People with driveways parking on the street

[Hellskitchen24]

I live in a long row of terraces. Most roads are terraced here, as I live in a fairly working class town. This means that the only people with driveways are the end of the terraces. I live a few doors down from the end.

My neighbour has in the last 6 months or so decided to mostly stop using their driveway. It’s a relatively fit retired couple. They probably only use the car a handful of times per week, and instead park it on the road outside our houses. They’ve got this thing now where on the odd occasion they do have it on their drive, as soon as the person moves from the space outside our house, they are up and put their car on it. Even if that’s at the crack of dawn; I’ve seen them peering out at the window at 6:30am, on the rare occasion I’ve got that space and I leave for work. They will be loitering by the door waiting for me to leave.

I don’t quite understand the logic. They are only one of two houses on the street with two dedicated parking spaces, with a perfectly wide accessible drive. I get back quite late at night from work and have to park several streets away when I’m heavily pregnant. So admittedly it does wind me up a bit seeing their empty driveway while all the other residents struggle to park. I know legally they are doing nothing wrong at all. But would I be unreasonable to put a note through their door asking them to possibly use their perfectly accessible driveway to free up more space for the majority who don’t have off road parking?

People are odd. I had an old neighbour like this. We all had driveways. He doesn't like anyone parking on the road but him, so he would get up early morning early and move his car from his driveway to the outside so no-one else could park there or the other side. He'd often leave it there all day and never use it. Bstshite.

Genuinely, some people’s ‘motivation’ is just to be an arsehole.

So many people honestly believe that only they have the rights to park outside their house. Even when they have a driveway.

We have neighbours exactly the same as OP. Long driveway, but never use it. When everyone else is struggling to park.
And they also loiter by the windows to move their car onto the road when they can.

What a sad little life.

Britain really needs to have a conversation about the acres and acres of terraces founds across some of its cities. What with the parking madness, the tiny sizes and the problems involved with trying to insulate them, they really are unsuited to the modern world.

Fair enough, size does vary. The parking situation is ridiculous though.

Why don't you ask if YOU can use their drive OP? That would certainly solve the issue!

They aren't lucky to have a driveway, buyers or renters will be paying more for a property with off street parking than one without. When we were buying our house our top priority was off street parking. Others will prioritise a bigger house/nicer area/south facing garden etc. Sorry to be blunt you choosing to live in a property with no off street parking doesn't mean you get priority over the street parking opposed to those with a driveway.
You said they used the drive up until 6 months ago so there must be a reason why this changed. Why it has changed is none of your business though, using notes or telling them to move is being unreasonable. If you have a good relationship I would nicely ask them if it would be possible to use their drive when there isn't anywhere to park in your street, with the promise to move your car as soon as a space comes available. If they say no (which is within their rights) then don't get annoyed and say thank you and continue what you've been doing.

Yes, I would just ask if you can use the drive if there is no space, we always let NDNs use ours when we go on holidays.

This is so true. We’ve had gas works going on all along our road. The workers have dug holes and barriered both sides of the driveway opposite to us leaving them a very narrow gap indeed. When my car is parked outside (we have no driveway), I have parked my own car further along the road to help the people opposite get their cars in and out, especially as they have two small kids. But that hasn’t stopped other people from parking their cars in ‘my spot’, so I wonder at the point of my moving 🤷🏻‍♀️

But having said this, it is the neighbourly thing to try and help the people next door or opposite.

Or the developments of the modern world fail to integrate with what is already there.

Op you bought a house where on street parking is obviously difficult as you apparently had to park 'streets' away.

1 person not using their drive won't solve this as it's sounds like 1 people xtra on street parking space will be a drop in the ocean.
You bought that house knowing the parking situation so why are you now complaining?

You have no idea why they don't use their drive - you're speculating.. You've not even spoken to them but you're obviously riled up and are out for an argument with them

I very much doubt they would welcome the idea of someone parking on their property.

It's the houses' fault that the modern world is turning into a giant car park. Er...what could possibly be missing from that line of thought?

@LakieLady isn't saying she can't get into her drive, she's saying that when she does she can't get out of her car because of the combination of her physical abilities and the land levels What's that got to do with her driving skills?

You have read this completely the wrong way round.

No, I was referring to a previous comment about terraced houses failing to integrate with the modern world.

OP you have my strongest sympathies, I could have written this word for word. The man we are unfortunate enough to live next door to did this when we first moved in. Him - end of the terrace, garage, drive way, off road parking space. Us - front garden + nothing. His wife parked in the off road space, he used the garage for his motorcycle, and preferred to leave the driveway free. I presume in order to ease access to the garage / motorcycle, which he used more frequently than his overlarge car. This sat parked outside our house for 8 days out of 10 without moving. On the rare occasions he did use it, if we or someone else managed to park in the space, he would, like your neighbour, be twitching at the curtains until the space was free at which point he would whip out and take it. Within seconds or minutes at the most.

He once went on holiday for a fortnight, taking their car. He actually had a relative come and park a workvan in the space during his 14 day absence, to ensure he could park there on his return. This was when we had 2 children under 2/3, leaving the house with buggies and baby gear and car seats, and all the rest that this stage of life entails. We had other residents in the street approach us a number of times, in the local park or whilst my poor partner struggled from his distant parking spot with a baby under one arm, buggy under other and toddler by the hand to say they couldn't understand why he did this or how we coped.

In my more charitable moments, I wonder if he actually has some kind of very specific mental deficiency relating to car parking because surely even selfish dickheads don't usually go so far as to recruit their relatives into their dickheadishness whilst they go on holiday.

We eventually had a driveway put in, and the day he came home to find our buildings digging up the parvement around his precious vehicle was a satisfying one indeed. There was a lot of huffing, puffing and vigorous pavement brushing. I'll be forever grateful that we were able to do this. The parking on our whole street has improved as a result, because the person he did this to next also did a driveway at which point he gave up, and discovered his ample off road parking is in fact more than sufficient for his needs.

I wish you a similiarly successful outcome and in the meantime send my sympathies.

Just park in their drive, it's not illegal to do this. Then when they question you on it just tell them that you used it as they never do and you assumed they prefer the road. 🤷
if they don't want someone to park on their drive then they should use it themselves and not use the road.

You said they only use their car a handful of times per week, but as you are working from home for 2 days, out at work for 3, are you using yours more than they are using theirs over the course of a week?
Better to go and have a discussion with them than to leave a note (that's passive-aggressive)