New Build neighbour driveway close to door

hammy1988

Hi all.

I've been to see my prospective New build that we are buying and have noticed that the neighbours driveway of two spaces is very very close to my front door in that I'm thinking if they were to accelerate by accident, I'd be a goner at my front door! There is literally half a meter from my front door to their drive where their car is going to be parked. I know this can be a problem with New Builds e.g small spaces but I am very wary at the safety of this particular issue. The plans I viewed did not show it being so close to our house.

I'm visiting the property tommorow for a walkthrough to check and discuss any issues and of course I will bring this up...just wanted some thoughts from yourselves on whether it could be considered a safety issue or not? Could I request fencing or a border? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

stator

If it's an issue for you then ask for one or two bollards to be installed. They're the only thing that would stop a car. Fencing wouldn't be much good.
It's unlikely most people would care though, so they might want you to pay extra

marliepanda

If someone accelerated by accident and you were on the pavement you'd die.

You could accelerate into someone's front room in many street houses.

New builds are squashed to maximise gain. Not to avoid nonsensical 'what if' scenarios.

ThePants999

Of all the things to worry about...! ��

hammy1988

Well I can afford to be picky with the amount I'm paying for it..

Cash-Cows

hammy1988 wrote: »

The plans I viewed did not show it being so close to our house.

Did you view the planning permission plans approved by the Council? If you didn't then, I suggest you do and check them carefully against the as built.

lush_walrus

I think your worry should be more that bad parking will mean you will be squeezing past their car to your door. It sounds like a dreadful design and something that could create future issues. Is there a clear delineation between the two? If it literally is 500mm it's too narrow to erect a fence on your side of the access. Is it too late to reconsider this property?

Norman_Castle

As above, I'd be concerned about selfish parking or oversized cars overhanging your access.

marliepanda

hammy1988 wrote: »

Well I can afford to be picky with the amount I'm paying for it..

If you're buying a new build so squashed you're worried about crashing into your house, buy a different property with a proper drive and a gap between the houses of more than an inch, if you 'can afford to be picky'

dlmcr

New builds are generally designed to maximise profit for the developer rather than being practical or easy to use for the occupier so I would say they are not really value for money. Saying that, if you are spending presumably large 6 figure sums I think you have the right to question whether things like this are being done properly and whether the arrangement would work for you. I think some of the other answers on this thread like "it's a ridiculous hypothetical question" are a bit flippant, this is supposed to be a money saving expert forum so I would have thought that not wasting money on a house that is impractical or badly designed would fall into that category. With mental house prices in many parts of the country it is easy to just be pressured into buying something, anything, without really questioning whether or how well that works. As a general comment Moneysavingexpert is supposed to be about questioning and challenging whether you are getting value but funnily enough on the topic of what is most peoples biggest and most important purchase, and whether that is value for money we suddenly get very quiet!

parking_question_chap

Would love to see the developers face when you mention this one.