Drive area access

[MalandJo]

We live in a property with a decent sized triangular communal area , which we own but the other residents have access through to their drives/garages . We are plot 129 on the attached image .We have 2 cars ,one being parked on the drive in front of our garage , one next to our house on the 45° angle .
All the garages are accessible with us parked in this way . The deeds only disallow parking a commercial vehicle,caravan or unroadworthy vehicle on the communal section .
Today , after 7 years,the newish neighbour in plot 126 has complained that he has to reverse out and wants us to park one of the cars on the road .
Now it's not tight or difficult to do , he would just rather not reverse out for safety reasons .
Things are still relatively cordial but I am wondering what people's thoughts are.
I think I'm OK legally and I don't want to be falling out ,but I don't see us parking on the road as reasonable when we're blocking nobody's access .

I think so . He has previously had a narrow miss reversing out ( not here ) . Perhaps he needs to reverse in as many have said . The rear vision he has is fantastic ...I have the same system in my car ...you can quite literally see 180°

There are some bushes that can be cut back between his house and the road which might help his confidence too.

A right of way ( for the benefit of the adjoining or neighbouring land intended to be benefited ) at all times and for all reasonable purposes over and along those parts of the common entrances driveways footpaths or accesses shown on the plan forming part of the property and serving the same and any adjoining or neighbouring land subject to the payment of a joint and equal proportion of the cost of maintaining and repairing the same."

It's quite clear. "At all times".
You cannot park there.

On the plus side though there is clarity about the maintenance costs.

Agree with rollercoaster1920 . Your neighbour has put up with your parking on the access way for 2 years , but as you say the neighbours have changed and now it’s too much to be ‘ neighbourly ‘ . He just wants to use his right of way . This scenario isn’t unusual it happens all the time OP.

Great . I hope you're both wrong but I'm beginning to think you might be right.

I think you have done the right thing in talking to the solicitor.

If it turns out you have the right to park then you can be dogmatic about it. If not, you can be more flexible and try leaving more room - hopefully your neighbour will be happy with that and won't pursue the situation further.

I don't think it is helpful to think about the problem in terms of another drivers reversing ability. Car accidents are expensive and it is perfectly reasonable to want to avoid them if possible. Even with cameras, no one here knows how tight/difficult the situation is and where any blind spots may be in the process.

It's good to avoid confrontation if possible, primarily not because you may have to live with crazy neighbours, but because it can be horribly expensive and a huge drain on your life - people often become obsessed with these sorts of issues.

The kind of question "does my parking leave enough room for my neighbour to get access" is often the kind of question lawyers love, because it is to a degree subjective rather than objective. Which means more arguing and therefore more fees. It's a situation to be avoided if at all possible.

As someone else pointed out - at least you may get information on what the maintenance responsibility on the shared area is - although getting the rest of the houses to pay up for their share of the tarmac if they are supposed to may pose a whole new series of issues !

Whatever the outcome, having the information in advance always gives you the best chance of making sure the situation turns out in your favour.

@MalandJo I may be misunderstanding but are one or both of your cars parked on the yellow on the plan in your op?

The driveway in front of your garage is clearly for your sole use and there is no ROW etc. you therefore don’t need to change how you park on this area.

One of the cars is fully on there . The other has been on the 45° angle but now will be right up its behind . Still waiting for the solicitors opinion .

I don't agree that you can't park on the shared area. This is unlikely to be considered to be a substantial impediment. If you built a wall or fence, or put up a gate which blocked access this would be different as it would be a permanent barrier to access.

I'd suggest Garden Law forum @MalandJo but you are already checking with your solicitor.

Yeah , walls ,gates,fences,bins etc are all specifically prohibited . Thanks for the link.

I did move Jo's car up to our garage door this morning which should help anyway .

We shall see ....fingers are firmly crossed.