Neighbours and parking hell - I've contacted the landlord

[ValsCupcakes]

I live in a square, and about half of those houses are owned and rented out by landlords. I own mine and so do the other half. A woman and her teenage daughter moved in a few months ago. She is divorced and their son lives with her XH. They have upset most people in the time since they arrived, which was in May. There are allocated parking spaces and they don't use them. They just nick everyone else's. They've been heard yelling at a neighbour over parking and calling him a cunt, parking across exits and blocking people in and parking outside others' houses. They have two cars and the daughter who doesn't work has just passed her test and got this Fiat, so the car barely moves, she just dumps it. It was abandoned (literally, it was shocking parking) outside my house last night when I got home after a very long shift at 10pm so I had to park somewhere down the street and get piss wet through walking back to my house and piss wet through walking to the car this morning too. It was left outside someone else's house for about a week last week.

If it is still there when I get home tonight I am going to knock on their door and ask them to shift it and not use my space again. They do have spaces, they just need to use them. I have already messaged the landlord (who gave another neighbour permission to pass on his number) and told him this, and that I will contact him again if they give me a load of abuse.

Am I doing the right thing and if not what would you advise? They've upset at least six separate houses in less than six months!

@ValsCupcakes

youre right about one thing. It's not very good.🤣

id write them a note along the lines of..

im not sure if anyone has explained the parking spaces to you properly.

its a bit annoying the parking spaces aren't numbered, but they are privately owned as per the deeds, which you may not have seen.

as you can see, I own this one ❌ these two here ❎ ❎ are owned by your landlord & are for your use.

Now you understand the parking space is owned by me you won't park in it, in the same way I don't walk into your house & use your toilet.

Regards
woman at number xx

My son had this issue at uni with neighbours telling them off for parking in the wrong place. There were no numbers on the spaces and as tenants, the students had not been told. Once they knew, they parked in their allocated spaces. Maybe this family don't know. I suspect they just don't give a monkeys.....

@wordler The landlord will have told them where they should park. Neighbours have also told them where they should park when they have had these run ins with them. It's not free for all parking. Everyone knows where they should be parking, but these people just do what they like. For instance, they know that the man at No 4 always parks in front of his house but they will park there (in a Fiat 500) instead of in their allocated space so he comes home (in a very long car) has to find somewhere else that takes up more space and annoys him and someone else.

I appreciate it is difficult to explain from a diagram but if you live here, it really is simple. They have allocated spaces. They know where they are. They have been told. They don't use them because they would rather not bother. It really is that simple.

It's a square with one entrance and exit. The people in my row (me and the people either side) park in front of our house facing the door (or with the boot facing the door depending on if we reverse in or not). There are allocated spaces behind their houses for those houses that are at right angles to my row. The offending neighbours belong in that category but don't bother to use them. The people opposite my houses, ie on the other side of the square, have their own drives. This girl has also parked there, blocking someone in.

My DD is at high school in America where the kids start driving at 16 and lots have their own cars and drive themselves to school - in their final year the seniors are allowed to claim a specific space and paint it with a unique design. Maybe you should all do that and make it really clear.

Why do people have to be abnoxious like this i dont get it?
its an offence to block someone in, how would they like it?
you can call the police with their reg number and they will speak to them?

they probably wont take any notice, some people are just odious.

They haven't blocked me in, but they have done it to others. They have just parked at a stupid angle in front of my house.

Yeh. The renting of the property has to be mentioned to infer the OP is better than them. Seen it over and over. It’s getting boring now

@ValsCupcakes I would get together with all the other neighbours and "move" her car.

If you all work together you can bounce it. Leave it in the middle of the road and call the police to let them know a car is blocking the street.

Could you not just go and park in her spaces?

@Cattery @LumpyandBumps or maybe she mentioned the renting because she complained to the landlord and therefore it is entirely relevant? Get that chip off your shoulder.

It’s irrelevant and you know it is. Why mention the daughter doesn’t work or leave the house then? The crux of the matter is they rent. If they’d just bought a million pound house the OP would be more tolerant

In the US, in a similar situation, I would have her ticketed (if possible) and towed. In such a situation the management/landlords usually have a designated tow company that tows cars that can’t park in the private spaces. After a few trips to the towing yard and paying fees to get car back they will stop using the wrong spaces.

The daughter not working or going out is relevant because it means the car doesn't move often and therefore spaces remain blocked.

Renting is relevant because there is a landlord involved.

Your point anout house prices is baseless conjecture but worth remembering that the OP is unlikely to be sneering at houses likely the same as her own.

The fact they are renting is what has needled her; that and the fact she deems them lazy

I've been parking there for 12 years, and they know I always park outside my house

'They know you always park there' doesn't mean they know that that is your allocated space. Why would they? It's ridiculous that these spaces are not signposted or painted with the number of the house that 'owns' them. Unless they're clearly marked, other people will use them.

Your assumption that 'their landlord will have told them where to park' may well be erroneous. Or he might have told them which is their space, but not have told them that they can't park anywhere else.

Have you not thought to put your own sign there?

I mentioned that the daughter doesn't work because she doesn't go anywhere to move the bloody car.

@TwinklyAmberOrca I don't really see why I should use their spaces because a) it is not my space b) it is deferring to them and c) the car is out of sight of my house. I had a car stolen earlier this year so I am not putting myself at risk here.

Firebomb their cars?

<joke>

For all those saying it's crazy that the parking spaces aren't marked with the house number that they belong to, it is apparently so that it isn't obvious to would-be burglars and the like that a particular house is empty for any length of time..
This is what my son was told when he bought his previous house, anyway. This type of parking is very common now on many of the newer housing developments, in our area anyway.

You’re projecting here.

I was going to agree with painting your house numbers on your spaces but that's a good point by @Oldnproud.

Could you consider drawing her a diagram, like you've done above, with each house spaces noted. It might make no difference if they're just antisocial, but you'll know for definite then that they are fully aware and can show the landlord you've tried to be helpful and reasonable on the off chance they didn't know.

No, It's mentioned because it means a landlord has to be involved and to speak to their tenants

Sounds like a similar set up to a friend of mine. She has a parking space directly outside her house but it’s not numbered, it’s definitely hers as it’s on the deeds and literally two steps from her front door. Most of the houses are like this but there are a few which aren’t and they have a small car park to use. The space is off the road and she often gets blocked in/off her space by people leaving their cars wherever they like.

This is important - if the land is actually on your deeds, it is your property. Not just an 'allocated space'.

Please don't assume the landlord has told them anything. Ypu have the landlords number so find out from the landlord. If they haven't been told and people are aying 'don't park here' that's my space they can quite easily think that those homeowners just want a space by their house. It's not a tenants responsibility to know the deeds.
Also you mention that they don't seem to care that you've parked in your space for 12 years but if they moved in 6 months ago Then they wouldnt. You believe they are entitled but they might believe that you are acting entitled. of course it's you have your own parking spaces you can just paint house numbers on them. Spray ain't costs about 20 quid and will last about 6 months.