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.

I don't think I would be getting the car privately towed away, there are laws around this sort of thing

The police won't do anything about a car parked on private land, they don't do anything about those blocking the public highway

If they’ve parked across a dropped kerb, they are parked on a public road. Depending on the circumstances it’s possible to have the vehicle towed. OP’s land is private and the rules around towing a vehicle parked there, however illegally, are completely different.

I would approach the neighbours round the corner once the heat has settled.

Either go round or put a polite letter through the door saying ‘I think there might be a misunderstanding. The access to our cul de sac is not a public road, it is a private access road owned by us. It is just as much our property as a long drive would be.

We fully understand the convenience of using it while the houses were empty but to avoid any further misunderstanding or friction we would really like to keep it private from now on and get on with being neighbours.

Thank you!’

And I would put up signs at the entrance, Private Road . This road is private property. No Parking.

You will have reinforcements once your other neighbours move in.

I’m not so sure. It would be unreasonable to build a house with spaces for four cars. Most new builds will come with a garage / car port which then has a drive with space for at least one car. Most people though use their garage as storage / convert in to a gym / house business area and therefore lose that parking spot. I live in an area that’s been turned in to 5 different estates and that is the case for all the houses around here - obviously apartments are different and will typically have one allocated space in a shared car park. I think it’s on the buyer to assess if the space fits their needs.

I know it’s a different situation but I’ve had similar with neighbours blocking my parking space. We each (6 of us) have a parking space in front of a garage block and one neighbour used to let their guests park on the access driveway. It was only wide enough for one car so if you parked on it no one could get in or out of the garage block.

I don’t have a car so “technically” it didn’t affect me but I remember once having a friend coming to stay for the weekend and about 20 mins from her estimated arrival time the neighbours friends were parking in front of my space. I ran down and said look I’ve got a friend arriving and will need to access my space. The neighbours friends just looked at me and said “well we’re only going to be here for a couple of hours so don’t worry.” I said well she should be here in about 20 mins so she’ll need to park. They replied well we always park here though etc. Anyway it took a lot of back and forth but they eventually moved. The issue was, our entire area had parking restrictions. You could buy visitors permits but clearly the CF neighbours couldn’t be bothered or didn’t want to pay for them.

Another time the CF neighbours had a party. They had one friend’s car in my space (they did not ask me first), two other friends in other neighbours spaces (these neighbours have cars but were out) and about 3 cars lined up down the drive. It irritated me but as I said I don’t have a car so couldn’t be bothered with the hassle. Instead I took up camp in my dining room and waited for the inevitable when the neighbours with cars came home. It was great to watch when one neighbour came home. It took over 30 mins to get all the cars lined up on the drive off, then the friend in the space was struggling to get out (very thin drive and parking spaces) and 3 different people tried until they could get it out. Nice neighbours got their space. CF neighbours put all cars back but squeezed the extra one on the drive as well. 30 mins later another neighbour wanted to go out!! So it all started again!!!! When they left CF neighbours put a car in their space. An hour later that neighbour came back home and it all started AGAIN!! It was fucking ridiculous.

Over the years I told them about visitor permits etc but they clearly didn’t want to use them. They’ve moved now though so no more drama. I have nice neighbours now that will knock on my door and ask if I mind their friend parking in my space for a short visit. I say of course it’s fine! They bring me wine occasionally as a thank you. Lovely!

I think pay for a solicitors to write a letter (you can make it a nice one) which points out why you need access and outlines the consequences if the road is blocked (ambulance, emergency services), PLUS clearly states that you part own the drive, access is a legal right for your property whereas they have no legal right to park there at all. They can probably point to a right to claim damages too, which might be enough to put them off.

If that fails erect a gate at the entrance with a code known only to the two houses and cover it with CCTV.

Get lawyered up. They sound obtuse. Ridiculous to think they can park on peoples’ driveways. This is the problem with the way developers build new estates now. No room to swing a cat or live in peace amongst neighbours. They’re setting up neighbour disputes before the first brick is even laid.

Totally agree. The neighbours have already behaved in a totally unreasonable manner. Being pleasant doesn’t work with this type of person- it’s perceived as a form of weakness. Agreed there’s no need for swearing, always be mindful that you may be being recorded!

While I think this parking argument is the usual crock of sh*t, I fail to see how your solution will help. Have you never heard of the saying, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’?

They are clearly CF.

People and their cars. Blows my mind.

Somehow we have arrived at a place where having huge, expensive, polluting metal boxes are viewed as an inalienable human right, to be unquestionably defended at all costs.

It wasn't always like this.

I also agree with a line of jagged stones painted white down the sides of the road (either both, or just the one that borders their house). Maybe intersperse then with a few planters with flowers in. So you’ve got enough space to get past them but people can’t pull in and park on one side of the road. If asked they are of course primarily decorative 😉

What would OP be doing that's wrong here?

I'm not sure why your DH is being criticised for 'getting shouty'. The neighbours came out of the house with various goons/heavies, they were clearly trying to intimidate him!

I viewed a property that with similar arrangement. I arrived to view property and neighbor was on her doorstep hands on hips. The estate agent jogged over to advise that I could not park on what looked like a private driveway in front of house door I was viewing - because neighbor needed to have full access for a LORRY at all times. The home had parking area, that’s where visitors could park (3 cars). To park at front door - I was not blocking any access at all …

Estate agent said there were legal documents about use of share private road and need for LORRY access at all times. (I asked why LORRY, was neighbor running a trucking Business? And said no, it was in case a LORRY did need access and needed to turn. )

Perhaps there is some legal sort of lorry rule which could help w neighbors, your house needs Lorry-size access at all times.

different situation but similar as in blocking my access to the highway, police were very helpful
my neighbour thinks I’m being ridiculous for asking them not to block me in my driveway and says I can just knock when I need to get in or out

Your CF Neighbours missed a trick here .
If they said " your houses (yours and your NDN) asked us to park there to make the houses look occupied as they didn't want the risk of squatters ." , you'd have been a bit pleased at least .

There's an empty house opposite me , one of the neighbours parks there (on street) and the house is secure .One of my concerns is someone gaining entry as the damage that can be done plus the law is slow to move people .

I wish I could. It’s amazing.

What do you actually own?

If it's the area outlined in red then do you have rights of access over the area outlined in blue?

If it's no to the second question then it's nothing to do with you - they are parking on somebody else's property and its between them and whoever owns it.

If the deeds give you access over the are outlined in blue then it's getting a bit complicated for me. If the person who owns the area outlined in blue was routinely blocking access you are legally entitled to over their property it's fairly straightforward. You can get solicitors involved and if necessary take an injunction out against them.

However if someone who has no ownership over the blue area parks there and blocks you access, I am not sure legally how you stand. At a guess I'd think that it comes under the same rules as someone parking in a manner that blocks a driveway with a dropped curb.

I am not sure how anyone thinks you are going to be able to install gates or a bollard on the neighbouring property.

My advice would be to be firm with them and try not to worry about being perceived as rude or unfriendly. Cheeky fuckers will be given an inch and take a mile. The fact that they've actively told you "but we've been parking like this for ages", when instead they should have apologised and never do it again, shows that they WILL do it again as they think it's fine. Be crystal clear and firm with them. Install a physical barrier - big planters?

I've been burnt by cheeky fucker neighbour, it's very stressful. It strangely made me feel like I was the asshole. The whole situation in my case had me absolutely gaslighted on whether it was me in the wrong because the CF in my case was making it all sound so normal and "oh I'm just doing x, I've been doing x for ages!" - yeah well the house isn't unoccupied anymore, so fuck off. That should have been my response with hindsight, but alas I spent months doing the "polite nudge" which left me a bag of nerves.

But I digress 🤣

My dad has this same issue, and because it’s his second home, the neighbours seem to think they are entitled to park there and get shitty when family or dad come to stay at the house.
he’s taken to blocking them in and ignoring the door when he can’t get onto his driveway. They soon learnt to start asking dad when he or visitors were coming. Dad has NO problem with them using his driveway otherwise.

To put out a fire at the property

I'd park in "their" space on your access road.

Wonder how one goes about installing a ticket machine?? Could rake you in a tasty packet op....

Unfortunately, I think with the continued rise of house prices, and more adult DC staying home, such issues will become increasingly prevalent.