Neighbour using my parking space

victoria83_2

I live in a block of apartments and each one of us has our own private parking space, plus 2 permits. The spaces are not numbered but we were informed when we moved in which space belonged to us, and it is also displayed in our lease. The apartments were bought through a housing association on shared ownership.

We have lived here 2 years but for the past month since the last remaining flat was bought, the new neighbour has been in our space. We don't own a car but this space should be free for our guests to use. Also, my friend works nearby and I have always let her use our permit to park here during the week instead of paying for the public car park. She is now unable to because of these people.

I have left a number of polite notes in their letterbox asking them to move out of our space, but they have been ignored. In fact in a whole month the car hasn't moved once to my knowledge, and I haven't even seen who lives there (they are definitely home though as I can hear them when I walk past).

Does anybody know what my rights are here? I know some of you will suggest knocking on their door and sorting it out in person, but I am anxious about doing this due to the fact they are already ignoring my notes. I’m not the most confrontational person either, and get nervous in those types of situations. My partner is good at talking to people but he refuses to speak to them, as whilst we don’t have a car of our own, he “doesn’t care”.

jamespir

if you dont have a car stop complaining :mad: i dont complain cause the buses uses the bus stop outside my house reason i dont own a bus

victoria83_2

But it is MY property. If you had a house with a driveway, but didn't have a car (yet). Would you be ok with strangers opening your gates and parking there? It's basically the same thing.

You don't own the bus stop outside your house, a bus stop is not a parking space, and I doubt there has been a bus parked there for a month without moving - what a silly argument.

jamespir

victoria83 wrote: »

But it is MY property. If you had a house with a driveway, but didn't have a car (yet). Would you be ok with strangers opening your gates and parking there? It's basically the same thing.

sorry didnt meant to rattle you i meant that in a jokey way why dont you contact whoever provides the parking space

hewhoisnotintheknow

go speak to them nicely, if they ignore buy a wheel clamp or get a friend with a 4x4 to pull them out, or report it to the police as abandoned

McKneff

There is only one way to do anything and you know you will have to speak to them. Why would it have to be confrontational. Just calmy ask if they would please move their vehicle as visitors to your home are having to find and pay for alternative parking. If they become confrontational, just walk away and then come back to us.
Simples.

Mrs_Boo_Boo

I know it may be hard but could you try to speak face to face because they may have evidence to support their claim. There may have been a mistake on the lease. I know when we bought our new house our boundaries (left only) were marked which were our responsibility but our neighbour had differing information on her plan (right only) which left a joint boundary without any responsibility. Perhaps your partner could come with you as support. Try to come across as friendly and enquiring and matter of fact.
Hope it goes well.
I agree if it is your space it's your space regardless if you don't have a car. That's what a legal document is there for.

Inactive

Contact the Housing Association if they still have a financial interest in your property.

DrScotsman

jamespir: It is her who owns the parking space, so surely she "provides" it. So contacting herself wouldn't really help much :rolleyes:

victoria83: I completely sympathise with you not wanting to knock on the door and ask, I would have the same amount of trouble. However it might be the best thing to do before starting any law related action, although here's my alternative:

I'm not an expert, so please take my advise with a pinch of salt and wait for someone else to come and critique it.

1. Send a recorded letter to them, telling them that you want them to stop using the space, and if they do not reply within 14 days you will report it to the police. Go on Royal Mail's website to check the signature when it arrives, make sure it is who you think it is. Keep a copy of the letter. This is basically your alternative to face to face contact for whatever you do.
2. Now I think at this point it would be a criminal offence, so get the police involved.
3. If the police say it's not a police matter (which I think it will be), then I'm not sure what you should do. However if at any point you actually get a car, or if you have guests coming over on a very regular basis, then you can take them to small claims court for loss of use of your space. How long a walk is it from your space to the nearest public road likely to have a space? After a few weeks or months that'll add up to a big waste of your time, which you can claim back for. This would scare them into not using it.

hewhoisnotintheknow

i actually had the same problem with my first flat, I had two spaces but only used one, and someone else always parked in both of them, luckily i could usually get in one of the two spaces.

I didnt really mind someone parking in 1 of them but when it was both it was annoying. I spoke to the management agency and they painted numbers

toadyfrog

I would speak to them, they may have read the lease wrong and just think that one is theirs.