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AIBU?

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Original poster

New neighbour might be selling cars from their drive.

95 replies

CraftyKit · 04/08/2025 11:37

I am not sure if this is the best place to post but wanting to know if l am mad about nothing and don't really know who to ask.
We got new neighbours just over a week ago (our neighbour of 27 years died and the house was sold). We get on with all our neighbours just so you know we aren't horrible people and have had many in the property joining us over the years.
New neighbours have been a pain in the from the minute they moved in. We live in a semi and our drives are side by side. The drive isn't huge and you can get 3 cars on them maybe 4 - anyway they have now got between 5 and 6 and l think they are selling cars from the driveway. They have two vans, one has been reversed down the side of the house and they get out onto our drive every time he moves and this is at least once or twice a day. Cars are moved and rearranged several times a day/evening. We even had a car arrived last Thursday around 10pm on a trailer and people have been their looking at cars they bring from somewhere else the two weekends they have lived there,
Can you sell cars like this from your home?
Am l just annoyed about nothing?
We have always liked our house but now is it maybe time to move - doubt it will get better if this is how they start. I am also worried about all the people coming out to view these cars and checking out the area - not really making this clear but you just never know if they are really buying.
Oh and when my OH spoke to them a day or so after they moved in they told him they were really pleased to have moved to a nice area. But all these vehicles crammed onto their drive isn't keeping it a nice area. No-one else has this many cars and vans parked anywhere else on the street just us.
I feel like we are living next door to Steptoe and son at the junk yard.

OP posts:
Isittimeformynapyet · 04/08/2025 23:40

@dmboot1 and @toomanydicksonthedancefloor1 you are saying opposite things, but both seem very certain. Which of you is correct?

Isittimeformynapyet · 04/08/2025 23:44

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Where are you going with this?

Givenupshopping · 04/08/2025 23:49

OP, assuming that you own your house, it might also be worth you checking your Deeds, as it's sometimes written in them that you cannot operate a business or certain types of business from the premises. If that's the case, then you could go legal if necessary, but I'd try the Council route recommended by 'dmboot1' first. Good luck!

Daffodilsarefading · 05/08/2025 08:36

Yes put up a high, sturdy fence. I would also plant something like rambling roses next to it. They will absorb the sound and as they grow thorns will ensure that nobody tries to climb the fence or touch it in anyway.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 05/08/2025 08:39

If they are selling cars (not just a one-off) from their drive, then they should surely be paying business rates.

Harrumphhhh · 05/08/2025 08:51

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

What difference would that make?

DyslexicPoster · 05/08/2025 09:09

Someone at the start of our no through road sells cars off the drive. A double height stacked artic type thing that delivers to showrooms turns up and blocks the entire road periodically. It them drops off cars that are completely fucked and spewing out black smoke. No one can get in or out the road. Everyone has has at least two off road parking spaces and these people clog up the on street parking. I just park my car at the entrance of the road when the artic is here. Some people mount the curbs and drive over other front lawns to get past. I can't imagine living right next to them so you have my sympathy.

SprinklesandSparkles · 05/08/2025 09:16

Seeline · 04/08/2025 11:59

If they are selling cars from their property report it to teh planning department at your local Council - the enforcement team can come and check. Whilst it is possible to run some businesses from home without planning permission, those that cause a nuisance to neighbours through noise, disturbance increased traffic and parking problems are likely to require PP.

Licencing team, not planning. It's not a planning permission issue. I'm qualified in town planning.

Skissors · 05/08/2025 09:20

CraftyKit · 04/08/2025 13:37

I am trying not to be that neighbour. There are two of them living there and 5/6 vehicles. Two transit vans, her car and then two or three that appear along with people coming to view them. The swap the vehicles around every time they want to go out if the one they are selling is blocking the vehicle they want to use. I am also guessing they aren't taxed because there was a police car stopped opposite the other day and they were waiting to go out in the car that had been dropped off late at night. The road was clear for them to leave but they waited ages for the police car to move on before they left. I was just walking home and saw the police car and them at the top of the drive waiting to get out and there wasn't any traffic. It took me a few minutes to work out what the problem was until l saw them leave just as the police car drove off the other way.

Show quote history

Don't know about the legality of selling off a driveway. Imagine you need to have it registered.

Very easy to find out if vehicles are taxed on gov.uk

Seeline · 05/08/2025 09:30

SprinklesandSparkles · 05/08/2025 09:16

Licencing team, not planning. It's not a planning permission issue. I'm qualified in town planning.

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I am also a qualified town planner and in my opinion this would require at least a partial change of use application. Just like running a nursery, or kennels or fitness/gym from your property, PP is required.
I have certainly dealt with a couple of applications for this very thing.

Original poster
CraftyKit · 05/08/2025 09:39

toomanydicksonthedancefloor1 · 04/08/2025 20:47

So I can tell you from experience they can do this but they do require planning permission. Me and DH used to do this (above board) but after a few months we realised it was not fair on our neighbours and we had to buy a business premises. No matter how hard we tried to minimise disruption it was inevitable. They should also be registered as a second hand trader and should be VAT registered (as soon as you’ve sold about 10-20 cars you’re over the turnover threshold so legitimate motor traders are all VAT registered). As they’re operating a business they should also abide by the laws and consumer rights for selling hand goods but I can also tell you from Experience, most driveway traders will be advertising on Autotrader as private sellers so they can sell the cars with no comeback and no warranty. Do a search on Autotrader for your postcode and all vehicles within a mile and I would bet there are some on there you recognise and listed as a ‘private seller’, in all honesty apart from contacting the council planning department to ask if they have planning permission (which they will take very seriously) I don’t know what else you can do. It may be that they have planning permission but that’s very doubtful.

Thank you. I will check to see if l can find any listed. They only moved in just over a week ago so would they get permission that fast without us being informed?

OP posts:
Seeline · 05/08/2025 09:45

It is possible to make a planning application for land you don't own, and not all planning departments write to neighbours to advice them of applications these days (although there would have to be a notice clearly displayed on public land close to the application site if no letters are sent).
You can check whether an application has been submitted, and its status, by looking at the planning pages on your Council web site - there will be somewhere to 'search or comment on a planning application'. Just use the address of the property to search the register. You will be able to look at any documents submitted as part of the application, as well as the report discussing the decision and hte decision notice which will say why it has been refused, or if approved, set out conditions controlling the use.

Original poster
CraftyKit · 05/08/2025 09:46

dmboot1 · 04/08/2025 23:25

No, they can't sell cars from their drive. I'm a Local Government Officer. Report to Council and they should send out an Enforcement Officer. Good luck OP, no one wants or deserves this next door to their home

If l complain to the council l am guessing he will know it was us and could get ugly. If we want to sell at a later date we will need to tell people we had a problem with our new neighbour, at least l think that is the case.
We have never had a problem like this before. Like l said we never had a fence when we moved in 27 years ago and never needed one. We have always got on with our neighbours and have helped each other out in the past but l don't think they are going to be that kind of neighbour. We saw them outside the day after they moved in and said 'hello' and they weren't going to even acknowledge us except my husband who is very friendly asked if they were all moved in now and they gave the impression they really didn't want to speak but in the end they just said 'yes' and turned away.

OP posts:
Original poster
CraftyKit · 05/08/2025 09:51

SprinklesandSparkles · 05/08/2025 09:16

Licencing team, not planning. It's not a planning permission issue. I'm qualified in town planning.

Edited
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If l do this will they know it was me?

OP posts:
Original poster
CraftyKit · 05/08/2025 09:53

Skissors · 05/08/2025 09:20

Don't know about the legality of selling off a driveway. Imagine you need to have it registered.

Very easy to find out if vehicles are taxed on gov.uk

Show quote history

The last two weren't taxed and am guessing the one last week wasn't either as they waited for the police car to go before they left the drive and because her car was in front he wouldn't have seen the other car properly.

OP posts:
GoldDuster · 05/08/2025 09:59

Build a wall/fence down the boundary, and enquire with your local council regarding planning for running a car yard from your drive, and take it from there.

Also try not to let your imagination run away with you:

I am also worried about all the people coming out to view these cars and checking out the area - not really making this clear but you just never know if they are really buying.

Burglars aren't going to the bother of masquerading as car buyers, they can check out any area whenever they like without going to the trouble of making an appointment to view a car they don't want to buy.

Seeline · 05/08/2025 10:04

Planning enforcement will try not to reveal who made the complaint.
To be fair, if they are running their business from the front of their property, any of the nearby residents could have complained.

I think you only have to declare unresolved issues when you move, so if the Council say it can no longer happen, and they stop, there is no issue. Similarly if the Council say it needs Planning permission, and that is granted, you have to accept that as resolved - again no issue. But you would need to check that point of view.

Spookyspaghetti · 05/08/2025 10:04

Dolphinosep0tatoes · 04/08/2025 11:39

But all these vehicles crammed onto their drive isn't keeping it a nice area.

Don't be that neighbour.

My neighbours have extra cars on their drive, switch them around a lot, it was part of their job, they repossessed them. All above board.

It might be above board in ops case, it might not. I’d be surprised if the council were allowed a residential property to be used as a commercial car park.

Op check with the council that they are allowed to do this and go from there.

BlokeHereInPeace · 05/08/2025 10:27

As others have said, your local district or borough council's planning team (not county council, if you have one of them). You need planning permission for what they are doing and they won't get it because of the loss of amenity to you and your neighbours and the need to keep commercial uses within established commercial areas like town centres and industrial areas.

To be honest you could get the ball rolling by setting up an anonymous email address and taking it from there, just say to are a concerned resident of the street. Wat they are doing is wrong in planning terms and doesn't need to have a named complainant.

ElsieMc · 05/08/2025 11:01

@GoldDuster You are wrong there. Noone can say with any certainty. My ndn advertised motorbikes on ebay. Got a few viewings. A day later I came home from a schoolrun and just had a feeling something felt off. The ivy on the wall was flattened as well. It was a recce as next day my ndn came round in a right state. They came during the night, removed slates from the garage roof, lowered themselves in and walked off with 3 motorbikes.

The police said it was organised crime and just as well we did not confront them. Implausible, but true. It does put you at higher risk with strangers coming and going.

SprinklesandSparkles · 05/08/2025 12:23

Seeline · 05/08/2025 09:30

I am also a qualified town planner and in my opinion this would require at least a partial change of use application. Just like running a nursery, or kennels or fitness/gym from your property, PP is required.
I have certainly dealt with a couple of applications for this very thing.

Show quote history

I meant they need a licence for selling before applying for change of use class.

Seeline · 05/08/2025 13:44

SprinklesandSparkles · 05/08/2025 12:23

I meant they need a licence for selling before applying for change of use class.

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Show quote history

😂 yes of course you did!
That's what you meant when you said 'It's not a planning permission issue.' Someone 'in planning ' would not have said that.

Doesn't matter which way round he does things. But as he is actually selling now, planning enforcement would be a good place for the OP to start.

SapphOhNo · 05/08/2025 13:49

Time for that (electrified) fence OP.

This sounds really annoying. Best of luck.

suburburban · 05/08/2025 13:50

CraftyKit · 04/08/2025 19:24

So just a little update.
Checked my CCTV and he did have someone come to look at a car and they used my drive to talk about car take photos, almost sitting on my parked car that was parked off the drive in an area of our front garden that we have gravel on so we can park our 2nd vehicle so we have room for any people visiting.
So, yes they think they can use my drive too by the looks of things.

Yanbu op

we have a low wall between our wall and the neighbours.

they shouldn’t be on your drive full stop and they sound dodgy

menopausalmare · 05/08/2025 13:52

Mums neighbour works for the RAC and mends cars on the side. He's a total pain. Cars and vans all over the green, blocking the view and making parking hazardous for the children in the street. I would check they're a registered business and then dob them into the council.