Neighbours and parking

[libbyboo7]

Me, DH and 7 month old DS have moved into one of my parents terraced rental property's and plan on living here until our house renovations are finished. There is no off road parking and we have double yellows outside our house and due to having a baby it's a lot easier to park on the corner. This is another terraced house with no off road parking. As I was getting out of the car yesterday, the neighbour came out and asked if I'm planning on keeping my car there. I replied with "yes unless I plan on going out again later" and she said I can't park there as it is her husbands parking spot. I was already a bit flustered as DS was fussing in his car seat and I had shopping to take in aswell so I said " I'm sorry but this isn't private parking. If you want a parking space to claim for your own then why don't you buy a house with a drive way like many people who want their own parking space do" I understand this was rude of me but we moved in over 2 months ago and have already had a handwritten letter posted through our door from same neighbour and a note put on our car. We don't park there all the time but if the space happens to be free then we do. Am I in the wrong for parking there?

Then your car was parked there longer as you couldn’t move it!

How near to the corner? Possibly nobody should be parking there.

Did you tell her this whilst tilting your head and giving a tinkly laugh.

Excellent response. Don’t give it another moments thought. If she starts again direct her to the local estate agents so she can buy a house with a driveway

I live in a road of terraces and barely anyone has a drive. So it was first come, first served. Until the moron 6 doors down started marking out a parking space outside his house with cones. Very annoying. Then one day day he did it outside our house. I launched the cones out of the way and parked my car. He left a poorly written note on my windscreen, bitterly complaining that he had to not park outside his house after a night shift and walk from the vehicle to his house. Whatever. I was heavily pregnant with twins at the time but l never did that. Plus why do it outside my house?! He didn’t live here

We once had a note on our car reading “it would be nice to be able to park outside our own house”. We had parked on a public road in my parents’ village when visiting. Just used the first available legal spot we found. We were quite disappointed they didn’t rush out of their house when we got back to the car to discuss the fact that we agree. It certainly would be nice. And where we lived at the time we would sometimes have to circle for 10 minutes before finding somewhere. But it’s a shame you can’t stake a claim on a public road. As they didn’t come out we just drive off chuckling. You also often see people screwing signs into the wall outside their house saying “private parking”. That doesn’t make it private parking.

I do hope they did not damage your windscreen wipers putting the note there. That would be a police matter and criminal damage.....

Someone once scrawled "don't park here" across my windscreen in lipstick. It was so pathetic. And bizarre that someone would ruin a lipstick over a parking space.
I was parked in the road somewhere completely legally, safely, and reasonably, not blocking anyone in, not obstructing anything, not on the pavement etc.
It was a nightmare to get it off the glass though. Bastards.

Parked on the road, not in the road. Obviously.

Our old neighbours used to have two cars they used, and kept a battered fiat panda as a place holder, parking it with as much dead space either side as possible. They'd move the panda whenever they returned in one of their other cars, so that they could create a space outside the house on their return. They'd never use the panda as a car, and used to park it face in and up on the pavement to squeeze it in wherever. Bat shit really.

ffs where is the diagram? do people not realise its a cardinal offence to not provide a diagram...

so they paid car tax, insurance and mot to keep a parking space..?

leave a note on your dash

Do not leave notes on this car
It is a form of harassment
you are being filmed
two pieces of harassment
and we will then have the evidence
to pursue this further
through civil court

How sad and petty some people's lives are. And @Ghost2 yea those people with driveways are actually taking up a street space too. If people want to park directly outside their house, they need to have a driveway, most of the rest of us know it's give and take when parking in the street.
I live in a London terrace. I have a car. 9/10 times I can park within a house or two of mine if not directly in front. Occasionally have to go a bit further afield, so what. I do often say 'hey someone has stolen my spot', but purely in jest.

You also often see people screwing signs into the wall outside their house saying “private parking”. That doesn’t make it private parking

And the signs on the blue background that Look like they say Police Notice but when you look again say Polite Notice

Like this fools anyone and it's CF .

Well this is a bit harsh 😂😂I live in a terrace house, because that it what I can afford and I have a car because I need one. Parking it tricky sometimes and I do sometimes get a little irked when bloke from round the corner parks his huge van outside my house and blocks out the light...but I do realise that I don't own the space outside my house and am just usually glad to be able to park down our end of the street. I obviously dream of having my own drive way.

I think what you said was fine OP, we are so conditioned to being polite and people pleasers that sometimes we think being direct is being rude.

This behaviour is not exclusive to terrace house dwellers - my old next door neighbour (pre-divorce in semi with drive) would complain if visitors parked outside there house on the road! Some people are just odd.....

You’ve clearly never been to Cornwall - most of our roads don’t have room for driveways or garages (the houses don’t have space at the front) & if you didn’t own a car it would be impossible to get anywhere. Your comment is incredibly ignorant.

Legally you have done nothing wrong however I do have a degree of sympathy with your neighbour.

We live on what is essentially a narrow lane which is used to access a farm. That means off road parking is at a premium. Most of us have been here for 10 years or more and have what are essentially unwritten parking rules which make life much easier for all.

Everyone has the spot outside their own house “reserved” and everyone agrees to use only their own place. Any visitors are asked to park up the road. It works really well for us all although I suspect a more transient group of residents would struggle to achieve such an agreement.

Yes my parents' road is the same. 1930s houses that just weren't built for the current level of car ownership nor indeed the size of current cars - it's difficult to get a modern car on their drives. Everyone has their dedicated spaces and if everyone uses them then everyone can park outside their own house without difficulty.

Obviously it's not illegal to park outside someone else's house, but it's not a neighbourly thing to do either and creates a domino effect of everyone's cars being in the wrong place.

No you’re not. On road parking is public. I appreciate for them it’s annoying but they have no rights over the space. We have the same in our street. It’s a free for all.

I might be inclined to make the police aware in case they kick off

My older neighbour has used her shared drive for her car for years. She bullies the tenants who share the drive and they're too polite to argue so they park on the street. Two years ago, she bought another car to park outside her house just to stop them and anyone else parking there.

Is the neighbour being older somehow worth mentioning?

Is restarting a months old thread that the OP never came back to worth doing?!

I think my views are slightly different from most people. Legally, of course, you are entitled to park in front of your neighbours place and it's awkward if you have double yellows outside your property. However, neighbours typically get along based on custom and practice. If these neighbours have been using a particular spot for a long time, it will be very disruptive for them if a (temporary) newcomer starts regularly parking where they always have. Parking where you are is up to you, but it is at best inconsiderate of your neighbours and is unlikely to add to community harmony.

And this is why I advised dd against renting a terraced house she went to view. Nice house but very limited parking. It only takes a couple of the neighbours to have a car and a van and all the parking spaces are gone. Double yellow lines on the surrounding streets.