Buying house: Right of way / parking concern

davidmcn · 2 May 2016 at 6:02PM

Chipydip wrote: »

So even though they would be blocking my access by parking on my right of way (surely an offence?!), there really isn't anything that could be done??

People parking their cars in stupid places on private land is not a criminal offence.

AdrianC · 2 May 2016 at 6:03PM

davidmcn wrote: »

People parking their cars in stupid places on private land is not a criminal offence.

More's the pity.

davidmcn · 2 May 2016 at 6:03PM

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

You need your vendor to sort this, if not you're going to end up with disputes on your hands which will need declaring when you come to sell.

The vendor is unlikely to want to start a neighbour dispute for the benefit of someone who might not end up buying their property.

AnnieO1234 · 2 May 2016 at 6:10PM

davidmcn wrote: »

The vendor is unlikely to want to start a neighbour dispute for the benefit of someone who might not end up buying their property.

I'm not suggesting the vendor starts a dispute, merely that they get the facts rather than all the suppositions being made by the OP.

Xxx

moneyistooshorttomention · 2 May 2016 at 6:25PM

- It is illegal to park on a ROW (except for anyone that specifically has it written into their deeds/Title Plan that they own the bit concerned and are allowed to). They can only be used to "pass and repass" and it is not allowed to actually park on them. Having said that - the neighbours to this house are likely to "create" if its pointed out that they are being illegal/antisocial.

- As far as I can gather - it seems to be more likely that the owners of private roads are conspicuous by their absence (ie I have a suspicion they often know they are the owner - but arent owning up to it). I presume that would be because it's the owner of these roads that is the one liable for any accidents caused by the state of the road as far as I can make out. If they don't admit to having that ownership - then they might figure they could get away with not admitting liability.

- You could try checking out Land Registry entries for nearby properties (ie to see if you can figure out who the owner is).

- If you do find the owner - be prepared to find that they could be one of the antisocial "people" that are illicitly parking on the road.

eddddy · 2 May 2016 at 6:30PM

Step one is to push this problem back on the vendor.

Tell the vendor that poor access is a problem, and ask what they will do to resolve it.

Decide your next steps, based on the vendor's response.

Best case... the vendor speaks the landowner, the landowner speaks to the errant parkers, and everything is resolved amicably.

Worst cases... the vendor refuses to do anything, or the landowner refuses to do anything, or the errant parkers get difficult. So then you have to decide next steps (and the next steps might be to walk away).

alchemist.1 · 2 May 2016 at 7:00PM

Sounds like more problems than its worth. If this is issue is important to you then the issue whether they can or not/and or whether it is legal is not the problem but enforcement of it.

You will find there isn't much you can do.

AnotherJoe · 2 May 2016 at 7:02PM

You asked "Before we buy, is there realistically anything that can be done to stop them parking their cars there? " and the answer is "no" when you use the word "realistically".

Having owned a house with parking problems, and this one sounds ten times worse, I'd just walk away (since you probably can't drive

Having a daily aggravation of parking,gettting in and out and needing to ask someone to move when you don't even know what house they live in, would be a nightmare and drive you (no pun intended) to distraction.

You also asked "is this opinion or knowledge" of the posters here. I'd say it's life experience and knowing which battles aren't worth fighting. When you "need" people not to block you, you are starting from the wrong place.

[Deleted User] · 2 May 2016 at 7:09PM

Nothing but grief in the long run, walk away it's not worth the stress and hassle...

Cakeguts · 2 May 2016 at 7:12PM

Are there any houses that have front doors onto the private road that you would have to use to get to the garage? What is on the other side of private road from your potential garage? When were the houses built? If the houses were built before most people had cars then it is unlikely that you have a right of access for a car.