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Can you ticket private land WITHOUT signs?

Hi all,

This post is probably the opposite side to most others here. We live in a communal building (flats) and our allocated parking (private land owned by a housing association) is continuously parked on by people visiting the local pub and shops. They park in our parking bays, block us in/out etc. The housing association has painted double yellow lines and has employed a private ticketing company to ticket those parking without a permit etc.

The problem is some unknown people who want to regularly park here (and are not allowed to) keep removing the parking signs at night, and the housing association say the ticketing company cannot legally ticket without them. Is this true? As someone from the council told me it is a 'legal grey area' when it comes to private land.

We are at our wits end with this, and every time the signs get taken down we have to pay for them. Can anyone shed some light on this, the legal aspects or anything else please?

Thanks :beer:

Comments

  • Sorry to hear your issue, no doubt frustrating. But.... Errr... if your housing association have retained a parking company, shouldn't they be the one meeting your parking related advice needs?

    This thread exists generally because parking companies often fail to understand rights and obligations and issue PCNs left right and centre. It shouldn't be for us to provide free advice to a commercial parking entity - which is de facto, the advice you seek.

    Your housing association could of course use CCTV to pursue individuals for sign theft, but you may feel that it would be expecting too from your housing management too. Oh dear.
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Name Dropper
    With no signage no contract can be formed. Without displaying terms and conditions of parking and any fees involved then how can anybody know they can't park and what the charges are for breach of the rules?

    It's pointless issuing a ticket if no signs are present. You need to take it up with whoever appointed the PPC and see what their contract with the PPC says.
  • Timothea
    Timothea Posts: 177 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Private parking enforcement relies on the common law of contract. This requires an offer and acceptance of that offer by the contracting parties. Signage is the most practical way to make an offer to park on private land.

    On the other hand, lack of adequate signage has not stopped unscrupulous private parking companies from issuing tickets and taking people to court. However, I should point out that it is illegal to obtain registered keeper details without reasonable cause, so I would not recommend this approach.

    Clamping and towing are also illegal, but so is stealing signs. Have you reported these thefts to the police?

    The only other recourse is to make a court claim against abusers for trespass. However, such a claim can only be brought by the landowner or occupier, who can only recover its actual losses in each case, so private parking companies are impotent.

    This leaves two options: erect signage where it cannot easily be removed or put up a physical barrier or gates.
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