Car parking on deeds, but neighbours use it

real1314

or regardless of whether they have a right to park on it, they may have acquired a right of use through the current owners failure to assert their ownership.

I'd get your solicitor to check how long this usage has gone on for and the possible implications for you.

ilovemycats

We had a very similar problem when we bought ours. The car park out the back has spaces which are listed on the plot deeds. The problem is that alot of the properties are rented so just anyone would invite their friends, anyone, and I'd drive 100-miles home to have no where to park.

I painted our house number on the space. And anyone parking there now gets blocked in as I park right behind them. If they're polite I move. If they're rude, they stay there.

Needless to say I've gained a reputation and (touch wood) nobody ever parks in my space. The other outcome is that other neighbours started doing exactly the same, as in painting their numbers down and blocking people in. With the summer coming it'll be student parties all over again and no where to park but we don't care, we're up for sale and hopefully outta here in a few months time.

icklejulez

Id firstly check with your solicitor over the rights the neighbours may have and then ask the vendor to formally instruct the neighbours before you move in your intentions. After all even if you stipulate you want one space free what are the chances they or their guests will follow this and are you relaly going to go round to your neighbours and mention this??? Otherwise Id ask the vendor to get his solicitor to send a letter to the neighbours informing them that although up till now they have used this land the property is up for sale and the land belongs to the house and therefore they would need permission from the new vendor to park there. That way they would need to come to you and you do not upset them.

epoman

real1314 wrote: »

or regardless of whether they have a right to park on it, they may have acquired a right of use through the current owners failure to assert their ownership.

I'd get your solicitor to check how long this usage has gone on for and the possible implications for you.

As above. It will in your interests to assert your rights over the land to ensure the right to park does not become permanent.

Richard_Webster

shell2001 wrote: »

Have to agree with Doozergirl. It is very unusual for a terrace property to be allocated 3 parking spaces (plus the driveway). I would get the solicitor to check the deeds very carefully that these spaces are all allocated to you! Last thing you want to do is move in kicking off about people using your parking and it turns out not to be yours - not the best start to the neighbourhood.

I know all the newbuild properties we have only have 2 allocated parking spaces, never come across any with more. Occasionally the siting of the parking is a bit random too!

I agree with this. Also on modern estates it is very common to allocate visitors' parking spaces. I think in some places the parking standard for a 2 bed property is 1.5 spaces and they deal with this by giving the 2 bed houses 1 space and then scattering some visitors' spaces around. Builder doesn't want to continue to own them so he includes them in the land sold to the person who perhaps will own nearby parking space(s). The difference is that as it is is a visitor's space, if it belongs to you, you can't stop others from using it! So I would check that aspect too!

As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying client

SkintMonkey

We've had the deeds through for the house we are buying and the three car parking spaces are on there...apparantly they were bought by the owner at the time (1970's) for £250 - so they do belong to our new house.

Apparantly the current owners, who have lived there for four years, never mentioned the parking spaces to the neighbours who use them as he wasn't bothered that they were used as there was always at least one free for him to park his work car.

The deeds say that nothing can be built on these spaces and must remain as parking.

Our only concern really now is that we think there may be drainage underneath and are concerned in case we are liable for any problems etc relating to this...

peter999

SkintMonkey wrote: »

The deeds say that nothing can be built on these spaces and must remain as parking.

Our only concern really now is that we think there may be drainage underneath and are concerned in case we are liable for any problems etc relating to this...

Are these "visitor parking spaces" ??

Are there problems with drainage ??

peter999

Moneyfornothing_2

It's your piece of land but don't expect the neighbours to like you for stopping them parking there.

A friend of mine recently purchased a house from an old couple who didn't have a car and they let the neighbours use the drive and garage.
My friend told them that he needs the drive & garage so they can't use it ............. and now they ignore him.

Neighbours. :rolleyes:

Tiger_greeneyes

Moneyfornothing wrote: »

It's your piece of land but don't expect the neighbours to like you for stopping them parking there.

A friend of mine recently purchased a house from an old couple who didn't have a car and they let the neighbours use the drive and garage.
My friend told them that he needs the drive & garage so they can't use it ............. and now they ignore him.

Neighbours. :rolleyes:

Look on the bright side, at least they won't be knocking on your door every five minutes to borrow something

Could you (through your solicitor) request that the neighbours are made aware of completion date and the fact that the parking spaces belong to that house? As the vendor is moving out then maybe they won't mind putting the neighbours in the picture - they may well know the neighbours well enough to get away with it, whereas it may cause friction if you do it.

I'd say they may well know anyway - most people have moved house since your vendor bought the two spaces and it would be shown on the land registry documents when they bought their properties. It probably won't be the shock you think it is!

Melissa177

My mother, when away, let neighbours use her driveway to park in. As the family were away for long periods, this wasn't a problem.

However, upon her return, she noticed that the neighbour's car had badly stained the driveway with an oil leak, which was both unsightly and difficult to clean off. They refused to remove it.

Another thing to think about...