My husband and I moved into our new home in February, and we've already experienced some issues with our neighbours. To give you some context, our driveways are next to each other, but they are not shared. Each driveway is single file and can fit at least two cars. We recently learned that our neighbours had a verbal agreement with the previous owner allowing them to use our driveway as a shortcut to access their own, so they wouldn't have to rearrange their vehicles for access. Since the previous owner didn’t drive, this arrangement was never a problem, as their driveway was always empty. However, we have two cars now, making this arrangement unfeasible. Additionally, we are considering resurfacing our driveway next year, and we don’t want to invest that money only for someone else to use it daily. It feels a little unfair since we will be the ones covering the costs for any work or potential damage.
We asked them to stop using it and explained our reasons. Initially, they seemed to understand and agreed not to use it anymore. However, we later caught them on camera multiple times using it while we were both at work and the driveway was empty. They even attempted to use it while our cars were parked on the drive, nearly hitting them. When we spoke to them again, they became quite defensive, suggesting that we were being petty and that most people wouldn’t care about a bit of concrete. This felt quite entitled to us. We explained that we’d prefer to keep our properties separate and asked that they respect our wishes.
They later decided to park both of their cars on the road outside our house, leaving their driveway empty. They explicitly stated, "if we can’t use your driveway, then we’ll have to park our cars on the road." It felt like a manipulation tactic to us. They made the choice to rent a house with insufficient parking, and while we’re in the same situation and just rearrange our cars, somehow it’s our fault. We can see (though think it’s lazy) why they might park one car there if they didn’t want to move them around, but we can’t grasp why they felt the need to park both cars on the road while their driveway sat unused. Regardless, we didn’t say anything as it’s a public road. It just seemed a bit passive aggressive, but we thought that was the end of it and moved on.
They seem unwilling to let things go and appear to hold a personal grudge against us now. Since that time, the following incidents have occurred:
They parked on our dropped kerb (my husband was away and I was home alone) while the rest of the pavement was clear, making it hard for me to get my car out.
They’ve blocked our driveway several times (again, when my husband was away), forcing me to go over and ask them to move their car.
The man walked across our front garden, deliberately looking at our camera and smirking.
They tossed their hedge clippings (which are not from our hedges) into our back garden.
They painted their fence and splattered paint all over our storage box and left it that way.
They frequently park on the road while leaving their driveway empty (which we know is legal) because they insist that their driveway is now unusable due to us. However, when we do park on the road (which is very rare since they tend to get upset and we can’t be arsed with the drama), they then choose to park on their driveway. We have pointed out that there are other parking spaces available on the street, and they don’t always need to park in front of our house, but they refuse to listen. We find it strange that they consistently choose to park outside our home, and if that spot is taken, they revert to using their driveway, even though they claim it’s unusable now.
This situation has escalated to the point where we (especially me if my husband is away) feel uneasy in our own home. I’m even hesitant to park outside for just a few minutes when I’m running in because I dread the possibility of them kicking off. We’ve attempted to reason with them and clarify that this issue is not our problem and has nothing to do with us or our driveway. The problem stems from their choice to rent a house with a single file driveway, yet they keep insisting it’s our fault for not allowing them to use our drive anymore. They refuse to accept this and it’s exhausting. They have turned this into our issue, even though it really has nothing to do with us.
My husband knows the partner of their landlord, so we had a conversation with them. They agreed that the behaviour was unreasonable, but said there wasn't much they could do about it. Additionally, we discovered that they are Jehovah's Witnesses. Is this kind of behaviour typical? We thought they were meant to be respectful and considerate. To clarify, we don’t care if they park on the street (as long as they don’t block our driveway or park on our dropped kerb), we just want them to leave us alone and stop the intimidation and stupid games. We've checked our property deeds and the information from the seller, and there is definitely no right of access. This was merely an informal arrangement.
It's unfortunate because everyone else here seems lovely and “gets” that it's their responsibility to coordinate their vehicles.
Are we being unreasonable? Any advice?