Parking dilemma advice please

Bluebell82

Hi,

I purchased a house in 2016, which was sold with a gate that has access to the rear courtyard of the property and an additional communal paved area that was available for parking at least 2 more additional cars.

The survey did not pick this up as an issue. The previous owners have been using all parking for 12 years with no issue.

Recently we received a letter from the council saying we can't park on the communal paved area anymore as it's council land (which is fair enough) but there still seems to be issue parking on our courtyard, as we have to cross over the paved council area to park on it. The house was sold with enough room for 3 cars, and now we it looks like we can't even park one. I'm unsure of who to contact to raise this issue, would it be the estate agent or the solicitor we used?

We have contacted the council regarding the issue for the short term. It has only become an issue because a new neighbour isn't happy with us parking there.

Thanks in advance.

davidmcn

What do your title deeds give you the right to do?

Doozergirl

Crossing council land is different to parking on it.

A survey would not pick this up, it should be in your deeds. Any allocated parking would be marked on the title plan and any necessary right of way to access it would also be marked.

The title plan will have been given to you.

Cakeguts

This is not something that would be picked up by a survey. It will be in the title deeds to your property and it will be explained about what you are allowed to do or not do on the council's land. There may be a right of access across it or there may not be only you will know.

ProDave

Speak to your solicitor. He should have checked access rights, and highlighted if you did not have a legal right of access to get a car onto your own land to park there.

Does the council land say "no parking" or "tenants only" or anything similar?

G_M

The Title deeds, the associated Title Plan, and any associated conveyances & related legal documents will specify

* what you own
* what rights of access you have
* what rights you have to use others' property (eg council land for parking)

What the previous owners did/did not do does not alter this.

A survey looks at the construction of the property whic is not relevant.

At the time of purchase you and your conveyancer (did you use one?) should have discussed the matter.

Your conveyancer, looking at the various documents, would not have known you wished to use, or cross, the land adjacent to your property (ie the council land) unless you told him. Did you? Remember, he did not visit the property so could not see where the current owners were parking or where you might wish to park, nor did he know how many cars, if any, you have.

Unless, again, you told him all this and asked him to check the documents on this specific point.

Presumably you knew, from looking at the Plans of what you were buying, that the land outside the courtyard was not included in the purchase. So if you planned to park there you should have checked the restrictions, just as if you were buying on a main road you'd check if parking on the road was controlled.

I suspect you will need to talk to the council Highways Dept and request a 'dropped curb' in order to cross the paved area. Their Legal Dept may also need to be involved. Both will cost.

EachPenny

Doozergirl wrote: »

Crossing council land is different to parking on it.

G_M wrote: »

I suspect you will need to talk to the council Highways Dept and request a 'dropped curb' in order to cross the paved area. Their Legal Dept may also need to be involved. Both will cost.

It also depends what type or types of council land it is.

The three most likely are highway, housing and recreation, but it is possible the land involved is any combination or all of these. It is only likely to be housing land if the houses in the area were constructed by the council or a public body which subsequently transferred the land to the council.

People's rights to pass over and/or stop on council land vary according to the type of land it is, which also affects the legal situation and the council's ability to do anything. Use of highways land is controlled by the Highways Acts and various 'Traffic' Acts. These are relatively rigid - if an adjoining landowner wants to access their land from the highway there are only certain things the council can do to stop them.

If the land isn't highway then it is more like publicly owned 'private' land. If the council wants to reasonably stop you crossing their land - for example for safety reasons - then they can. They can also charge you for allowing you the right to cross the land.

So if no agreement is in place already then the first step is probably to contact the council's legal department to establish what kind of land it is you need to cross to get to your parking area. As you've already had a letter from the council this might give you a clue (either the department who sent it, or the job title of the letter writer).