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

DRP

it entirely depends on the particular location.

we are central bristol, in a decent/'desirable' area where parking is very hard to come by (victorian/pre-war terraces, with no OSP - even the massive houses).

However, our little cul de sac is a hidden gem, whilst the surrounding roads are a nightmare... i had a bit of local knowledge having rented locally for a while, and we have only had trouble parking outside the house about twice in 8 years.

Might help,as others have suggested, to have a drive around the area/street at pertinent times of day/week and check it out

pinkshoes

Personally I would NEVER buy a house without parking.

No matter what spin the "greenies" put on it, cars are here to stay!

I rented a couple of properties with street parking only, and one was OK, where the street wasn't too busy (because many of the other houses had driveways!), and the other was awful, and I used to dread working late and not being able to park when I got home.

Flats with just 1 parking space and very little street parking are even worse, as unless you have no friends, visitors also need somewhere to park!

phoebe1989seb

For me it really would depend on the location and the house itself. When our DS was two we bought a detached Victorian four bed house that had on-street parking. We had lost the house we had fallen in love with to another buyer the day before exchange and bought this one on the rebound We thought it would be ok as there were garages to rent opposite, but despite that we had huge problems dropping off shopping and/or a sleeping toddler......although this was made worse by the fact the house was on double yellows with a bus-stop virtually outsde the door as well as being a few feet from a busy junction with traffic lights - I know, what were we thinking of?........especially as I never really liked the house :eek:

When we sold five years later it was to a retired lady that didn't drive, which was very fortunate I guess!

We later bought another detached Victorian house which had on-street parking but the house was in such a lovely area that we put up with having to drive round the block till a space became available. After a couple of years it became permit parking, which we found to be a huge improvement - DH used to get home at 7ish and there was always a space - it was only when you went out for the evening and returned late that things became more difficult. As we loved the house so much though, we put up with it and I'd move back there tomorrow without a second thought about the parking issues......

Our two most recent house purchases have both been more rural and consequently had off-street parking - our last house had a drive for four cars and our current one has space for about eight plus a large carport......funnily enough though, we always park outside the front of the house (it's a small village with plenty of space for all the residents to park, so we're not depriving anyone of a space, lol!) and we intend to reduce our actual driveway parking to three spaces when we redesign the garden........;)

ed110220

It depends a lot on what is nearby that people may want to park near (eg shops) and the width of the houses the on-street parking is outside.

For example, around here parking is an absolute nightmare outside typical Victorian terraced housing because there is only about one parking place per house as the houses are narrow. On the other hand I have no problems parking outside my house as there are 2-3 places per house as houses are wider, even though there are no on-site garages.

peterpan567

uh, I can't imagine to have a flat without parking space. When doing shopping, when having kids, to carry all inside from who knows where, ohh:/ to rent that kind of flat temporarily, yes. but tuy buy it, no way. And you can get more cars in the future.

Bangton

I don't have off street parking and the only time it's a minor deal is when my neighbours have their family to stay at Christmas and they all bring their cars.
That said, where we live there are no houses directly opposite and the houses that are at the other side of the road further down have drives so parking is on one side only.

I don't think a home without off street parking is necessarily a problem but it entirely depends on how populated the road is I guess. If there are houses crammed in on both sides it could get busy. It's not a complete deal breaker but it would be if there was any shroud of doubt in my mind that I would be able to park nearish to my home.

1886

I rented one street from a town centre for three years, all streets were permitted. The main problems I had were when we`d been food shopping. As I could`nt get near to the house I`d just park outside with the hazards on and unload then park wherever I could. On a saturday afternoon I sometimes had to park a few hundred yards away and move the car in the evening when shoppers had gone.
I bought my first house a year ago and parking was the number one thing the house had to have. I can park two/three cars on my drive and I have a garage. I think parking is really important to alot of ppl. I`ve been in streets before and seen ppl come out of their house once a car pulls away to move their car closer by literally a few feet. It takes over your life in some streets.
I think parking has got to be a huge plus when selling a house

cottonhead

No parkinmg would put me off. Just because there is usually a space doenst mean there always will be. 30 yards is Ok but what about when the neighbours have a party and you have to park 200 yards away and its poruing with rain.
Also carrying the shopping in and if you ever have kids of your own, or to stay, thats a bit of a problem trying to carry them down the street etc. Personally I would find it too annoying.

Helen36

Sorry to be doom and gloom, but I would also reconsider.

We live in a run of houses where there are about 14 spaces between 8 houses in a shared car park.

When we moved in, that was fine. Area was really quiet, no problems. Then a neighbour moved in who has some bizarre fascination with buying c**p cars (about ten so far) and inconsiderately clogging up the entire car park with them. There's nothing we can do, and the practicalities of having to park down the road, out of sight of the house, when you have two very young children (one pre-walking) with bags of shopping are awful.

It's become such a problem that we're preparing to sell, so I would definately think long and hard about it.

Helen

phoebe1989seb

Helen36 wrote: »

Sorry to be doom and gloom, but I would also reconsider.

We live in a run of houses where there are about 14 spaces between 8 houses in a shared car park.

When we moved in, that was fine. Area was really quiet, no problems. Then a neighbour moved in who has some bizarre fascination with buying c**p cars (about ten so far) and inconsiderately clogging up the entire car park with them. There's nothing we can do, and the practicalities of having to park down the road, out of sight of the house, when you have two very young children (one pre-walking) with bags of shopping are awful.

It's become such a problem that we're preparing to sell, so I would definately think long and hard about it.

Helen

Sorry to hear that

Are the parking spaces not allocated ie, 1/2 per flat?

Surely he cannot get away with this? There must be something the other owners/residents/freeholders can do?