Bought a house and I think the sellers paid off the neighbours to be quiet during viewings!!

[Aquanaut1]

I moved into what I thought was the house of my dreams 2 months ago. After the first week I hated it and now I hate living here even more.
I viewed the property 4 times and met all the neighbours who seemed charming. It was so peaceful and tranquil, the house had been completely refurbished inside with a huge garden. The lounge and kitchen are always sunny overlooking my garden and the valley.
Then there is the communal driveway leading between the four properties to the four allocated parking bays. This is where the nightmare begins. I moved in and very very quickly learned that one family had commandeered ALL of the parking bays and most of the communal driveway for parking their 7 cars. Not only this but they work on them all day, every day. It is 9pm now and they are still banging away and playing rock music on a big stereo. Tools all over the drive. I have tried to build a neighbourly relationship with them to try and reason the issue of the drive but it doesn't suit them. I have to stop myself from blowing my stack every time I go in and out of my house. My issue is, if I complain it will be logged and I will have to declare if I sell. If I start making a big issue out of it with them it will turn in to all kinds of nightmares. I have tried parking and getting them to move out of the way coming and going from my space but it just turns into an overly awkward farce. It's getting to the point where I go away from my home at the weekend just to get away from the place. My front door opens directly on to the drive so I cannot avoid them. There was not a hint of this every time I viewed it, I would have walked away when I saw the carry on in the driveway. I have also been told by another neighbour the seller only lived here themselves for 2 months then left it standing empty for 2 years to live with family before he sold it.
Has anyone else had similar and what did you do, the other neighbours do not drive so are not interested in getting involved.

From my experience of nightmare neighbors I wish I had gone mad earlier. You have nothing to lose by telling them this stops now. Then try to sell as soon as you can before housing prices crash/reduce.

What do the other neighbours think about it?
if your property was empty for 2 years, the cheeky neighbours have got used to the space being empty and started using it, and probably the space outside your house. They need to understand that they can’t do that any more. Perhaps you could invite friends with cars over for the next few weekends and use all “your” space so they get the message,

I think it's best to sort it out from the start, it's easier to do now while you're new than let them get away with it for ages and it becomes harder to deal with. Its shared space and is unacceptable

I think you need to speak to them. If the house was empty for two years they have probably just started doing this and when the neighbour went to sell and saw it told them to move and now they’ve went back to it.

just go and speak to them, nicely and say look can you make sure a bay is always free for me and that the drive is clear and it’s causing me a hindrance.

Can you invite the awful neighbours over for a coffee and have a friendly but firm conversation with them about it? Even if that doesn't work its a reasonable first step that shows you are willing to discuss the matter?
I'm so sorry you've got this situation, it must be awful.

There's some quite nice houses near where I live which have communal driveways but then I thought about possible issues that could arise having a house that backs on to a communal driveway, so I walked away from viewing. Does your parking bay show your house number? You could install a folding parking barrier: when you unlock the barrier, it folds flat on the ground, allowing you to park. Or maybe put up a No Parking sign on the bay. Police will acknowledge a car is technically trespassing, but they will classify it as a civil offence, meaning you would need an eviction notice from the courts. If the neighbours are working on these cars all day every day, are they conducting some sort of business? Are they renting the property? If so, what are the terms of the lease? Can you speak with the landlord? The issue about the loud music could be classed as anti-social behaviour if it's happening every day and into the evening. Speak to your local council for advice.