To buy a cheap car and park it infront of my house so no one else can

[originalsst58]

Yes I know I don’t own the road in front of my house, but I’m sick of selfish people parking right up to the dropped kerb, making it difficult for me to get in and out of my driveway. And I’m also sick of neighbours parking there while their own driveways are empty. The latest annoyance is my neighbour leaving his van outside my house and parking his car in front of his own house. What a fantastic view I have now, a huge van blocking most of my window. His driveway is also empty. I wouldn’t have minded if he parked the car there, but clearly, he doesn’t want to see the van from his own house. Selfish prick!! There’s a back story to this. I don’t get on with him or his partner and won’t ask them to swap the vehicles around. They wouldn’t anyway. So I’m considering buying a cheap runaround, getting it taxed and MOT’d, and just leaving it there for a year. If people weren’t so self centered and thought about others, I wouldn’t even think of doing this!!! Has anyone done this before??

Would it be cheaper to park your own car in the space the van is in, leaving your drive free?

Do it. A trailer is a good idea.

Years ago I lived in a flat where the neighbours parked their giant, rundown camper van in front of our window. It completely blocked out the light (and the view - we lived on the sea front, so this was a little bit heartbreaking) for two and a half years. It never moved once. Whenever I asked them about it they claimed they were planning to restore it. After one such conversation they painted it canary yellow - with matte emulsion, so it then flaked all over the ground for months afterwards, and looked even worse.

I’ve no idea how they got it MOTed. Probably just didn’t. It was a long time ago, pre internet, and I was very young, so reporting and enforcing stuff like that wasn’t like it is now.

If you buy a moped or motorbike, you would also need to tax & insure it, if you keep it on the road.

If you are a beginner, the licence & insurance can be over £1000.

Therefore this is not potentially a cheap option.

Could you speak to your local authority and suggest the space outside your window as perfect for a bicycle storage/parking facility? They are a small dome and take up the space of a car. You could probably get 5 or 6 bikes in there.

Fishwife daughters ?
I’ve never heard of that phrase, what does it mean ?

I would be annoyed too OP. The fact that he has a drive and refuses to put his own vehicles on it and instead, parks his van right outside your house for days at a time is definitely selfish. Of course, it’s not illegal but it’s still inconsiderate when he has a drive, to make it difficult for you to park and to have a crap view out of your window. If you can afford the cheap car then I’d do it. Just be aware that you’d have to drive it a bit so it doesn’t conk out cos you wouldn’t want it to fail its next mot and then cost more money again.

You have my sympathy as my neighbours are the same. On one side it's a guy and his horrid spoilt brat of a partner, both mid-late 40s. His hobby is buying vans and then taking years to do them up. Presently he has one outside our window, (shared courtyard) so I 1. Can't see anything out of my window but his huge van and 2. Can't see my own cars where they're parked in their allocated spaces, as his van blocks my view of them as it's so huge. We have Ring but if anyone stole or damaged one of our cars, Ring wouldn't pick it up as his van blocks everything.

Absolutely do it. Before we had 2 cars I was about to do the same, as the same neighbours kept stealing our second space.

You're not allowed to put a skip on the road without a licence or a permit from the council, and they usually won't allow it for more than 4 weeks.

Aren’t they selfish for parking two vehicles on the road when they have a driveway? Seems slightly hypocritical.

Agreed!!

Fishwife

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishwife

If you buy a "classic car" you don't need to tax or MOT no matter what condition it's in. You would also be able to get very cheap limited milage classic insurance...

I would 100% do it!

Just hit the car with your car it will be cheaper

I had this at my previous house. My house was down a sloping driveway so the van on the road was really bloody annoying, towering over my house. The woman used to park in front of my house when the van wasn’t there too yet neither parked in front of their own house, ever (apparently birds pooed on the car if she parked it in front of her own house 🤷🏻‍♀️).

I was glad to move but did consider buying a cheap car and parking it there although never went through with it due to cost.

We moved (just after they split up and the van had disappeared) and now have an even bigger parking arsehole who parks on the shared drive so it’s really difficult to manoeuvre around the back of his twatty truck.

I am shocked how many people have thought of doing this themselves! It’s very petty op, don’t do it! Though I understand the frustration.

Bit stupid of him to not have his van closest to his house in case someone tries to steal his tools! 3 times we’ve woken in the night to hear someone trying to break into DH’s van. Maybe you could mention some local tool thefts recently…

You'll still need to tax, MOT and insure it. But go for it.

Absolutely do it if you can afford to, neighbours are blatant arseholes

Is it HIS van or does it belong to a company? I had a neibour do this to me, so I emailed the company with photos pointing out that dispite having ample room outside his own house he was chosing to deprive me of natural light in my own home, ... they took the van off him.

I know someone who has done this. She's so much happier and a lot less stressed. Do it if you can afford.

Sorry to hear of your
plight op. Sounds horrible. What selfish people.
However, just to let you know your plan sadly might not work unless you actually drive the car. If it’s seen to not move, it can be reported as abandoned - vindictive move by neighbour but could happen. Being mot’d and taxed has nothing to do with that- it can still be reported and notice put on the car. I’ve got experience there.
You could get round that by driving the car on occasion but then I guess it would need to be insured. And make sure there is no flat tyre or anything wrong with the car as it’s even more likely to be reported if left to a good amount of time

If you have money to waste on buying insuring taxing and MOT a car simply to park outside go ahead.

It would have to be insured to be on public rd

My neighbours did this. People a few doors down were parking a van outside their house so they bought a really old car, taxed and mot'd it and that's where it lived for years, until the van people moved. I admired their persistence and commitment to a grudge. Could you accidently drop some nails under their tyres?

Do it.