Buying a house with no off street parking. A big issue?

ste_w

Hey

I'm a ftb and in the process of buying a house. I've had an offer accepted. Me and my girlfriend love the house.

The only issue I can find with it is no off street parking. This would mean parking our car approx 30 yards away from the house. Also we wouldn't be able to see the car from the house. There is no way I can convert the front garden into a driveway as the house faces onto a public footpath and green.

There are garages to rent nearby (approx 100 yards from the house) which we intend to rent (£35 per month).

For those of you who have had a similar problem can you let me know how big an issue this is?

I know people have different preferences when buying a house (so I may have answered this question already) but if I decide to sell/rent in a few years will it put off alot of people?

Its in a desirable quiet area and properties that have sold for a similar price in the area don't have a garage/drive way so park on the road too

Thanks
Ste

go_cat

Have you been to look at the street at varying times of the day / week - does it get tight for parking spaces? Is it near a school and parents use it?

it would be a nightmare if on a weekend if you went out and you couldn't park your car when you came back

ognum

Many properties do not have on site parking. the fact that you can rent a garage is good because you will then always have somewhere to park if you can't park close to your home.

Location is the key to house buying for me and after that there are sometimes (often) compromises when house buying.

The next buyer will be the same as you, having to make compromises. If this house in this location had an on site garage or parking the possibility is that it would not be in your price bracket!

Consider what is important to you!

Alexei

I think it depends entirely on the area the house is in.

Where I live (close to the town centre), most of the streets have 1920s terraced housing with no off-street parking; parking on-street is a nightmare. I spent a good bit extra to get off-street parking because it was worth it to not have to spend 10 minutes every evening searching for a parking space and walking back to the house.

If the on-street parking isn't too congested, and there's little risk of it getting worse (e.g. any new housing developments on the horizon?) then it's probably not such a problem, especally with the option of renting a garage. As go cat said, make sure that you check the situation in evenings and weekends so there are no nasty surprises!

For the right house in the right area it's probably a sensible compromise to make.

babymoo

It would be a deal breaker for me and DP. Car insurance would go up for a start having to park it on the road, then there is the problem of never being able to find a parking space and if you do it being god only knows how far from the house.

My mum's house has a driveway but it is only big enough for one car and I have to park on the road and our road gets so snarled up with everyone else parking on the road that sometimes I have to park on the next street. I absolutely hate it.

pmlindyloo

Personally this would be a huge problem for me.

If you can get a garage that is fine but what about visitors?

Also, you need to think a bit into the future. Babies? Shopping and a baby? Walking back from the garage with shopping and a baby or baby and a toddler............................!!!!!!!!!!!! In the rain?

How big is the house? Is if it suitable for couple plus one/two children then resale might be difficult. If you think it is just a couple house then it may be doable.

Not trying to put you off completely! Just things you may not have considered.

mildred1978

babymoo wrote: »

It would be a deal breaker for me and DP. Car insurance would go up for a start having to park it on the road, .

Not always true. Street parking can be the cheaper option with insurance on the grounds that thieves tend to try to steal the keys as well as the car and won't know which car belongs to which house if there is no drive. Garage parking can be more expensive because lots of people damage their own cars getting in and our of a garage.

princeofpounds

Anyone who has lived in a fairly busy town will know that on-street parking is pretty normal. As long as the parking is not so congensted that it's a nightmare to find a space then it's generally ok.

If people are used to the luxury of off-street parking, or have an special car, maybe they won't like it.

hazyjo

My last house only had on-street parking. Sometimes there'd be tonnes of space but if you drove home in the evening, there was nothing. I'd drive round four or five streets streets over and over and end up parking somewhere completely inconvenient ages away from the house. Really not so good if it means you have to go move it early the next morning, or if it's peeing down and you only took the car to avoid getting wet/walking in heels lol!

Agree with others, check it out at varying times of the day and night.

And just to say there's parking now, don't presume it'll stay like that. Kids grow up, want cars, couples end up with one each... times have changed over the years. Hardly ever used to be cars out on the kerb/street in my parents' road (they all have large driveways and double garages) but there are cars everywhere now.

Jx

LisaW123

It would be a problem for a lot of people. Walking 30 yards with packages and shopping might not seem a problem at first but you may see it differently after a few years. Only you can decide if the property is worth the inconvenience of not having parking close by. I wouldn't buy a property without parking.

mildred1978

hazyjo wrote: »

And just to say there's parking now, don't presume it'll stay like that. Kids grow up, want cars, couples end up with one each... times have changed over the years. Hardly ever used to be cars out on the kerb/street in my parents' road (they all have large driveways and double garages) but there are cars everywhere now.

Jx

That's exactly what's happened in my street.

My previous house was a city centre terrace with no on street parking and I never had an issue (not many people had cars). I rarely bothered to lock mine and it never came to any harm, lol.