Viewed a near-perfect house yesterday, one thing putting me off

[booomshackalack]

Currently in an elevated two up two down mid terrace with two DCs of opposite sex sharing a room, DCs are 13 and 9. On street parking which is terrible at times.

We viewed a house yesterday which we fell in love with and it ticks a lot of boxes - only a few steps at the front door, three bedrooms plus a dining room and converted loft, new style kitchen and bathroom and home survey highlights no issues. It's another mid terrace, we were set for a while on a semi however with the economy and fuel bills as they are, it probably makes more financial sense to go for a mid. We are moving within a very sought after area where semis in particular get snapped up fast at tens of thousands over asking so no guarantee we would even get one if we held out i guess.

The only downside is it's on-street parking. The majority of the street are semi-detached houses with their own driveway, with just a couple of rows of terraces. When viewing yesterday it didn't look too bad - or at least, not as bad as where we live atm! Would this put you off if the house seemed ideal in every other way? I guess in the future we could look at putting a drive in the front garden, although it would be a shame to rip the front garden as it's quite nice.

We're mid terrace and on street parking. It really hasn't been a big deal at all. Before that we were in a flat with a car park that had designated parking spaces - THAT was a complete nightmare, with people blocking you in, parking in your space, etc. The surrounding streets were all permit only as well. Vastly prefer this set up!

Ours (Camden) won't give permission for converting front garden/yard into off street parking. I expect other London boroughs would be the same

Depends on my area it would be a no. As parking is a nightmare. But I my sisters it would be ok.

OP won't get everything she wants/needs. There's always going to be a compromise, whether it's third bedroom size, garden, parking or indeed the price. There's no point in making everything a deal breaker when sooner or later you will have to accept a less than perfect home. It's just figuring out what's most important. I've got parking but I wish I'd thought about the impact of having that tiny third bedroom...

Really wouldn’t bother me

If the next door terrace even if on the end has done the driveway then visibility of the corner must be irrelevant. Sounds positive, just check if its a conservation area.

I guess I hadn't considered this! My last house only had on street parking and there was always a few space available within approx. 30m.

Morning all, I'm just about to pop around to the street and check it out,cwith any luck I'll catch a neighbour.

@Davros not in London thankfully! No mid terraces on that street have drives but on my own street, about a mile away and in same council area, there are multiple mids with driveways installed. The houses in my part of the area are different in style so not sure if that's a factor.

Why on earth is it selfish?!

So I had a walk along at 9am, counting 7 empty spaces although it was more tightly packed around where the terraces are located. The street behind had even more spaces, especially at either end where the houses sit facing onto the other streets.

I had a chat with someone from the end of terrace opposite the house up for sale, she's lived there for 35 years and they put their own drive in. She said that this is how the road generally is parking-wise on a Sunday morning and the majority of cars at the corner of the road where the terrace is close to belong to people in the terraces on the street round the corner (all elevated, no driveways). Sounds fair game for parking on that section then.

What? It's selfish because you're taking a space someone without a drive would like (unless there are countless empty spaces).
Does your insurance company think you're parked on a drive?

There's no off-street parking in streets and squares where some of the most expensive properties in the country are e.g. Kensington and Chelsea. It doesn't seem to affect the prices. i never found it too much of a problem in London, was helped by not all neighbours having a car.

I actually only park in the drive because of the insurance. It"d be much easier to park in the road because the entrance is quite narrow and I always approach from one end of the road to get the sweep from the left-hand side. it wouldn't be selfish here because the road's quiet with plenty of space.

Which is incredibly frustrating to your neighbors if there is limited street parking.

Sunday evening is a good time to check although it is the holidays.

Parking is not a huge deal breaker to me but it does depend on what the on street parking is like. Also your dc are older now so it's not as annoying.

boomshackalack good luck, I think the house sounds great 🤞

To be honest parking would be a deal breaker for me unless you have an option to convert some front space/garden into parking?

It entirely depends on your life. For me parking was a deal breaker. I am a childminder and I have two children and we camp. I need to be able to walk easily from the door to the car and back again.
for me it didn’t have to be a drive, but enough parking that I wouldn’t struggle to park outside my house.
and I found that, my Rd is on street parking and I have to park opposite my house but it works for me.
in a different job/different hobbies I might not care so much. But I often pack the car for camping on my own, and hauling stuff down the street is too much for me. In your situation and the ages of your kids I wouldn’t care about on street parking personally.

It also depends when you’ll be coming and going. If you’ll be home by 5.30 for example you might find it less busy than arriving home at 7pm. So you might find it easier to park outside your house than others do depending on the timings of your comings and goings.

Only buy if you put a drive in. We've moved last year, parking is horrendous, to the extent, you don't want to take the car out, as you might have to park streets away. Just had drive put in, now happy days.

I’ve had experience of road side only parking. At first it was ok, but then, as more and more people had more than one car making parking up a difficult procedure, plus some eejits deciding scratching all the parked cars with a nail/coin one night was a good idea, it was time to reconsider, and a move to a house with off road parking became important. Of course, different priorities for different people, but for those reasons alone, I personally, would avoid a terraced property without off road parking.

Would b a deal breaker for me but that is our area. If you’re city type location on street parking is more of the norm.

I agree that the priority is bedrooms for your DC. However no drive or allocated parking space would be a deal breaker for me. You should keep in mind that situations change and as families grow/age and occupancies change more cars are added. This happened where I live. Plenty of on street parking until local kids hit driving age (and can’t afford to leave home), as well as multiple adult occupancy/house shares. I agree that we have to compromise on ‘wish list’ things but If it’s a place you intend to stay for a long time or it’s your forever home I would hold out for somewhere that meets more of your practical requirements.

Definitely this. Definitely not a deal breaker for me

After living in a beautiful , large Edwardian terrace that was a total parking nightmare I vowed I would never buy another house that did not have its own parking. I have never had such a great house since, still would not trade my 70s box with loads of parking. Don’t do it