Parking issues

sezmarelda

Hi there,

Me and my boyfriend have recently moved into a house which we are renting. The house has a carport and one allocated parking space. As the allocated space has no marking on it to say that it is ours, we keep finding that one of the neighbours is nearly always parked there. We then have to park one of our cars is a nearby parking space, and I'm worried that by doing that we might be taking someone elses space.

The problem is, I'm not sure whose car it is that keeps parking in our space. Is there a (free) way to use their number plate to find out which house the vehicle belongs to?

Also, as a tenant rather than the owner of the house, what are our rights with regard to asking the person not to park in our space? We can't show them any deeds as obviously we dont have the deeds to the house, so it would be difficult to prove that the space is ours.

Thanks,

Sarah

BornAtTheRightTime

You could try popping a note on their windscreen explaining that you understand the space to be yours according to your tenancy agreement and would like a quick chat to clear up any misunderstanding.

BitterAndTwisted

Is there anything in your tenancy agreement which mentions your allocated parking-space? I'd be tempted to leave a polite note on the car windscreen asking the owner to contact you about it but if there's an alternative space for you to use and it isn't causing anyone else a problem perhaps it would be better to leave things as they are for the time being.

kalaika

Are you sure that the exact space in question is yours? Could it be that you have the right to *a* space which may or may not necessarily be *this* exact space? You may need to confirm with your landlord which it is.

Mum_of_3_3

I live in a flat and on our deeds is a parking plan, however no one takes any notice of this and parks wherever they want as long as they don't take up more than their number of allocated spots. We do this because it's easier, but we have had to tell renters not to park more than the number of cars they are allocated in order that no one loses out on a parking spot. I always make sure that I tell the renters to park anywhere, as the landlord hasn't a clue about the parking arrangements here and I don't want them feeling the same way as you.

Could it be that your place is the same? Is it a free-for-all where people park in whichever space is free? Also, if your flat was empty for a while, maybe someone is still using your space out of habit to park their second/third car not knowing the place is now rented out.

Why don't you have a word with a neighbour and see what they say. If you are all allocated a space and everyone has to park in their allocated spaces then I would just leave a note on the car saying that it's your space. If you get no joy complain to your landlord.

M_o_3

tyllwyd

I'd start by having a friendly chat with your nearest neighbour, and see what they say about how the parking is organised. They might well know who the various cars belong to. A few times I've had notes put on my windscreen and to be honest I've always found it quite upsetting - I'd make sure you understand the situation before you do that rather than risk getting it wrong.

mrcol1000

You can apply to DVLA in writing. There is a fee and you have to explain why you want the infomation. You should check out their website. IF you had the money you could ask a solicitor to do that and then write them a letter.
A relative I visit regularly lives in flats where there is allocated parking and bays are marked with flat numbers. They do not drive and the parking space next to them the car in it regularly parks in the middle of both spaces. We leave notes on the car and through their front door but it still happens. As the other side of the space is a wall it makes it impossible to use their space so we just park in the disabled space outside the front door.

mrcol1000

Further to post above you could try something I did at my mums. She lives in flats and a private car park is at the rear with spaces marked and a "visitor" space. She lives next door to a church and every Thursday night they do bingo and a visitor to the church parks in her space as the church does not have a car park and the public car park is pay and display. Depsite notes on the windscreen this carried on. So one night we visited her and the car was parked there. So we parked behind it blocking it in but allowing access to the rest of the car park. After Bingo finished an elderly gentleman knocked on the door and said he was blocked in. We lied and said that the driver of the car was my brother who had gone out for the night with the car keys in his pocket and wouldn't be back till the next morning and we would get him to move the car then and he really shouldn't park there as it left us no option but to block him in. To be fair we did call him a taxi so he could get home but he never parked there again. Something to bear in mind even if its just to get the phantom parker to reveal themselves.

ovy_2

We have allocated parking spaces with our number on the spot.

Sometimes I've come home and someone's been in my spot, sometimes to load things out of their car, as my spot is near the main entrance, I park in the visitors spot, and they realise, and move their car.
Another time, someone was cleaning their car in my spot, I just parked near it, and he moved his car quickly, but i just told him to carry on, he then moved it after.
Another time, I don't know who's car it was but they parked there, probably visiting someone else, so i just parked directly behind it, not long after I got a buzz and he was apologetic, but i was having my tea, so he had no choice to wait for 5-10mins, but he didn't park there again.

Why don't you find out if it's actually your spot, if it is, ask your landlord if you can put a sign up, or paint your house number/name on the spot.

pararct

Alternatively you could sell one of your cars?

You haven't mentioned the age of your and surrounding properties but in essence most houses were only ever built with one car in mind, of course we have Victorian places which were built with none, these places have street parking but on average one house = the length of one car. In London a lot of these have had the front garden surfaced to solve the problem but again of course this cuts down street parking where access on and off is needed.

Of course today we can have 2,3 or even 4 car households and there is simply not the space in the street to get them all parked which is why in some places you will see a habit of cars parking on pavements or on common grassed over areas.

The issue will not be correcting itself any-time soon either as generally most builders are only building average houses with 1 parking space or garage. Of course local conditions may be that it allows 1 car in the garage and one on the drive. Most modern estates are not laid out for street parking and provide a few additional spaces for visitors only. The same is true of public buildings, the current planning regime means car parking is not a priority and often they will deliberately plan to provide less than what is needed promoting the use of public transport.

Not an easy issue to solve and you could risk a neighbour dispute by trying to. In my last house ( a small estate of 6 houses) we all had a garage and a nominated parking space, none of us stuck to the parking space and used each others, sometime due to visitors we had to double park but as we all did it it never became a problem.

LilacPixie

pararct wrote: »

Alternatively you could sell one of your cars?

The way I read the OP post was they had both a car port and an allocated space. Presumably when looking for a new place to live they took the fact they had two cars to park into account and selected a property that could accomodate that aspect of their life/lifestyle. I know the ability to park 2 cars is non negotiable in my home hunting. I do not see why the OP or her partner should have to sell one of their cars because they cannot use the parking they are effectively paying for.

OP i would 2nd the suggestion to speak to a neighbour about the parking situation just say you know you have a parking spot the agent said it was X but its always full but Y space is empty so you have been using that and no one has complained so would they happen to know the exact car parking arrangments because you don't want to be 'stealing' someones spot.