PARKING WAR - from Day 1 of moving into new house!

[BreezyBertha]

Diagram attached!

So, moved into new house on Thursday. Our house is one of two houses at the bottom of a cul de sac. We own half the access road to our drive, house next to us owns the other half. Turning into our drive is tight as we have to go round a bend and need to pull out onto neighbours side and also reverse onto it as there are concrete bollards bordering it.

Neighbouring house has been empty for a while I believe and and sold last month so will be empty for a few more probably. Our house was empty for a while before we moved in.

Neighbours who live in the house at the end of the road just before our private road starts. have obviously taken to parking on our access road as both houses have been empty. They have two cars but one car drive. There is very little parking on the public road in front of their house and they have concrete bollards cordoning off their front garden so can’t pull into there. There is parking further up a few minutes walk away.

Anyhow, DH drove the removal van up on Thursday to find their car parked on our private road, blocking him from getting onto it. He asked them to move and politely asked them not to park there. They moved the car after a bit of ‘um we’ve been parking here for a while now, houses were empty so it’s ok’.

Well they’re not empty now! I mean WTF??

The wife then came out while we were unpacking and seemed friendly so we introduced ourselves etc. She then said she parks in our bit of road from 9pm when she finishes work so it’s ok! Also that she has family nearby who come to visit and they need to park. We said they can’t block our road so please don’t park there

Later in the same evening, they parked there again and I couldn’t get out, so DH knocked and said you need to move your car. Husband was not happy but moved it off our bit of road further back opposite his house where the public road starts. It is very tight but we can just about squeeze through.

Today they had the family they mentioned over. One car parked in empty neighbouring house’s drive, another on the private access road. DH couldn’t get into the drive so sat beeping his horn.

About 5 or 6 men came out, one the neighbours father and the others his brothers/BILs, telling us we have room and they don’t need to move! They were also saying they don’t live here so it’s fine to park on our road if visiting! Things got a bit shouty as we said they had no right to park there and should not be on the private access road at all. In the end they conceded that they needed to move from the access road but left the car in the empty neighbours drive! I did say what are you going to do when buyers move in!

They seem to think that as they’ve been parking there for a while, it is now their parking area!

They only moved in in February so have not been here long themselves and just took advantage of the fact ours and neighbouring house were empty.

I just can’t get over the entitlement. They have no business even coming off the public road and over the dropped kerb into our access road. It’s trespass!

Obviously I don’t want an expensive legal battle. Can’t put bollards up as new neighbours would need to agree and they have not moved in yet.

I can tell this is going to carry on though so what can we do? We actually bought this house for the big 3 car drive and had no idea we’d have issues with neighbours who shouldn’t even be entering our bit of road. Getting really stressed about it as just want to live in peace!

Title deed attached with my diagram added. . Our house is bordered in red, empty neighbouring house in blue and CFs house in green.

They are not toddlers. Its not hard to understand, this is private land, basically like a driveway. I agree that calm is polite and better than shouty but it's pretty damning that they keep parking there. They don't have yo have time to adjust!

If the house is on fire then traditionally, the fire engine comes and puts it out.

I have unfortunately had a similar situation. It’s very stressful because every time you come home you are thinking about whether there is going to be a confrontation. I’ve been blocked in so many times. And the neighbour just seems to think itbwas fine that I was blocked on and I could just ask her to get her visitors to move.

It’s hard to manage where your visitors park sometimes so that’s a further stress. And people like Delivery drivers. Every time anyone came to my house I would have to ask them where they parked and then tell them to move their car.

Where are your visitors going to park?

@Mylovelygreendress Do it!

OP you are going to have to fight fire with fire in these early days I’m afraid. The neighbours have shown you who they are and they aren’t considerate or neighbourly. Don’t try and be their friend.

You are going to have to pray your immediate neighbours are decent people so you can fight the fire together. First of all I would be printing the relevant deed info to prove ownership of the area they are parking in and any relevant legal access information.

Second of all I would pull them up every single time they we’re cheeky fuckers and if they parked in your access road I would block their ability to leave. I would even start parking in their parking area if it came to it. Don’t try and play nice. They need to know you’re as much as an arsehole as they are and you will hopefully find a truce.

You can also buy very sticky parking stickers that you could attach to their windows. They peel off but are the MOST annoying things in the world due to the residue. I had that happen to me once and I never parked there again (council office).

I would install (penguin) bollards now. New neighbours should be grateful.

They actually have VERY long hose, but might need to be nearer for ladder rescues.

Park your cars there so that they have to find somewhere else.

Clearly they need to remove the concrete bollards blocking their garden and park on their property, and you need to add some bollards/gates to block their access to your private road. I don't blame your DH for any shoutiness - if it was even him starting that, sounds more like they came out mob-handed, and you'd already asked nicely with no impact. They are major CFs and you must not let them win.

I like the Japanese solution - you have to have a police certificate that you have an off road parking space per car.

You need to make sure that your private road is needed your private road. I’ve lived on a street with a ‘private’ part at one end. It was on the deeds of one of the houses and the bloke tried to stop the other houses from using it for anything other than driving over. The builder (it was a new build estate) had to get involved and write to everyone in the street to explore the actual situation which was that the property that had the piece of road on his deeds was responsible for maintaining it but other people were allowed to use it like any road. For parking, deliveries, playing football, drawing with chalk etc.

Electric gates. Give the new neighbours a plip for it when they arrive. Signs up on gate saying private, no public RoW. IIRC it is illegal to park across a dropped kerb and/or block a driveway. Cut them off before it starts.

Definitely get a collapsible bollard https://bisonsecurityposts.co.uk/product-category/security-bollards-posts/telescopic-bollards/

You can get automatic ones but the are ££ https://securitybollardsdirect.co.uk/collections/automatic-rising-security-bollards?srsltid=AfmBOoqcqxsufQv9dyXEIx49galSfiZRcNsPyKM7PSLUDDe3qcIz08T3

Sadly you are not going to resolve this any other way. The sooner you do it the better as you nip it in the bud.

What does it say in the deeds as if both halves of the access road are needed to drive over to access each houses driveway then it should say it’s an access road only and no parking on it.
I used to live in a house where I was constantly blocked in to my drive way and was always told I’ll just be a minute. I used to wait. Wouldn’t now. I would get them to move every time although I might wait until the early hours of the morning sometimes and then have some 5 am starts because I need to be at work early. If any of the relatives were drinking driving I would report them as well.

I think you're going to need gates at the start of your shared driveway in the longer term.
meanwhile keep doing what you're doing, don't worry about them parking in the empty houses drive for now, concentrate on "training" them not to block your access and making them move their car every single time they do. I've always used the "could a fire engine get through" thought as to whether it's reasonable to park there.

Your DH could have been less shouty, how was that going to sort things out.
I think because he tried the polite approach and that didn't work and the man was on his last nerve with a bunch of adults who have been told not to park their cars there but they continue to do so.

Parking to block a private road is illegal

Put up a sign saying that any cars parked blocking the two access roads, or on the private land, will be towed away at car owner's expense
Put flyers in every letterbox in the cul de sac
(Make sure you find a private tow firm first, of course)
Then follow through the next time they park there
They won't do it again

This will, however, utterly destroy any chance of a peaceful relationship with the self-entitled morons

My words were "less shouty", I dont think it pays to raise your voice over something like this. they do sound like entitled cgaf types! I remember in our first property, we were shouted at for unintentionally blocking the NDNs bit of the shared drive (SIL heavily pg had just arrived for a visit, and the NDN must have been looking out of the window because they were out like a flash of lightening, shouting at us to move the car). Yup we got the message but the relationship never improved after that.

Probably a physical barrier such as bollards will help, but it does mean having to keep moving and returning it every time they leave and return to their property (fine in dry weather, but a pita in the winter). But it'll get the message through. The legal letter is the most effective - after the friendly letter and see if they behave themselves. Sounds like it's going to be a constant problem. Towing cars away by the police - good luck getting that to happen, they don't have resource.

What rule has changed which means people are allowed to park on private land without permission?

They don’t need the resource. Private towing companies do it on instruction and they will do it if someone’s blocked in. There was a live thread on mumsnet about it for starters.

First, I have every sympathy. We have a similar set up except our shared area is supposed to be pedestrian access. Our neighbour and us both have parking spaces but obviously it’s more convenient to park next to the house. This has caused issues since the house next door was let.

We have taken to putting (heavy) plant pots in the way so it’s no longer wide enough to park on but still okay to turn in. Could you do the same?

Sensible advice.

Put up a notice .... Private Road, No Parking.

See what happens.

Hmmm beg to differ.

I had a(nother CF) car park over my dropped kerb.yesterday. I reported it to parking enforcement at 10am.
They we're ticketed within 15 mins and they came and towed the car an hour later. which made me unreasonably happy.

To start

Politely written note with a copy of your deeds showing that you own that bit of road.

If no rssolution from that I'd explore contacting the EA of the other house and see if you canspeak to the buyers and get an electronic bollard installed / some kind of jointly agreed solution.

What she is saying is that because there was nobody living in the OPs house and there is still nobody in the house next door, the neighbours have been parking on the access road because there was nobody to annoy and nobody to tell them to stop.

Nobody is saying the neighbours are right to do it.

Or rented.

Our lives were miserable after the owner rented to their three bed house out as staff accommodation.
Parking space in a shared area for one car. Tenants with three and sometimes 5/6 cars, if they had overnite guests.

Blocked deliveries, access to our drive and emergency service access.