Private road parking/ tenancy agreements issue

Bella77

Hello,


I am seeking some legal advice regarding a parking matter at my current address.


I rent, and my house is located within a private road. A group of residents formed a management company in 1992, effectively taking ownership of the road and maintenance.


Recently we have been informed not to park in the road, as the residents defined regulations which prohibit cars from being parked on the road. Is this possible? Particularly as I am a resident myself. We are quite happy not to park in the road, as there is a parking area provided.


However, we have been informed by letter that we also cannot park in the designated parking area – as this is solely reserved for visitors. The letter suggests we are in breach of our tenancy agreement if we continue to park our cars in this area. When we leased the property, this parking was introduced as a feature of the property. Our tenancy agreement makes no reference to these regulations, the visitor parking area, or in fact the residents management company.


The letter states that breaking these ‘regulations” is legally enforceable, in addition to a breach of the tenancy agreement.


3(q)Car Parking
(i) To park private vehicle(s) only at the Property in the space, garage or driveway allocated to the
Property, if applicable.
(ii) To keep any garage, driveway, or parking space free of oil and to pay for the removal and
cleaning of any spillage caused by a vehicle of the Tenant, his family, contractors or visitors.
(iii) To remove all vehicles belonging to the Tenant, his family or visitors at the end of the Tenancy.
(iv) Not to park any vehicle at the Property which is not in a road worthy condition fully taxed and
insured.


Are you able to provide me with any information please? Are there any real grounds here?


I simply do not understand how we are suddenly bound by regulations that we are not aware of, do not exist in our tenancy agreement and which were created by a small group of residents in manner which hugely benefits them.


Thank you.

Pixie5740

Is this letter saying that you have breached the terms of the tenancy between you and your landlord? How would the management company know what your tenancy agreement says? Have you contacted your landlord about this?

G_M

1) the tenancy agreement is between you and your landlord. Does it mention parking? What exactly does it say?

2) if the property is leasehold (with your landlord owning the lease) then the reference to 'tenancy agreement' might be a confusing reference to the lease between your landlord (the leaseholder) and his landlord (the freeholder). This seems less likely but is possible. In that case it is for your landlord to discuss with the residents management company.

3) I'm not sure how the management company can/will 'enforce' the regulations. You have no legal relationship with them (though your landlord does), so the only enforcement action I can think of would be

a) a civil action for trespass against you (which I suspect would fail) or
b) an action against your landlord for breach of his lease, or the terms of his property covenants

My advice is

* try to avoid alienating your neighbours by complying if you can

* inform your landlord and see what he says, perhaps over tea and cake next time he does a routine inspection?

mrschaucer

I would suggest it is your landlord's problem, not yours, as long as you are sticking to what's written in your tenancy agreement. If the management company don't like what you are doing then they should take it up with him.

Cakeguts

Bella77 wrote: »

Hello,


I am seeking some legal advice regarding a parking matter at my current address.


I rent, and my house is located within a private road. A group of residents formed a management company in 1992, effectively taking ownership of the road and maintenance.


Recently we have been informed not to park in the road, as the residents defined regulations which prohibit cars from being parked on the road. Is this possible? Particularly as I am a resident myself. We are quite happy not to park in the road, as there is a parking area provided.


However, we have been informed by letter that we also cannot park in the designated parking area – as this is solely reserved for visitors. The letter suggests we are in breach of our tenancy agreement if we continue to park our cars in this area. When we leased the property, this parking was introduced as a feature of the property. Our tenancy agreement makes no reference to these regulations, the visitor parking area, or in fact the residents management company.


The letter states that breaking these ‘regulations” is legally enforceable, in addition to a breach of the tenancy agreement.


3(q)Car Parking
(i) To park private vehicle(s) only at the Property in the space, garage or driveway allocated to the
Property, if applicable.
(ii) To keep any garage, driveway, or parking space free of oil and to pay for the removal and
cleaning of any spillage caused by a vehicle of the Tenant, his family, contractors or visitors.
(iii) To remove all vehicles belonging to the Tenant, his family or visitors at the end of the Tenancy.
(iv) Not to park any vehicle at the Property which is not in a road worthy condition fully taxed and
insured.


Are you able to provide me with any information please? Are there any real grounds here?


I simply do not understand how we are suddenly bound by regulations that we are not aware of, do not exist in our tenancy agreement and which were created by a small group of residents in manner which hugely benefits them.


Thank you.

I read the parking bit of this letter to say that there are designated parking spaces that go with this property. Is that correct? Does the property have a driveway or garage providing parking spaces? If not where are the spaces that go with the property? Ask your landlord.

moneyistooshorttomention

What gives some of the residents the right to dictate what other residents of the road can do?

That is a serious question.

You are a resident - exactly the same as they are. It makes no difference that your home is rented and theirs is owned. You are all residents and on an equal footing with each other.

Wherever these self-appointed people park - then that is where you can park as well. If they park in the road - then you can too. If they park in this other space - then you can too. Your landlord would obviously be able to if they lived in their house themselves - so you are using your landlords right to park wherever-it-is your landlord would have the right to park.

It might be as well to get your landlord to send them a letter pointing out he has the same rights they do and he officially designates you (as tenant of the house he owns) to exercise his parking rights on his behalf.

After that - ignore them.

If they carry on like this after they've had a suitable letter from your landlord stating you are using the rights his house has on his behalf so to say - then start hassling them as to why they don't appear to have told you when management committee meetings are and point out that (as a resident in the road) you have the right to attend these/vote/etc on the same basis they do and they arent allowed to exclude you.

I very much doubt that you are breaking any law and, as a resident of the road, unless parking in both the road and that space are forbidden to ALL residents of the road - then they aren't legally forbidden to you. This sounds like a try-on to me.

NeilCr

Sounds like the letter should have gone to your landlord. Is it actually addressed to you?

As Cakeguts says it also sounds like there are designated parking spaces for each property. Is that so?

IF the management company own the road then it seems to me that they can say who does and doesn't park where. I live on a private estate with a road in and we banned parking on most of the road because of the possible blocking of large vehicles like refuse lorries and, crucially, fire engines. Residents have their own parking spaces and I am afraid anyone with a number of cars may have to find somewhere off the estate because visitor parking is extremely limited too

Enforcement is a separate issue as suggested above - we find notices work pretty well but have, on occasions, considered ticketing

The other thing to me is whether ALL parking on the road is banned. If a few directors can and no-one else is allowed to that's one thing. If it covers all residents (like ours) that is something else

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

just get your friends to come round and park several cars. nuff said.

moneyistooshorttomention

The phrase OP used is that they have "effectively taken ownership of the road". In other words = they don't own it. If they owned it - there would be some legal bit of paper somewhere stating "X road is owned by properties A, B and C" or words to that effect.

They might like to think they own the road - but it doesnt sound as if they do in actual fact.

The Land Registry could soon confirm either that house/houses X own the road or the ownership of the road is not known (which would mean, in effect, that no-one owns the road and that includes these self-appointed people). I don't believe a road can be "adversely possessed" by either one house or a group of houses. Most likely is that no-one is on record as owning the road and that is how the position will stay (ie it doesnt have any known owner/s). Hence these people don't actually have any authority - whatever they claim.

NeilCr

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The phrase OP used is that they have "effectively taken ownership of the road". In other words = they don't own it. If they owned it - there would be some legal bit of paper somewhere stating "X road is owned by properties A, B and C" or words to that effect.

They might like to think they own the road - but it doesnt sound as if they do in actual fact.

The Land Registry could soon confirm either that house/houses X own the road or the ownership of the road is not known.

Which is why I said If. Not sure how the OP knows what really happened in 1992 and, anyway, there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then

To be honest even if they don't own it there may be good reason (like my fire engine example) for the ban. And, if it applies equally, then I'd comply. If, however, a few special residents can still park there then that's different