To want the car to move!

[honeyandbutterontoast]

Looking for honest opinions here because I’m aware this may make me seem like an AH.

I live in a road where the majority of houses don’t have drives. We park on the road. I knew that when I bought the house, it’s not permit parking but there is usually space for two small cars in front of my house. It has never been a problem in the time I’ve lived here, occasionally if there’s a local event I’ve had to park up the road for a few hours if I’ve been out, or for an evening.

Four weeks ago I came home from work to find a big car taking up both spaces outside. So I parked elsewhere. The car is still there.

Nobody has been to it, or moved it in that time and frankly I’m getting annoyed. I have to now park a long way from my house (else I’m in someone else’s space), which has been annoying with heavy bags of food shopping, or if I’m going out with the dog/DC. It’s meant if my mum has visited she’s also had to park elsewhere, again not ideal.

But what can I do? No point leaving a note as nobody has been to the car in that time (it’s right outside my window so I would see). None of the neighbours know who it belongs to either. It seems a stupid thing to get stressed about but I just want to be able to park outside my house!

And it is mot/taxed, I checked that after the first couple of days

Are you near an airport/train station? Wouldn't surprise me if someone's parked up whilst they've gone away.

Report to the Police. This happened to my mum once and the car had been stolen and dumped.

It’s a fair walk to the train station from here and nowhere near an airport.

A4 paper... YOU PARK LIKE A TWAT. very satisfying ime.

A better note would be

I'm so sorry. It was a total accident. Good news is you can hardly see it.

I must admit when I walked to and from my car with the Christmas food shop in the pouring rain I was very very tempted to do something like that.

The car is not parked in YOUR space.
Parking further down the road won't be in ANYONE ELSES space.
Both your car and the car outside your house will be parked in the public highway.

Thanks for that. But when you buy a house with parking on the road you kind of expect to be able to do that.

And yes if I parked outside someone else’s house that would be inconveniencing them. We all try and be considerate when parking here. It’s a residential street with most people in the same boat.

Sounds like it may be your car? If so just move it along the road a bit? Just for a change

If not taxed nor mot'd , report to police / and local council / traffic warden .

My road has no fences around the houses / gardens.
A car was once parked on the path but the front wheel was in my garden . We phoned up the council who sent out a traffic warden within the hour .
Whilst the warden was there person came to their car ( they'd probably walked the short distance to town ) and sweet talked the warden so didn't get a ticket but I've never seen the car again.

I can relate OP and sympathise with you. I’m in a similar situation within my street. The parking is a nightmare nowadays.
A random car parked only a few houses up from mine. It sat for days on end. A neighbour took to the local FB page to post about it and asked to whomever it belonged to, to get it shifted. It was gone within the hour!
Try that as naming and shaming the number plate is usually enough to get a car shifted when it is made public 🙂
However, it’s not guaranteed! So please bear this in mind as aside from this, there is not much else you can do!
It might be worth making a police enquiry as previous poster suggested - it may be stolen or it may have more sinister reasons (owner may have passed/went missing)
Good Luck OP!

It's a public road. If you're desperate to park outside your own house, buy a house with a driveway.

Brilliant. I'm going to remember that.

Thank you
like I said, it’s a residential street with everyone in the same position. I happen to like where I live, and have no need of a driveway generally. Maybe the person whose car it is could put it on their driveway?

Hi Op you can check whether the vehicle is taxed or an mot via gov.uk. You never know it could be stolen. If is the Police will arrange recovery, if it not taxed the DVLA will either immobilise it or get it removed.

Have you spoken to any neighbours have they any knowledge?

It is taxed and mot’ed.

Neighbours have no idea either.

I think I will let the police know tomorrow, just in case it is stolen.

100% this

This happens round where I live however it's because when thieves steal a luxury car they dump it in a quiet street for a while to see if the tracker has been activated and then retrieve it if not. There are websites to check if a car has been reported as stolen, not sure how legit they are though!

Yes report to the police. This would annoy the shit out of me

If it has been there a month, you can report to your local council as abandoned, and they have a duty to remove

https://www.barnet.gov.uk/roads-and-pavements/abandoned-vehicles

It’s an okay car, about 7/8 years old, not a luxury or particularly special type. Just big.

When you buy a house without parking, you don’t expect to be able to park directly outside your house. You hope you’ll be able to park on your street but you know nothing is guaranteed.

I leave my car for weeks/months outside someone else’s house as we have only street parking. I have no right to the space outside my house and it’s an absolute luxury if I get to park outside my house.

YABU, so much so, I’d purposefully park outside your house just to prove the point. But I’m incredibly petty.

There's not a lot you can do really, unfortunately it's just a risk you take when you buy a house without a drive. Leaving notes probably won't help if they've not been back to the car for some time.

Happens every now and then here. You can report it, especially if it's over 2 parking spaces. Traffic wardens pick them up here.