Neighbours affecting the sale of our house

CashSaver_2

We have had a problem with our next door neighbours since they moved in 4 years ago. We live at the head of a quiet cul de sac. The neighbour runs a commercial van delivery business from his home. The van is an extended length Ford Transit van.

He either parks it on the road alongside his house or usually on his driveway, which completely obstructs the view from our living room window. It doesn't fit on his drive and overhangs the pavement.

Despite having friendly conversations initially, he is parking it there deliberately now to cause maximum distress.

We are concerned that with our house on the market, it is putting off prospective buyers.

The local council do not appear to be interested as they tell me that they have no problems with commercial vehicles as long as they are under 7.5 tonnes in weight !!

I do not want to involve the police as I think that I would probably have to declare this during a sale.

However, I have been advised by a friend to look in my Land Registry docs for any restrictive covenants. I have found a paragraph " To maintain any part or parts of the land hereby transferred which lie in front of the building line of the dwelling and/or outside the screen fence erected and not to park thereon any commercial vehicle, caravan, boat or trailer whatsoever."

This is found in a copy of a transfer document between Tarmac Homes and the original vendors in 1984. The boundaries have been changed since this time, so that we are under a different council.

Has anyone had any previous experience of this type of thing. Is it worth consulting a solicitor for further advice. How might this affect any disclosures i need to make on selling the property?

All comments welcome.

PJD

What makes you think it's putting off prospective buyers? If you have viewings during the day (if the EA's have a key & you're not there), then maybe the van won't be there anyway?

The van *may* have *some* bearing on the sale, it's hard for me to say as I haven't seen it, but I would suggest it'll have a minimal effect if any, really.

Neighbour disputes are terrible things, - the pettyist of things can really eat you up & cause you stress. Fine, look into your options in regards to what you legally do about the van, but try not to let the van bother you too much, OR the bloke who drives it! He wants to p*ss you off, so dont give him the satisfaction. When you see him be as nice as pie. His van really isnt worth the rise in BP.

Always remember that any official complaints will have to be declared when you sell. Sure, you could forget to declare it, but if the buyers then contact the council, or whoever, for a simliar reason after you've sold & are informed that you also complained then they can come back & take legal action against you & claim compensation.

Good luck.

jazzyjustlaw

You need to obtain legal advice. I would say though would you like it if someone sold you a property on the same basis I wouldnt although if I was buying a property I would drive past at various times of day to check the area to see what happens. If i saw a van parked outside it would put me off. I think you should do something about it before you sell it but no necessarily declare it as a complaint. As I say your first port of call is to obtain legal advice.

johnbikemad

I would check with your local council to see if he has planning permission to run a business from his home first.If he does not then you could approach peacfully and tell him you know he is running a buiness from a domestic property without planning permission.If he has permission you could ask your council why you havent been notified as it is affecting the enjoyment of you own home and possibly the value, their are loads of ways this could go but i would always try the diplomatic route first and watch those solicitors they will milk you if you involve them:beer:

Mumstheword

Is it leasehold or freehold?

If leasehold, as we all know, some of them can be !!!!!!s and want to slap charges on for all sorts. You have to tell them if the use of the building changes to include commercial use, for example.

Has he extended his drive, eg taken up and flagged part of his garden? As far as I am aware, if you do this to accommodate a commercial vehicle, you need planning permission (although not, if it's just for your car or a wider driveway for convenience)

I would say that this will be affecting the sale of your house. It might not affect the end selling price, but if there are other houses similar on the market, they would have a better chance of selling first.

If I was looking for a move (which I am, always, lol), I drive past houses at all times of the day and night to see what goes on in the area.

kenshaz

johnbikemad wrote:

I would check with your local council to see if he has planning permission to run a business from his home first.If he does not then you could approach peacfully and tell him you know he is running a buiness from a domestic property without planning permission.If he has permission you could ask your council why you havent been notified as it is affecting the enjoyment of you own home and possibly the value, their are loads of ways this could go but i would always try the diplomatic route first and watch those solicitors they will milk you if you involve them:beer:

This is the blokes living,and you advise grass him up to the council,what harm is he doing,except having a large van,what about his civil liberties,and how many people have caravans close to houses,a potential fire risk .

CashSaver_2

kenshaz wrote:

This is the blokes living,and you advise grass him up to the council,what harm is he doing,except having a large van,what about his civil liberties,and how many people have caravans close to houses,a potential fire risk .

I'm not talking about a small white van. This is a large extended transit in a small culd de sac. He had the business before he moved here. It isn't a suitable place to run a business from. We have even tried to help find him a lock up - but he's not interested.

The van is here at all hours of the day. It completely blocks out the view from our living room window. I doubt you'd say the same if you lived here.

PJD

CashSaver wrote:

I'm not talking about a small white van. This is a large extended transit in a small culd de sac. He had the business before he moved here. It isn't a suitable place to run a business from. We have even tried to help find him a lock up - but he's not interested.

The van is here at all hours of the day. It completely blocks out the view from our living room window. I doubt you'd say the same if you lived here.

Plus the fact that he's being deliberately awkward about it after you politely spoke to him. There is absolutely no need or excuse for that. I would do everything within my powers against him.

Just remember you have to declare complaints & disputes (although with careful wording, there are easy ways around this)

dunstonh

This is the blokes living,and you advise grass him up to the council,what harm is he doing,except having a large van,what about his civil liberties,and how many people have caravans close to houses,a potential fire risk .

So what? Houses are for living in, not for making a nuisance towards others. He is blocking the view from the house window for others.

I understand the position you are in. We had a neighbour who parked his extended transit van in his drive and it was an eyesore. We (as in a number of neighbours) asked nicely for him not to but he became stroppy over it and started parking it awkwardly. So we complained (as a group) to the council planning office and they told him he couldn't park it there. In our case, all the houses in our area had a rule in the deeds that no vans, lorries or caravans could be parked on driveways or gardens. We had to show that to the council as they didn't look it up. It was only when we gave them the proof that it was in the deeds that they took it up.

He had to move house because he couldn't get insurance for the van unless it was kept off road overnight. Although its a shame as it didn't have to come to that, it was his own fault as it was in the deeds that you couldn't do it and we wouldn't have gone to the council if he had been amicable.

steve_cov

johnbikemad has given the best tip so far: however, I think that usually it is freeholds which have conditions stipulating that their owners may not run businesses from the premises, rather than it being a planning issue. Your freehold documents will likely have similar clauses so you could check them.

csarge

The clause sometimes relates to business premises, as in people visiting say buying shopping or whatever. If he just uses the house for his own paperwork etc. then he's maybe ok.

I think your land registry burdens are your best bet.

Or alternatively you could ask him to shift it while people are viewing the house. This is sneaky, but he may be happy for you to sell and oblige.
Remember though if a potential buyer asks about how often that van parks there you have to be honest (in Scotland anyway)