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

SailorSam

My first house was a terrace with yellow lines outside, i parked overnight thinking i'll have left for work before the wardens start but it wasn't true. I had to start parking in the next street but then had my car stolen, so i started house hunting and at the top of the list came a parking place.
I know especially around town centres parking is restricted but i'd never buy there again.

ognum

One of my kids was looking for a house and she works very unsocial hours, start early and gets home late very tired and one of the key things for her was parking, but, she wanted the cafe culture of walking to shops, pubs, restaurants etc.

We waited and ended up buying about 100yards out of her very small buying zone. definitely worth hanging in and waiting!

Mumto3cheekymonkeys

Our old property had no off road parking and we had to pay for permits £90 a year for 2) during the day this was fine but after 5pm we didnt have a hells bells chance of parking and in fact one night we came home from a party and had to park a good 15 minute walk away from our house! When we purchased a new property we found that a driveway was essential!

ste_w

Thanks for your replies. The area is really quiet and the road is never busy day or night (thankfully) so there are always plenty of spaces. There aren't any developments planned in the area so thats good too. The house is for couples or small families (its a 2 bedroom).You're right its a compromise and I wont find a house that ticks all the boxes for my budget on a first home.

turtlemoose

Our situation is slightly different as we're renting not buying, but we have sacrificed off-street parking for a convenient city centre (ish) location.

Ours is a cul-de-sac, but within less than 5 mins walking distance of the city centre, so could potentially be very busy, and we were concerned about not being able to park. HOWEVER we have found that parking is only short during working hours (both work full time so no probs there - we think it's city centre workers parking for free and walking in).

In the evening, or weekend (when we need to park) we haven't actually had any problems. We have actually found that, despite none of us actually talking to each other about it, there is a sort of unspoken agreement among the neighbours about who parks where - we will often come home from work and find the area directly outside our front door available - and you notice the same cars parked in the same place over and over again.

I think it's not as clear cut as a yes or a no - I think you need to go and investigate the road at different times of day, on different days - and see if there are spaces at the times that suit you.

J_i_m

When I look for my place it will have to have at the very least a allocated parking space or ideally a driveway with garage.

This time last year I was living in a flat which has a kind is off road forecourt, each residence had 1 allocated parking space (some of them with a garage).

This is fine if you're a single car residency, but obviously it starts getting tricky when families have multiple cars and suddenly no where to park them. It's also tricky for visitors because of the multiple car families street parking was very much congested and I lost count of the times I'd get back from work at night and find someone in my allocated space and have to find space elsewhere.

Pennywise

It would be a deal breaker for me, whatever the current state of on street parking nearby. Simply because you don't know what's going to happen next. However nice the house, I simply wouldn't buy a house without off street parking. I expect that the price of the house will be lower to allow for this - perhaps that's why you think it's attractively priced.

Your fairly quiet street could soon become a congested nightmare if there was new developments being built nearby, i.e. more housing, or businesses, or a school or hospital, or whatever.

Also, what would happen if parking restrictions were brought in around you, i.e. car park price increases, double yellow lines, etc., not just your immediate road, but the surrounding areas. Others could start parking in your street to avoid restrictions a few streets away, i.e. office workers who could park on your street and walk to work, etc. Car numbers are still increasing, so things will never get better, only worse.

I have a driveway that can park two cars, but other homes nearby have to park on the road, which has limited parking spaces. We also have a primary school nearby and a couple of churches. Despite having a white "H" marking across my drive, people often park blocking it "just for five minutes", whether they are neighbours unloading their shopping, or parents dropping off/picking up their kids, or whatever, and it drives me insane because I'm either blocked in my drive, or worse, end up blocking the road because I can't get into my drive. My neighbours often end up walking a few hundred yards down the road as they couldn't park any nearer. A real problem for those with young children.

My immediate neighbour has been trying to sell their house, but time and time again, it's lack of off street parking that is putting people off. One prospective purchaser actually came to my door and asked whether I'd allow her to use my drive if she bought next door!! So it's a problem for others as well.

Lovelyjoolz

I second what a lot of people have been saying - this would be a deal breaker for me. My last house was in a pretty quiet estate, but no off road parking and it drove me mad. It was OK when we first moved in, but then next door moved her fella in and the couple three doors up bought their eldest son a car for his 18th and then someone halfway down the street rented their house out as a HMO and suddenly, there are another five cars in the street and not enough room to park.

Sometimes it's no big deal, but at others I can't tell you how miserable it is when you come back from a big grocery shop and it's chucking it down with rain, its cold, and it's windy and you're parked two streets away and have to make 2 or 3 trips to unload the car. Or if you come home from work and you're coming down with something, so feel dreadful, and you left your brolly under your desk. Or if you nipped out to get a takeaway and when you get back, your space has been pinched and you've got to park streets away and your pizza box is soaked through by the time you've walked back to the house... get the picture? Horrid.

But it's personal choice at the end of the day. And only you know if it's going to bother you at all.

sirmosh

Just bought a house with a similar situation, didn't think it would be an issue as we always saw spaces available but now we've moved in it's a nightmare, there are about 20 parking spaces to the length of the road for about 40 houses (and many have more than one car). All the surrounding roads are packed and we keep finding there's just no where to put the car.

Luckily we have a pay and display beside us that we can use for free in the evening but it means being up early to move it, and there's usually no space to do that either.

thegirlintheattic

After renting houses with on street parking top of the list for the next rental or *fingers crossed* first house is two off-street parking spaces.

My current house is not too bad as there is just enough space to park everyone's cars as long as no one leaves a huge gap but my car has got damaged by kids playing on the pavement and I'd feel much happier having parking spaces.

It all depends on area and house type.