SORN Car on my land

sj90

We have recently purchase the freehold on some land where there are flats, garages and a small area of car parking spaces.

The is a car that has been SORN on the land since 2010, the wheels are flat, the bumpers are falling off and there is grass growing inside.

We have spoken to the DVLA and the council who have both agreed the council can remove the car at a cost to us.

We have written to the owner to ask him to move it or we will but he has replied saying that the car isn't dumped and it's legally allowed to be there as he has registered it with the DVLA and our car parking system.

However he does not own the land that the car is parked on, I have tried to find some legislation that I could pass on but all I can find is that SORN cars must be on private land, surely you must own the land though?

Nodding_Donkey

Well he seems to think he has permission to park there, is this the case?

sj90

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Well he seems to think he has permission to park there, is this the case?

No one has given him permission per-say, we have only recently become the owners of the land and have been asked by the other owners to remove the car.

Nodding_Donkey

So there isn't a 'car parking system' (whatever that means)

sj90

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

So there isn't a 'car parking system' (whatever that means)

We have asked for registration details and have had signs put up to prevent non residents parking there. We do not actually have any parking system in force but the residents believe we do as most of them park badly.

He submitted his registration number before we received reports of the car and other land owners wanting the car removed.

Gloomendoom

Couldn't you introduce new "parking system" that requires all parked cars to be taxed and tested? Give residents notice that they have a month or some other reasonable time to comply.

Nodding_Donkey

I'd say it depends what his lease says about parking.

mgdavid

lack of details !
- is the owner a resident on the land you own?
- is there a management company who manages and maintains the building / residents obligations / access / parking etc?
- as Freeholder are you familiar with your rights and obligations or is this a first time for you?
- can you explain how the car owner can 'register with the car parking system' when you say there isn't one? (who is right?)

sj90

mgdavid wrote: »

lack of details !
- is the owner a resident on the land you own?
- is there a management company who manages and maintains the building / residents obligations / access / parking etc?
- as Freeholder are you familiar with your rights and obligations or is this a first time for you?
- can you explain how the car owner can 'register with the car parking system' when you say there isn't one? (who is right?)

• The owner lives in the flats on the land but he is not a member of the freehold and therefore does not own the land it is parked on he only owns his flat and his garage.
• We are the management agents and the freeholders.
• Yes we are familiar with out rights.
• We had lots of issues with bad parking in the area and the directors wanted a system in place with no cost. We have signs up from a parking firm and have explained to the residents that they must registers their cars to insure that they do not get a ticket - however we have not authorised the issuing of tickets so they will never get one but they do not know that.

All I really want to know is can you keep a SORN car on land you do now own? He legally owns a garage he could park it in.

laidbackgjr

If the vehicle is SORN'd it needs to be on private land, but you don't have to be the owner of the land, but you do need the landowners permission.

If you have a parking system in place (or if the previous landowner gave permission which you have inherited) then it's fine for the SORN'd vehicle to be parked there.

As the landowner you need to clarify what parking rights anyone has on your land, and if valid the car stays, if not then you can enforce removal. If the car owner does have a currently valid right to park a SORN'd vehicle there, you can negotiate to remove that right - e.g. change the parking system to be valid only for Tax & Tested vehicles.

Aretnap

sj90 wrote: »

However he does not own the land that the car is parked on, I have tried to find some legislation that I could pass on but all I can find is that SORN cars must be on private land, surely you must own the land though?

Not as far as the SORN regulations go - if he's going to SORN the car the only requirement is that he doesn't keep it on a public road.

SORN is a red herring though. Leaving a car on someone else's land without the landowner's consent or other lawful authority is straightforward trespass - whether or not he car is taxed. The devil is in the detail however when it comes to whether he has lawful authority. For example, if he has a lease which gives him a right to keep a car there, you can't revoke that right just because you think his car looks a bit shabby and/or it isn't taxed. It's a complex question which depends on what rights the various parties have over the use of the land - not on a piece of legislation designed solely to reduce the number of untaxed cars on public roads.