Parking on Land I Own

petemoran53

Hello Folks,

Perhaps someone can help - my house is set behind a small crescent of grass, the houses which surround this land (6 of us) all own a portion of the land! There is path which seperates the front of our house (and front garden) and this land which is owned by the council.. On my deeds it shows all of this, however there is a bit of a local misconception that the land itself is council owned (a neighbour had a royal wedding party on it today thinking it was council and council even gave them permission, even though it is on the deeds of our property)!

Right now - my cars i parked next to the road in front of this land, however we have suffered some vandalism to our cars (people smashing our wing mirrors) we are also next to a school so people park in front of our house (as it is a public road so we cannot park)

ANYWAY - what I would like to do is look at parking my car on this land I own and wondering if anyone can advise what to do? I am getting mixed messages on whether I need planning permission (I don't want to totally convert to hard standing, just put some railway sleepers or something similar to park on) I appreciate the council would need to agree to lower the pavement (and charge a high fee for their trouble)
however is there anything else I am missing? Can anyone advice on what steps I should take (I have asked the neighbours who also own park of the land, and they also are keen)!

Any advice warmly welcomed!

phill99

I think you need to find out exactly what you have got. If you actually own a portion of the land that can be clearly designated as yours, this is one thing. It is something completely different if the land in front of the crescent of houses is owned 'jointly and severaly' by all the houses in the crescent. If it is the latter, it means that everyone has a vested interested in the land, but you cannnot identify a particular bit as being yours and another particular bit as being your next door neighbours. If the land is owned jointly and severally, then you don't have the right to designate one part as yours so you can park on it.

You need this confirmed by a solicitor, and not just ne looking at your deeds and making assumptions.

petemoran53

Thanks for the reply,

Maybe I wasn't clear - each house own's a section of the land which is clearly marked on our deeds (there is no collective ownership of all the land). So I wish to park ONLY on the land which is on my deeds!

ormus

then there is nothing to stop you parking there. however if you need to cross council land, ie the pavement, then you need permission.
and most likely a drop kerb.

ic

You probably also need permission from the council to effectively create an entrance to/from the road. On my road lots of neighbours have had permission for driveways turned down because of the lack of sight lines meaning it would be unsafe for them to get in and out of their new drive if they got it. If there's a kerb edge that would need dropping by the council.

phill99

You may also need planning permission, as you are changing the use from amenity land to car parking. Worth checking.

Fred56

If the land is currently 'natural', like grass or some other permeable surface, you will also have to use a permeable surface to comply with the surface water drainage regs. Talk to Building Control at the council. Unlike planners they are usually hepful. Permeable is easy enought, there are lots of systems.