Driveway when we can usually get a parking spot?

[twoshoes86]

We currently have a front garden and 98% of the time get the parking spot right outside our house (it's a tricky parallel park so others don't attempt it/also an understanding that we have little kids so our neighbours generally don't park there).
We need to re-do the front garden/pathway and would have the option to build a driveway. However, this would leave the front of our house completed exposed to the road/footpath/neighbours. We currently have two large hedges and a magnolia tree which give almost total privacy! We don't particularly like the view of our neighbours houses/passers by so we are wondering whether just to re-do the path and not go for a full driveway to maintain the enjoyment of our house/inside/view? A driveway is a luxury and it wasn't a 'must have' when we bought our house.

Thoughts welcomed!

For me a driveway would be a must when buying a house. However, my experience with on street parking hasn't been great. Even when people on my street could find a parking space there were always idiots racing down the street, or double parking, meaning damage to cars was a common occurrence.

However, if you're not planning on selling any time soon, and would prefer the privacy of the hedge / tree then don't get a driveway.

Your front garden sounds lovely, and if you can park outside of your house for the majority of the time, I wouldn’t dream of spoiling that. It’s a private haven for yourselves and great for wildlife and drainage. But I don’t understand the obsession with parking right next to the house, rather than a few feet away, on the street. Surface water flooding is only going to get worse if we all keep doing this.

We've got a driveway in our new house, it's been a novelty after years of living in with on street parking that had been getting progressively worse in terms of getting a spot anywhere near, never mind next to, the house.

It feels safe for letting the dog out, handy for unloading shopping, loading up for the tip. Great when we were getting work done as vans can go on the drive and aren't constantly looking out for traffic wardens.

We also have very good on street parking, 9 times out of 10 there's room for both cars just outside the house.

I'm tempted to grass over the drive for a bigger front garden. But one of the things we were looking for in a house was a drive.

In your case, while parking isn't a problem, I'd enjoy your front garden and the privacy. If you sell, the next people can rip up the garden.

You could if you wanted apply for planning and dropped kerb permission when you think you will be selling.

a drive is very handy

you can have a hinged or rolling gate, and only open it when required.

some people put a low picket fence or hedge between the house and the drive which may delay escaping dogs or children.

you need an obvious opening from the road to your front door, or postmen and visitors will vault over your fence.

A driveway is a must for me. Just imagine a new neighbour moves in and they have 3 or 4 cars. Suddenly less parking. Then other neighbours with kids who learn to drive and they get cars...... and so on. Get a driveway.

Depending on where you live I reckon if you're going to want to do this you should do it now, because you probably won't be allowed in a few years. Having said that I think a front garden is much nicer than carparking space.

Nope. I hate it when the front garden is hard standing with a car - plus that’s what you’ll see from inside too. You don’t need it, it doesn’t release a street parking spot, so why do it? Plants and trees are much more environmentally friendly as well as aesthetically pleasing.
I’d only do it if you had double yellows in front of the house.

A driveway was on my must-have list when we moved. I spent too many years in busy terraced streets. We currently live in a village and have enjoyed 5 years with plenty of parking for everyone. It all changed a few months ago when a young family moved in next door and had a baby. Their two cars are on the drive but they have a huge extended family and every few days five or six cars turn up for several hours. Parking is now so limited some of their guests have had to park across the front of our drive and theirs. They always knock and ask about parking in front of the drive so that's not an issue but it does make me glad that I insisted on having a driveway.

What will you do when we're all driving electric cars? I think this is something to consider. Even if you keep the garden for now it's likely eventually you will need a drive so you can plug your car in.

@Livingintheclouds

Nope. I hate it when the front garden is hard standing with a car - plus that’s what you’ll see from inside too. You don’t need it, it doesn’t release a street parking spot, so why do it? Plants and trees are much more environmentally friendly as well as aesthetically pleasing. I’d only do it if you had double yellows in front of the house.

This. Very few people will agree though as MN is pretty fanatical about off street parking. We’ve never had it - house in a street that predates the internal combustion engine by about 300 years - and I honestly can’t see what it would add to my life.

Do you already have a dropped kerb? Otherwise you'll need to apply to the council for permission.

If you have the money to change things as neighbours get more cars then fine. If you don’t then you should get a driveway.

Also, you will need to tell your car insurer that you no longer have a drive and are parking on the street or it could invalidate your policy when you need to make a claim.

I wouldn't buy without off street parking especially now we are moving towards electric cars, worth taking into account

I'd much rather have the privacy / greenery than a parking space. We park on the street at the moment and our front garden is lovely.

When we first moved in I thought one of our first jobs would be to get the kerb dropped and get a proper parking space but there's no way I'd do that now that I've had a chance to live in the house.

Poor planet 😢
Your front garden sounds lovely @twoshoes86! Don’t let the Hyacinth Bouquets influence you.

Nah, if you like your garden as is and it's not an issue I'd keep it as it is. Surely in the future if it does become a problem you can look to do it then?

I would never buy a house that didn’t have off road parking.

If you get new neighbours who have more cars you can kiss goodbye to your parking spot.

I think it depends if you think you might want to sell any time soon. I don't care about off street parking, and don't understand why people are so obsessed with it - it honestly feels like people see their house primarily as a place to put their car - but they are. Selling our last house was such a frustrating experience as no matter how prominently the parking situation was described in the online listing we had endless viewers who wasted our time by turning up and instantly declaring they didn't want it because of the parking. It was clear that it would have sold much quicker if we'd had a driveway.

Thing is you have an understanding with your neighbour now but you don't know how long that will last.

I wouldn't buy a house without a driveway because it makes my life easier. We have shrubs to mark the boundary. I wouldn't sit staring out the front window anyway.

We moved specifically for a drive-10 years in London with 3 kids spent trying to find a parking space within half a mile of our house eventually broke me. As previous posters have said parking situations change, when we first moved in we had elderly neighbours who didn't drive or only had one car. Eventually families with 3+ cars moved in so parking was impossible. It was a cut through also -there were several accidents with drivers steaming through , one of which involved a neighbours child having her legs broken in 3 places.
The relief of getting my kids out of the car safely was worth the move.
We have both a driveway and front garden with lots of shrubs and trees

Thanks so much- really had not given much thought to the potential need for electric car charging etc.

I think for us the privacy is lovely and is what is really holding us back from the driveway... equally the neighbours could change and we are back to then wanting a driveway.

We will probably look to move in the next ten years and I think a driveway would certainly make the house more 'saleable'.

People move house for driveways and garages. If you have the funds do it, with a car charging point and a dropped kerb. A drive without a dropped kerb is just a concreted over garden.

You can still have plants and a driveway? My mum has hedging rose bushes etc surrounding her driveway she just has a gap for her car my aunt has grass on hers they never get bogged in or anything

There are loads of controlled parking zones being put in here and I think that affects whether they will grant permission for a dropped curb. I cannot imagine a time when a house with off street parking wouldn't sell easier.