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!

People are truly pathetic. I love a good cone when I visit friends who live in town.

Authorities must decide if a vehicle is abandoned. This is likely if at least one of the following applies:

it has no keeper on DVLA’s database and is untaxed - check vehicle tax online
it’s stationary for a significant amount of time
it’s significantly damaged, run down or unroadworthy, for example has flat tyres, missing wheels or broken windows
it’s burned out
a number plate is missing

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/abandoned-vehicles-council-responsibilities

Our council have removed three from just one road on this basis

Is it just road space, or are they marked out spaces? Unless you have designated parking, it's not YOUR parking. You bought the house, not the road. It's annoying as heck, I understand. But ultimately it's tough luck, and if it winds you up THAT much, you really should work towards buying a house with a driveway.

This post is wild.
It's a public road. I could park outside your house for a year and you'd have to suck it up buttercup (providing I was taxed MOTd and insured obvs).
Park where you like, because, well you know, it's a public road....

As an aside, I'm getting fond flashbacks to my last house without a driveway as a mid 20s night worker. Getting home at 6am and nowhere to park within 3 streets other than half at the end of the parking and half on double yellows. Not once but twice I woke to find my car gone(after roaming the streets trying to remember where I'd parked it)😭🤣🤣 towed not stolen on both occasions. Sigh. It's why I'll only ever live somewhere with a driveway now, non negotiable.

This 100%.

I have sympathy op, but there is nothing you can do. And if the vehicle belongs to a neighbour writing a snotty note will just annoy them and might make matters worse.

the council will do nothing about it unless its causing an obstruction. if the car has a registered keeper, it is deemed to have an owner, if its tax'd and has an MOT then its legally parked. insurance is a grey area, because nothing can really be done about a car not having insurance until its being driven on a highway.. which in this case it is not

The govt advice to councils includes if it has been there for a significant period of time (usually considered as a month). Again I've posted the links, not conjecture.

We have one left for months, reported to police it went the next day, they never responded but I presumed it had been stolen and abandoned. No harm in reporting it.

Just because it’s not illegal, doesn’t mean people can’t just show consideration for others, especially taking up two spaces. If it was for a day or a couple of hours, I’d agree with you, but to leave your car outside someone’s home for four weeks is twatty behaviour. My bet is it’s a male driver.

There are 2 different issues.
One is that no-obe owns the space outside their house on public road. Correct. No-one can expect to always be able to park there.
Two is about leaving a vehicle long term on a public road, in one space when parking is limited.

The second is anti-social and usually totally unnecessary. Whilst Op cannot and doesn’t expect to always be able to park outside her house, given it’s a public road with space for parking, it shouldn’t be the case that she can NEEVER get in there either.

Someone coming each day and parking and then moving would be annoying but tough luck. The problem is the car never moves.

After a month it would be totally reasonable to report to police as ‘suspected abandoned’ and they will follow it up. If it’s not abandoned, the owner might then at least move it.

To be honest I don’t think vehicles which n ver move should be left on the road. It should be the case that they come and go. You take your chances with whether you can get parked where you would like to and sometimes might succeed and other times not.

in the meantime, put a note on the windscreen, stuck on with a mixture of flour and butter (makes great temp glue, and is a bugger to get off - just smears everywhere), telling them in future to show consideration to others and not to abandon their car outside someone’s home for weeks.

A bit of consideration goes a long way though, no ? OP says they all try to park considerately. Odd that you don’t seem to understand that.

I get it, it's incredibly frustrating when a car parks on a resident road in such a way that they take up two spaces on the road - and then leave it there for weeks without moving. I think the OP knows that this car has every right to park outside their house but when they are taking up two spaces.... it's very annoying!

@Okonomoyaki
Where does it say 1 month? That's pure conjecture. I wouldn't expect to go on holiday or into hospital or a term at uni or whatever and find that my car had been towed in the meantime, nor would anyone else. It doesn't happen......unless it's a total untaxed wreck, which the one outside OP's house isn't.

Thank you. You said it much better than I did. Honestly I’m fine with it coming and going but it hasn’t moved at all in that time.

insurance is a grey area, because nothing can really be done about a car not having insurance until its being driven on a highway.. which in this case it is not

Nope. It’s an offence to drive and also to park an uninsured car anywhere on a public highway.

Just to add, I’m having surgery on my foot in a few weeks so won’t be able to drive for about 4-6 weeks. We have two cars and a one car drive and I normally park on the road outside our house to leave the drive free for DH as he finishes work late in the evenings. If I couldn’t park there (very unlikely) before I go for my op, I’d have to park it further up the road in front of someone else’s house, and if I didn’t have DH to move my car in front of our house when whoever took that space moved, it would stay there for up to 6 weeks. I’d be doing absolutely nothing wrong!

What about taking a photo and putting it up on your local Facebook page asking if anyone recognises it?

How about you stop being so rude?

If someone is anti social enough to park across two bays then it's a shame their number plate is missing ...

Here, in the first link I shared.

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

Also Here

https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/environment/community_safety/abandoned_vehicles.aspx#:~:text=You%20can%20report%20an%20abandoned,if%20it%20is%20significantly%20damaged.

Here
https://www.tameside.gov.uk/abandonedvehicles

Here

https://www.leeds.gov.uk/environmental-health/abandoned-vehicles

How many more do you need? I could go on

Tell the council that you can see fluid under the car 😂 and it’s been there for a few weeks and your worried as it’s not anyone local car

I did this when a neighbour deliberately left his car outside my house ( he was in prison )
the council put a warning note that if it wasn’t moved in 7 days it would be towed

true to there word they came back in seven days and towed it
I took a video 😂😂

A car can be reported to police if it hasn’t moved for 28 days or more, and if they consider it to have been abandoned they will remove it.