Need off-road parking.....£1000??!!??

ednotdave

Not exactly "in my home" - but just outside! I would like to be able to park my car in front of my house as the road is quite narrow, but apparently the work of dropping the kerb, etc must be done by a council approved contractor at a cost of around £1000. Most of my neighbours already have off-road parking, so there should be no issues with planning permission - so why on earth should it cost so much? Any thoughts/opinions/ideas would be appreciated...Thanks

mrs_baggins

I used to work in the council dept that did this. it was years ago and cant remember now but I am sure it wasnt that much. I thought it was somehow calculated by either the square footage of the drive or the width but i just cant remember sorry. will see if i can find out if you want as i still may know somwone but if you ask for a breakdown from your council they may be able to tell you how they came to this amount. when i used to do it there wer set amounts to be charged.

rygon

yeh tell me about it. I had a quote for £900+VAT + £150 council fees, by a council approved company. My auntie had hers done by someone in the trade (but not council approved) and cost her £300, and they did an excellent job. Its just a money making exercise really

Snaggles

I've just paid £300 too, £1000 is extortionate! Are you not allowed to have the work done yourself and then get the council to come out and check it? This is what we have done, with no problems at all.

BobProperty

this was covered and argued over in detail a few months back, I suspect on the House Selling Renting etc. section. Councils require planning permission for this and can charge what they want or direct you to their approved contractor. It can be expensive for what appears to be laying a few paving slabs and edging but if you find the other thread you will also see that the contractor has to have serious sized insurance cover to go digging on public highways.
Edited to add that £1000 is at the top end from what I remember, but it varies from area to area.

Addiscomber

This may not be practical now that there is more traffic about. During the 1970s my parents wanted to park their mini sideways in the small front garden. Because of the angle involved they had to drive across the pavement outside the next door house so having the pavement dropped wasn't really suitable. My Dad made a wooden ramp which we kept under the front room window and just put out when required.

Eagle_1

We had our kerb lowered a few years back. To be honest I cant remember the price but the council didnt have to do the work. As long as they have plans of what you are doing you should be able to get a private contractor in. What the council do is tell you they will maintain it till whenever blah blah but in reality once the kerb is lowered you should have no probs anyhow.

You will probs be quoted £1000 cos you know what the council are like, they will send 4 men round, they will take 2 days to do the job so you are paying the wages for 4 men when in effect the job will take a day with max of two men

misgrace

I had mine done a couple of years ago and cost approx £500, but if some of your neighbours were having it done at the same time, they told me I would get a discount, but none of the others were wanting it done.
By law in certain boroughs you cannot get a private contractor to do it, you must go through the council.

Legalised extorsion comes to mind.

Bad-Boy-Button

A 'friend' of mine new one of the council workers whose job was to lower the kerb, He paid him a small amount to come round in the council van and do the work. No neighbours complained as they thought it was the council who carried out the work. Not that I condone such a thing even if it does save you £500+

emilyt

Where i live we haven't got a pavement on our side of the road so when we wanted to have a driveway it wasn't a problem. On the other side where there is a pavement a few people paid to have the kirb lowered. The rest of them just drive up onto the pavement and park their cars there.. I am not in agreement with people parking on the pavements because this forces the pedestrians to walk on the road. I do know it was ok to have the kirb lowered yourself and have the council check it. Maybe worth aking about. Think they just want to make extra money.

Hizz

Yes, it is very expensive. The materials - drop kerbs, concrete and small amount of tarmac (if required) are relatively cheap.

Given that it's in the public highway, contractors often have to have the approriate permit to work and take insurance and responsibility against each case of work as they are legally responsible for this for 3 years (from memory) until it is taken on by the council.

Two options, first you could catch the utility service guys that do work on the roads - gas, water, electric, drains etc. see if they'll do a cheaper weekend job for you or personally, I'd park a van at either side of where you want the work doing and get some builders/groundworkers to do it on a weekend. Plead ignorant if there's any come back. Tell them that a relative arranged it for you.