unaware that you feel four cars can comfortably fit there and they feel realistically only 3 cars fit or they may not be comfortable squeezing in.

^^ this absolutely

@Brunilde "lost the plot" 😂😂😂
No but I hear your point. It can comfortably fit four cars. Their two cars are both small cars (similar in size to my Citroen C3), DH car is Jaguar X type so it is significantly longer than either of theirs. The neighbour 2 doors down has a Ford Focus. We can fit the focus, my C3, another similar size car and the Jag in easily. If the jag is replaced by one of their small cars there is even more room.
When we got back this afternoon the middle car had at least half a car length (probably more) either side of it.

Surely you would just start parking up close to their car in the middle, which still means that there are two half-spaces going to waste, but at least would make it pointless for them to keep doing their little trick, once they realised?

They're trying to take advantage of being the middle house and hoping that you and the man the other side will keep parking at the ends of the 4-car space, but there's nothing to say that you must. They can hardly complain at your wasting half a space (language issues aside) if that's what they keep doing.

Incidentally, is there no clue to their nationality on their cars - a separate sticker or flag on the end of their number plate, or even just the colours/style of their plate that you could probably identify by looking online (e.g. 'green number plate with black letters, two letters followed by four numbers, which country') - or just trial and error in Google images with 'Greek car registration plate', 'Pakistani car registration plate', 'Albanian car registration plate' etc.?

If they've been here long enough and have settled to the point that they now just have a standard UK plate on their cars, I'd be very surprised if they still haven't picked up enough basic English to understand words like 'car', 'here', 'there', 'nearer' 'move' etc.

OP. Beat them at their own game. You start parking right behind them. They won't be able to use the second space either. Your DH and neighbour 2 will both have to park up the road.

Move your parked car up to their car bumper.

It's cheeky but not illegal and you can't really do a damn thing about it. We used to have a similar issue when we lived in a mid terrace and often couldn't get parked in front of our house because the neighbour used to block half of 'our' space with a knackered old motorbike that they brought out from their back garden every time they took their car out. Irritating but ultimately we couldn't do anything.

I'd also find it difficult to believe that the two of them drive and have managed to rent a house without knowing some basic English. Have you tried to talk to them or have you just heard them speak to each other?

@GoodbyeRosieQueenOfCorona Why is it relevant that they're 'renters?' Please do explain!? Do you believe that owning a home gives you some sort of unspoken trump card?! That renters are somehow lesser beings?! Nope! Not in the slightest, sorry!

Renters are still people, OP! They have the exact same rights as you, sorry about that

Where are the dropped kerbs?

Are they for drives or something else?

If there is one on each side, do you have room to get a drive?

Honest opinion, biased I'm sure by the bit of London I live in.

It's a public highway. No one has dibs over parking on the road.

You're understandably pissed off that new neighbours have changed availablity of parking outside the house.

I think it's a bit inconsiderate tbh that you and old fella park at each end making it more difficult for anyone else. That's by the bye.

Sounds like your road is not generally rammed with cars? Is there generally a space nearby?

Round here in some areas you end up with a 10 mins walk! Just how it is.

So from my pov based on where I live, YABU sorry.

But I also understand why you're pissed off.

I think you can just go round & say something: they are aware there is a parking space issue so waving your hands in the general direction of the cars will probably be enough to get your message across

If they are decent people, that will be enough to give them pause to think of they are being unreasonable. That’s probably as much as you can do for now

@PerciphonePuma wow. Way to totally twist information. Here's the reason it was relevant they are renters.
The previous neighbours had only just moved in when we moved in, which was about 18 months ago. When they went and the new neighbours came, it changed the dynamic on the road outside.
People who buy their homes don't tend to move every 18 months.
At no point did I say I had more rights to spaces outside than the neighbours - I actually used the phrase first come first served.
The OP was to asked if the neighbour was a CF for parking in the middle in order to reserve both the spaces. If us and the renters have the same rights, I would say that myself and DH equally have the right to park outside our property and not be prevented from doing so by them deliberately not parking properly.

Buy a Smart car and you can simply drive in "forwards" to the space they've left at the front or back of their car!

Or, if there's a time when the gap is empty simply park as they are doing. See how they like it. It works both ways

People saying "have they not just left a gap as they aren't a confident driver?" Try reading before you post, op clearly states that the neighbour moves their car to then allow the second to park

In answer to your questions, the dropped curbs are behind the neighbour 2 doors down and behind me. They are for driveways.
We have got room to put a driveway on but haven't got the financial means to do it at this point. Plus it would mean we'd lose the majority of our front garden which I'm a bit disinclined to do.
If we can park in where we want, I'm not sure that it's fair to say me and the old boy are being unreasonable parking on each end. He parks there as it is nearest to his house, I park the other end as it's convenient for me. Plus in the past when I haven't parked on the end, I've come out and found the neighbours cars parked tight on either side of my bumper, making it very difficult for me to get in and out. So if there is a space on the end I will take it.
It doesn't make it difficult for the other cars to park. There is plenty of room for 4 cars between the two dropped curbs (if everyone parks properly.)
How close you can park depends on the time of day. If DH gets home in the evening when all the neighbours (in the whole street) are home he can sometimes really struggle to get a space and has had to park in a different road (and he's a bit precious about his jag ) but that's just the way it goes.
But this is kinda missing the point of the OP where the neighbour parked in the middle of two spaces to keep them for themselves.

@GoodbyeRosieQueenOfCorona I assumed you were in a terrace or something similar but if you've got space for a driveway I'd get one put in. Even if you just pay for a dropped kerb and get the driveway done properly once you can afford it.

Realistically the parking situation is only going to get worse over time and you have the ability to sort your parking, whereas the renters don't have that luxury.

You are not being unreasonable complaining they are saving spaces but your husband is being unreasonable being precious about his Jag, personally I'd have made a safe space for a prestige car before buying one.

[quote GoodbyeRosieQueenOfCorona]@MouldyPotato they don't speak English so raising it with them is not an option. [/quote]
My DF could (and did) pull the same trick when I was a kid. Trust me - they understand.

@Averyyounggrandmaofsix oh I agree with you, but I learnt a long time ago that I have no influence over DH's car choices. 🤣

I don't blame them for parking the way they do. You own your house and have the space to install a driveway but are choosing not to. The neighbours can't do anything about their parking. Your DH has spent money on a large jag in the expectation that he can park it where he can keep an eye on it. I'm not saying DH was wrong to buy a jag, I would happily spend money on nice things but want to cry when I'm spending it on home improvements! All the same. If parking really bothers you or him, find the money to sort it. If you're not willing to do that, it's not really the neighbours fault.

For what it's worth, they may well be nervous that when there are 4 cars including the long jag, there's less space to manoeuvre out of their parking space compared to 4 average cars and that your DH has quite an expensive car. One of my neighbours has an Aston Martin that for some reason, he often parks on the street rather than his drive. I've had to ask my DH to get my car out more than a few times because he's parked it inches from my car to avoid blocking his driveway. I'm an ok driver but the thought of hitting his car fills me with dread and I get too nervous to move myself .