Mis-sold house re parking

Tiglet2

Could this be relevant to your query:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5819262/conveyancer-searches-did-my-conveyancer-miss-this&highlight=dropped+kerb

Soot2006

Is the driveway too short for one parking space? I have driveway that I would technically market as "space for two cars" but it does take some strategic parking to actually fit two cars onto it and would probably be a pain on a regular basis. We had dropped curb for a single space, then 5 years later decided to remove 75% of the front garden so now there's more room on the drive. The only reason we removed the garden was actually because the first space was so tiny it would only fit an old Micra but no one ever came onto my property to measure the actual space. The permission for the dropped curb was given, as far as I can tell, either from a desk or perhaps a driveby.

foxy-stoat

You may of mis-bought the house, but you certainly haven't been mis-sold.

dunroving

As one of the contributors to the thread that Tiglet2 linked to, I find myself in a similar situation, except that I did my first viewing during the Beast from the East, when the snow was 12 inches deep so nobody could have noticed anything about kerbs. Regardless, here is my perspective on the relevant personnel involved:

Estate agent - no responsibility to know or notice.

Conveyancer - no responsibility to know or notice, unless the buyer asks them to check.

Buyer - should really have noticed, BUT there are many things about houses that novice buyers do not even think of or notice on a walk-through viewing (especially if, for example, an unscrupulous seller has parked a car just where the dropped kerb would/should be). In the OP's case, I do sympathise, because there were parking spaces and a garage there - but I'd suggest they put it down to a lesson learned, and a mistake they, and their relatives will never likely make again.

Seller - I think he/she is the one most at fault here, if only from an ethical point of view. He/she almost definitely knew there was an issue and decided they were not ethically compelled to give the buyer a heads-up. Yes, I know it's a business transaction, the seller wants to get the best price, etc., but I'd be pretty annoyed at the seller in this case.

EachPenny

mrginge wrote: »

Buy shorter cars

This won't work if the Council require a minimum length of driveway, they are not interested in the car you own, but in the car you or a subsequent resident might own in the future.

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

If you already have a dropped kerb could you use that part of the dropped kerb to drive the first car onto the drive and then put it at an angle so the 2nd car can also drive onto the drive using the dropped kerb also. It's driving over the normal kerb that the Council objects to.

The Council may also object in this situation. One aspect of assessing whether or not to provide a dropped kerb is the safety of pedestrians and other road users. In terms of safety, it is assumed that being able to reverse in or out of the parking space in a single move with the vehicle parked more or less at right-angles to the road is the safest situation. If you deviate very far from this then the application is likely to be rejected on safety grounds. Furthermore, even if you have a dropped kerb, if your use of it (e.g. driving over the adjacent footway to get into one of two spaces) may not meet the approval of the Council and they can still take enforcement action.

Soot2006 wrote: »

....but no one ever came onto my property to measure the actual space. The permission for the dropped curb was given, as far as I can tell, either from a desk or perhaps a driveby.

How do you know this? It is possible that nobody came out to measure up but unless you kept watch on your driveway (CCTV?) you might have missed them? It also isn't always necessary to enter the property to do the measurements.... these days many people use electronic distance measurers, they are especially popular in highway works where the traditional fibre tape poses a safety risk.. So the surveyor could have taken a measurement just by standing on the footway.

EachPenny

eddddy wrote: »

Councils don't typically have the resources to have people walking /driving around speculatively looking for these kind of infringements.

Have you had a row with a neighbour, who might have reported you out of spite? Or have you nearly run somebody over as you crossed the pavement?

A neighbour complaint is possibly the most likely, but Councils do have staff going round looking for this kind of infringement.

It is part of the 'special defence' that Councils can demonstrate that they have a process in place to inspect and maintain highways. This is normally achieved by a periodic inspection with someone walking (or driving) along streets looking for defects. Since the inspectors have to be sent out anyway it makes sense for them to look for other things - like people bumping over kerbs and unlicensed skips. These things have the potential to generate revenue for the Council, which a basic highway inspection doesn't. So the role of the highway inspector is to look not only for defects, but for anything else 'of interest'. Some Councils have gone even further and will use Highway inspectors to report on other things like building works taking place without Planning/BC approval.

Also, some Councils who operate decriminalised parking enforcement include reporting on the lack of dropped kerbs as part of Civil Enforcement Officer's duties. Again, if you have CEO's patrolling looking for parking infringements then it doesn't cost the Council any extra for them to push a few buttons on their handheld computer if they see off-street parking with no dropped kerb. Places where people want to install off-street parking tend to be areas of parking stress, so there is some overlap in locations where 'missing' dropped kerbs will be found and areas that CEO's operate in.

People moan that Councils don't innovate or do joined up thinking.... but it isn't always the case.

david1951

Globesquirrel wrote: »

We have had a letter from the council to say that we are illegally parking our cars on the drive as we are crossing the pavement

What law have they said you are breaking here?

You can park on a pavement (unless local bye-laws prohibit this) so why can't you drive over it to access your land?

Unless the council have suffered a loss (e.g., the pavement can't support the weight of your car) I don't see why this is a problem...

Any ideas anyone?

EachPenny

dunroving wrote: »

....except that I did my first viewing during the Beast from the East, when the snow was 12 inches deep so nobody could have noticed anything about kerbs.

Google Streetview would have been your friend here. In fact I now wouldn't buy a house without making use of all the various online mapping tools, especially those (like streetview) with a timeline function so you can see what changes have been made over the period data is available for.

It is after all one of the data sources Councils would use to work out that one parking space has been unlawfully extended into two, or that the impermeable tarmac drive was only laid a couple of years ago rather than 20 (but recently relaid) as the resident claims.

marliepanda

david1951 wrote: »

What law have they said you are breaking here?

You can park on a pavement (unless local bye-laws prohibit this) so why can't you drive over it to access your land?

Unless the council have suffered a loss (e.g., the pavement can't support the weight of your car) I don't see why this is a problem...

Any ideas anyone?

No. You can only park on the pavement if it is permitted, not where it isn!!!8217;t expressly prohibited.

I agree it is not very often enforced, but that doesn!!!8217;t change it.

It is illegal to drive over the pavement unless to gain lawful access to a property, aka, a dropped kerb area. Highways Act, been in force since 1883!

martindow

david1951 wrote: »

What law have they said you are breaking here?

You can park on a pavement (unless local bye-laws prohibit this) so why can't you drive over it to access your land?

I understood it to be the other way round. You are generally not allowed to park on pavements unless there is a dispensation that allows it in a particular street.