Would say this house has 'allocated' parking?

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when the particulars form the Estate agents say:
Key features
3 Bedrooms, 2 Reception Rooms, Parking to Rear, Gas Central Heating, Double Glazing Throughout, Quiet Village Location, 1/2 Mile to Station

and later in the waffle. "Parking for two cars to rear."

Would you expect from that description, that the parking spaces would be on the deeds?

I'd expect the parking to be on land owned by the property. I.e. to have sole use of them.

If there's any other houses nearby, I'd want to check everything! I could see a new estate having communal parking with spaces behind one house but a few houses fighting over them, for example.

It should say on street or shared parking if not that clearly implies exclusive use

No. Having viewed a lot of houses, I'd presume it was shared spaces until it was confirmed otherwise. You might have the right to park in two spaces but it'll be a pain if you're playing musical cars every time you need to park!

I agree it should specify but I think if it was exclusive it'd be a big enough selling point to make sure that was clear. I could be wrong though!

Thank you.

So, to bring you fully up to speed. We're buying this house, there is a road behind the house, which basically is one of those concrete roads that looks more like a driveway. The road is owned by the council. So in effect, it is a public road. There is physical space for two cars there behind the property. (as well as others along the terrace) but, as it's a road, anyone could park there, but it is unlikely as it is secluded and you only really know it's there if you live there (iyswim?). There is a fence and gate at the rear of our boundary, and the roadway meets the fence.

However our issue is does this affect the value? Should we be negotiating for a lower price as a result? Or should we just 'leave' it because it's so unlikely anyone would park there and we effectively do have two rear parking spaces.

MN jury?

(also, it isn't a deal breaker)

Do you have a back garden adjoining this road? Could you create exclusive off street parking ?

It would not be illegal to park in front of the entrance to your garden/parking spaces. It may be unlikely, but you could be blocked in with no way of forcing them to move. The police won't help you.

The parking spaces are effectively worthless.

It would really put me off a house if it didn't have anywhere to park. it is misleading I think. If the road is owned by the council then they could do something that prevents you parking there or a business could open nearby and on street parking could become a premium.

Our land is right next to the road (with a fence and gate for access)

Look at my beautiful diagram

it is a 'secluded' roadway, between terraces. The 'upper' terraced row of house have no access direct from their garden (hedges) but nothing to say they couldn't create it.

sorry, red arrows to show land boundary.
gate and path into our land.

It looks to me like its the same situation as if you lived on a terraced street - the space for parking is there but it will be first come, first served.
If its secluded then you may be lucky with having the use of them most of the time, but if you come home and find other cars parked in them then youre out of luck.

So a sort of 'sole use by custom' situation.

What harm can angling for £5-10k off do? Are you in a competitive situation?

I would consider how much of an impact on your life it would be if you could not park where it is suggested you can park.

My friend has the standard 2 adult 2 children family. Except every weekend they have a family get together for a coffee and a catch up. It means an extra 8-10 cars park in their street. But it is a small street meaning a home owner often has to park quite far from their house.

Bit of a pain in the arse for the home owner who just assumed an average family has moved in. It is off a main road which has double yellows too so the parking elsewhere is a fair walk. Awful if it is raining or you come home with shopping.

A better description would be on street parking really.

Is the house the same price as similar ones without allocated parking?
If the "allocated" parking isn't reflected in a higher than average value I don't think it's too fair to want money off since it is not actually allocated.
But then again it seems to be a buyer's market at the moment and any discount makes any potential brexit crash more bearable!

If parking is crucial could you consider having a car port erected inside your garden, with an up & over door? Then you could park one inside & one outside your own door.

(Am assuming others would be less likely to park next to a garage door than to a garden gate/boundary wall, but I'm probably wrong about that!)

I would say "parking to rear" is not allocated parking. Estate Agents do not see the title deeds and will just advertise a property based on what they are told by the seller.

If you really want to know before committing yourself to the purchase, download the title deeds from Land Registry for £3. If there is allocated parking particular to this property it will say so on the deeds. If it doesn't say so, it doesn't have allocated parking. Properties are often built with parking areas/communal parking but this would be first come first served, and you have no rights of ownership over particular spaces.

If it says 'allocated parking for two cars' that definitely implies two specific spaces that belong just to you.

However, even if thats right it might still be difficult to stop others parking on your spaces.

Can you ask if you own the land and if you do, is it viable to protect the spaces with locking posts? It's hard to see if you can from the diagram.

It's just "on street parking to rear" probably.

However don't assume that this back alley is owned by the council and is a public road - this is something that your solicitor should be finding out.

Roads are either "adopted" or private. If they are adopted then the local authority is responsible for their repair and upkeep and anyone can park on them so long as their vehicle is taxed and there are no official restrictions. If the road is private then any repairs and upkeep are divided between the local landowners (which might be 75% the local authority and 25% home owners) but it's a lot easier to arrange and enforce residents-only parking. Instruct your solicitor to get clarity on this and certainly don't pay a price that reflects allocated/off street parking if you are just getting on-street parking. Your car insurance premiums will be set as it being on-street parking after all.

From that description no, I wouldn't expect anything to be on the deeds - it's on street parking at the rear of the house. Not allocated spaces so anyone could park there. Hope the house purchase is going smoothly!

As for whether it affects the price, presumably when you viewed the property, it was obvious that the parking was on street parking and that the price was set to reflect the actual situation rather than an assumption that the space was part of the property, so no, I don't this is a negotiating point.

However, if there are similar properties, size, location, price with off street or private parking then it could perhaps be a negotiation point.

The local council will probably have insisted on a certain number of parking spaces per house 1 or 2 is normal for the original granting of planning permission , they are usually off road ' proper ' parking spaces but communal so available on a first come basis , ask the agent to clarify matters but usually if it isn't on your deeds it isn't sole use or yours