Neighbours walking on our driveway

[Mumof3andlab]

Hello,

I will try to add a pic if it’s helpful. We are a semi detached end house, we have 3 parking spaces outside our house which is our driveway. Next door has a side path and massive drive to the SIDE of their house, they fit 4 cars on there.

however, they keep walking on our drive to cross to the neighbours opposite, or just stand and have a chat. For starters I think it’s just rude and secondly my dog is very territorial and it sets him off barking as he can see someone is there through the glass.

Previously we have told their friends/visitors it’s not their drive as they used to park on it! Now to stop that we park closer to their side of the house and leave our other side free (I get a lot of parcels, Asda van, my own visitors ect) we used to have 2 cars but only one at the moment. I’m sure if we have more cars they wouldn’t do it but just feel like they think we only have one so we don’t ‘need’ all that space.

I wondered if I could decorate the outside of our driveway with plants, or something else? To stop them crossing over or am I just being petty.

Are you suggesting OP put a trampoline there or something? Escalate the shit out of this problem by jumping straight to level 1000 😂

@RosettaTheGardenFairy

Where did I mention a trampoline?

Why is the idea of kids playing out so hilarious?

It kind of is a big deal, not in this particular instance maybe, but in general.

I appreciate that this isn't the same issue in this case, but the issue of sticking to your boundaries isn't entirely trivial because it does affect your ability to use your own property in certain cases.

Where parking space is limited, if your neighbour parks or uses your land it can actually stop you fitting a whole number of cars on your drive.

A lot of new build semis have these kind of open fronts, and if you don't have a clear border then you can get creep onto your neighbours property. If you have enough space that's fine, but often it can lead to reduced space and making it difficult to get in and out of cars.

It's not great if you get home from work to park on your two car drive and find you can't park because your neighbour has overhung your boundary by a foot or so.

OP have a look at Panacea Fencing:

https://www.diy.com/departments/panacea-triple-arch-traditional-railings-l-1-22m-h-0-91m-t-20mm/1677231_BQ.prd

A few places sell it so shop around. It can either be drilled into the ground with a foot plate or the posts can be pushed into soft ground like grass or soil. You could run that all around the area to the side and make a feature of it.

Kids playing out isn't funny. Someone saying they're sad because a stranger's kids sometimes can't play on a corner of tarmac parking because sometimes people stand there is genuinely funny.

What an utterly ridiculous design. They've squeezed 3 parking spaces into your property at the expense of frontage for your neighbours. If I was them
I'd think you were selfish objecting to them walking on the edge of the parking spaces. Yes, when you get two/three cars fair enough to park right on the edge in front of their house to give you more space for deliveries/visitors etc but while you have one car, parking hard on the edge or objecting to them walking on it is just mean. It's not their fault the developers have land grabbed to give you the required number if parking spaces.

I wouldn't have bought either house.

@LubaLuca

It can't be that funny if it has to be pointed out, that it's funny.

Bit like people who proclaim that they're a really nice person.

Do you encourage your kids to play on driveways?

@Goodoccasionallypoor

We play out here if that's what you're asking. They don't on this street obviously, can't disturb the sanctity of the parking spaces you see.

This thread is mad - someone is objecting to someone walking on an allocated parking space, because their 13 yer old might need it one day and they have a yappy dog.

I'd do two things:

1. Park your car right up against the edge of the driveway so it's clear it's not a footpath to their front door;
2. Plant some mature hedging plants that will grow together and fill the gap between the edge of your driveway and their front path.

On point 2 you could get planters or pots as PP have suggested, but you'd have to check your documents from when you bought as you might not strictly be allowed to put them there. Actual plants though aren't likely to cause an issue.

Unless of course it's their flowerbed?!

😆, I’m finding myself in agreement with you. MN is full of people who are obsessed with ‘posessions’ and ‘property’ that they have ‘purchased’.

Judging by the plan, these are probably allocated spaces and not part of the freehold/leasehold of house 120.

I may be wrong but nothing suggests otherwise so far.

I suppose you could ask them not to stand on as it causes your dog to bark. I don’t know why housing developers /planners design estates like this. We have similar to the right of your photo. Imagine a house with integral double garage and drive where your house is. (Our garage and drive) The house next to us to the right has a front garden but our boundary goes through his garden like yours does because we have side return to the right of the house. It’s about half a fence panel in width. A lot of the houses on the estate are like it. I don’t know why the planners didn’t just extend the drive to our boundary.

Honestly I think you are being really petty with that set up. Why would you object to them walking on what is effectively a parking space. And it's located directly in front of their house. Obviously if you need to park there in the future then do but while you don't need it does it really matter?

You need to pick your battles with neighbours. Is this worth potentially falling out with them over?

Are you freeholders? You need to be sure of the legal situation before doing anything. (As already mentioned by previous posters)

@DataNotLore

I agree this thread is mad but your sadness about it not mentioning the kids playing out just doesn't make sense.

There could be an enormous Rec across the road from op's house, you have no idea.

I used to play out but don't remember doing it a metre from my front door.

I think the way the houses and drive are designed makes it look like access to their front door . A dividing line usually goes straight up the middle of a house .

It does like like the flowerbed might belong to the neighbours. Otherwise it's even more of a strange dog-leg boundary.

Exactly what I was thinking!

The tarmac encroaches onto / past the edge of their property so that sliver of tarmac probably "feels" like it's part of their front even if it isn't.

You'd have to dig up borders into the tarmac to plant shrubs to mark out your boundary, which I would have thought would have been better done when the tarmac was laid.

Check the deeds. Nothing else is relevant.

Why are they even coming out on your drive? They should go out and turn right to their drive. No reason to come your way at all.

Erm, except that their door opens right onto it and it's by far the most direct route to the road. Only makes sense to turn right to the drive if they're going to their car, otherwise of course it's way simpler to go straightforward.

Having someone else's driveway in front of their house is probably way more annoying for them than it is for you. If, indeed, it is truly your driveway and not allocated parking. If it's only the latter, then absolutely they can cut through, same as you'd cut through cars in a car park when you're on foot.

Regardless, while I'm normally 100% against CF neighbours on parking threads, this is the exception. The crazy design makes it completely rational for your neighbours to be using the area outside their own house and nothing they're doing is cheeky or risky or causing any damage. You're not likely to need three parking spaces by the sounds of it and the only real issue is your dog, which goes with having a barky dog and is yours to deal with unfortunately.

Typical new build designers. Designed by someone that's never had to live in one to contemplate the issues that such a design might create!

Once the land registry plan has been bought it will be seen what land is owned. It looks as if what was posted is the builder's plan for a new estate and the different colour for the 3 parking spaces might well mean that bit of land which is separate from the house's patch is not owned by that house but there is just a right to park there but I might be wrong. The Title Plan at the Land Registry will make it clear and the Report on Title written by the solicitor when the property was bought should also make it clear too

I can't see the harm really. When you need it for parking in the future, just bib until they shift. Are they decent people?

Unless of course it's their flowerbed?!

It very much looks like they’re flowerbed to me. They literally have to stand on OP’s drive to work on it.