Parking ticket in my own rented parking bay

vladlondon

Hi,

I'm renting a flat with a parking bay that is property of the same landlord. The parking pay is located in a secure underground car park underneath the same building.

I recently received a parking ticket for being parked in my parking bay without displaying a parking permit.

Apart from the usual grounds to appeal the ticket, such as an inconspicuous sign mentioning parking regulations (which is the case), I'm sure there should be other, pretty strong grounds to defend myself - after all, I'm parking on a rented land.

I will be grateful for any ideas on how to put my case forward.

bod1467

What do the terms of your lease/rental say? Do they mention anything to do with parking? (If permits are not mentioned at all then the PPC is actually trespassing on "your" land to affix the ticket).

Coupon-mad

vladlondon wrote: »

Hi,

I'm renting a flat with a parking bay that is property of the same landlord. The parking pay is located in a secure underground car park underneath the same building.

I recently received a parking ticket for being parked in my parking bay without displaying a parking permit.

Apart from the usual grounds to appeal the ticket, such as an inconspicuous sign mentioning parking regulations (which is the case), I'm sure there should be other, pretty strong grounds to defend myself - after all, I'm parking on a rented land.

I will be grateful for any ideas on how to put my case forward.

Same old advice, the answer was here all the time:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5051412

You appear to have missed the top sticky thread. It's not about what happened!

The_Deep

Have you contacted your landlord? Your AST will almost always grant you "quiet enjoyment" of your property, and it is up to your landlord to ensure that that right is not breached.

Being harassed by a PPC may well breach the Landlord and Tenant Act, a criminal offence, and your landlord should take robust action against the Management Company to ensure that this does not happen.

You can totally ignore the PPC if you wish, this may well bring begging letters and threats, but it is most unlikely that a PPC would chance its arm against a landlord or tenant with statutory rights; or you can swat it away with a Popla win. However that may not stop them trying the scam again.

Finally there is the nuclear option

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?377246-UKPC-liable-for-trespass-**SUCCESS**

if your landlord is up for it.

vladlondon

I thought I should post an update of what happened next.

I appealed to the parking operator - no success, as expected; I then appealed to POPLA, mentioning all possible grounds for appeal.

The most promising ground was that there was only one sign with the parking conditions on the garage gate, and drivers were only seeing it when driving through the open gate - so it was almost invisible to the driver.

Anyway, the parking operator didn't even respond to my POPLA appeal, so it was successful.

bazster

What PPC? Have you written to them (and to the management company that undoubtedly engaged them) pointing out that you are the lawful occupier of your parking space and requiring them to cease and desist trespassing on your property?

neil.net

Hi

I have a similar situation at present (have a look at my threads), the main difference being I am the leaseholder which means I have the actual lease "deed" to the property.

Leases usually distinguish between the apartment and communal areas (which includes spaces in the car park, access ways, paths etc.), and so there can be very different clauses for each. In terms of the rights and obligations of resident and management company, these are usually more specific for the apartment itself and more general for the communal areas. There may be clauses in the contract that allow the management company to amend or add to regulations, but that doesn't mean that they can be arbitrary in what they impose/change.

Whether the issue relates to parking or use of the bins stores, you'll need to check the lease to see what the management company are permitted to do in terms of regulating the use of general areas, including establishing parking control and appointing a PPC. It could well be that ownership relates to owning the lease to the apartment only and grants only a certain amount of access but not intrinsic rights to other areas. It also quite clear from my lease that the rights I hold to the parking space are not as comprehensive or as broad as the rights I hold to the apartment, however, my lease does contain a very specific clause that I believe prevents the implementation of parking control. Even if they could implement some form of control/warden/monitoring, imposing something that could result in residents paying extra for their parking when they already pay management fees is not cricket!

In short, it might not be clear cut! Whether it's clear cut or not, the PPC will need proper authority to carry out their function and permission from the management company may not be sufficient on it's own as the management company can only act within the terms of the lease. The PPC will need to evidence their authority but you also need to be sure of your rights.