New Parking Enforcement in Estate

SGN01

We live on a private estate of around 200 properties. All residents pay an estate charge to a Management Company who have today sent this letter:

As of 4 December 2018, Excel Parking will be issuing parking fines against any vehicle parked outside a designated space. Therefore any resident/visitor/trades person who is parked on the pavement will receive an automatic fine of £100.00. Excel Parking will patrol on a regular basis and also offer a confidential service for residents to contact them regarding any illegal parking on site.

Please note that the Management Company have absolutely no control over this, so for any queries/concerns you may have please contact Excel Parking directly.

It is your responsibility to inform any visitors, tenants or trades people of the new parking control and signs have now been erected throughout the site to confirm this.

I would love to hear peoples opinions on this and how enforceable / legal this is?

Every property has one designated space (drive or allocated bay) and there are a limited number visitor parking bays. The estate has a lot of families and comprises many 3-4 bedroom houses, so most have more than one car. There are clearly more cars than spaces in the estate, leaving people with no option other than to risk a fine.

Thanks!

Coupon-mad

Do you own your flat?

Did the Managing Agents consult with all leaseholders and get 75% consent?

What does your lease say about parking rights, and any clause allowing the MA to make regulations without consultation?

KeithP

the Management Company have absolutely no control over this

Then ask the Management Company who does have control over this.

Clearly someone has hired/contracted Excel Parking. Who did that?

SGN01

We own our house which is freehold. There are leasehold and let properties (houses and flats) on the estate.

The management company did send a warning letter many months ago. I don't know the level of response they got to that.

We don't have a lease being freehold, but I will check the estate management pack for any such clauses.

SGN01

KeithP wrote: »

Then ask the Management Company who does have control over this.

Clearly someone has hired/contracted Excel Parking. Who did that?

I question that comment too. It is the Management Company themselves who have hired Excel.

Fruitcake

SGN01 wrote: »

I question that comment too. It is the Management Company themselves who have hired Excel.

Then the management company are jointly responsible for the actions of their agents, and can be called as witnesses if any of these PCNs result in a court case.

It us most important that you find out the Ts and Cs with regard to parking, and everyone else on the estate should be doing the same.
The MC cannot just impose a clause into a contract allowing a third party scammer to demand monies with menaces.

Your MP needs to involved in this. Ideally he/she should get complaints from the other 200 households instead of being distracted by some minor Brexit discussion.

SGN01

I have skimmed over my contract documents and can see no reference to parking. The only time parking is mentioned is in a couple of previous letters from the management company threatening to introduce the parking control.

Leasehold properties on the estate however do have this clause:

Not to park nor permit any persons residing with the leaseholder to park any motor or any other vehicle on the paths or to repair such vehicles heron and not to use any parking space otherwise than for the parking of a private motor car or cycle and not to park any commercial vehicle caravan trailer or moveable dwelling of any kind.

I estimate about half the properties on the estate are leasehold.

Fruitcake

So no mention of a parking/parking permit scheme, no mention of having to pay a third party parking scammer, and no mention that a third party scammer can take a resident to court.

This needs to be stamped on, and the MC need to know how deeply they have got themselves in the doo-doo by hiring this company.

Purchase contracts and tenancy agreements have primacy of contract over anything the MC and their capitalist running dogs say.

Coupon-mad

To access your property you have an easement or a right to pass and re-pass, which also includes parking, as discussed here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75104462#Comment_75104462

The same thread gives you this by LOC123, a solicitor poster, about estoppel by acquiescence:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75099265#Comment_75099265

You need to reply and reject their 'kind offer' and tell them they cannot impose this onerous charging regime of penalties without consultation and with over 75% consensus of residents agreeing (under the Landlord & Tenant Act) and that your existing grant to park amounts to an easement or right, and a MA needs to be very careful or they will be sued for damages and loss arising from their contractor's 'private nuisance' and a derogation from grant.

You need to get other residents up in arms about this RIGHT NOW and to fight back & reject the scheme en masse. Refuse to accept the scheme, make it clear you've opted your vehicles out and list them to be placed on a White List, and tell the MA they are NOT to use the VRN data to pass to Excel for any other purpose than white-listing them. That's important, to stop them showing your letter to Excel who will then pick on your cars...

SGN01

Thanks for all your advice, really appreciated and helpful . Will let you know how it goes.

Redx

I am also amazed at their ludicrous and judicious use of the F word in this case


EXCEL cannot legally issue any "fines" so that MA, has made a fundamental error


EXCEL can issue an INVOICE, nothing more


you need to stop using that F word completely and include this as part of their herecy