council footing should pay

drz4000

Hey guys so have been renting this 3 bedroom house for 6 months now when we first rented it come with a drive way and such and was told we was able to keep the car on here and i thought brill , now my fiance is disabled due to a hospital mishap and i am her full time carer but to get access to my house you need to drive across the grass verge onto the drive way, and the old lady has said "i understand you need to get on and off your drive way but its making a mess of the grass" so she reported me and i have had a letter off st helens council saying to put in a planning application to change the grass to hard standing

ive been told by a few people i should not have to pay the £2500 that the council want to change the grass since im only private letting the house, im stuck between a rock and a hard place because i need the drive way to get my fiance t hospital appointments and i can't park the car directly outside the house due to it being on a bend i have attached a picture to show you what i have to drive across but an engineer is ment to be coming out to discuss what costs will be involved, now being a full time carer i save up months at a time to afford anything and im unable to get anything on fiance so you can imagine how difficult it must be.

can't add an image to show as i tried

G_M

Is there a dropped curb at the side of the road? If not, either you or the property owner will need to apply for one.


If the grass verge belongs to the council, you'll need council permission to drive over it and, if necessary, to change it to tarmac or similar.


If you were specifically told by the landlord that the property came with a driveway with access to/from the public highway, you may have a case against the LL for breach of contract. You could sue for damages, but I've no idea how you would asess your financial loss and therefore how much you could claim.


Getting the council to make the required changes will take time even assuming it is possible. Dropped curbs are often refused on corners or bends because of the danger of cars turning onto the highway there.


Your best option are therefore to


* try to negotiate a cheaper rent with the LL to reflect the inconvenience
* negotiate an Early Surrender with the L and find a more suitable property
* pursuade the LL to apply for the required council consents, and pay for them, and wait (2 - 6 moths?) for the changes to be made (assuming they are agreed)

drz4000

it doesen't have a kerb but ive asked the land lords permission as the council have asked for it before anyone work can considered being carried out, but spoke to a women from the council who said it will be possible to change that there won't be a problem and the engineer is coming out to discuss a price to do the work

Dean000000

Sorry if this isn’t how things work, but can you applied for a dedicated disabled bay outside your house? There are loads around me....

Dunno if it’s chargable tho

somethingcorporate

Dean000000 wrote: »

Sorry if this isn’t how things work, but can you applied for a dedicated disabled bay outside your house? There are loads around me....

Dunno if it’s chargable tho

It's good thinking, we have one near our house.



It is usable by anyone with a blue badge though...

EachPenny

drz4000 wrote: »

...i have had a letter off st helens council saying to put in a planning application to change the grass to hard standing

Does it actually say "planning application", or is the letter about making changes to the road/verge (usually called a 'dropped kerb' as G_M says.

drz4000 wrote: »

...i can't park the car directly outside the house due to it being on a bend...

If you cannot park on the road then as G_M says, there is a possibility you wouldn't be allowed a dropped kerb either. Is it an urban street, or are you in a more rural area? (That picture would be useful if you can post one)

drz4000 wrote: »

...an engineer is ment to be coming out to discuss what costs will be involved, now being a full time carer i save up months at a time to afford anything and im unable to get anything on fiance so you can imagine how difficult it must be.

Contact the council and find out if they have a department called 'home adaptations' or something like that. They often do, and the department does things like putting in handrails and ramps. It is possible (but don't get your hopes up too much) that this department (if there is one) might be able to help with the cost, or arrange for the work to be done at a discount. Because you are in a private rental property it might be harder to get help though.

drz4000 wrote: »

...but spoke to a women from the council who said it will be possible to change that there won't be a problem and the engineer is coming out to discuss a price to do the work

I would never believe a council officer saying something like this if they haven't seen the location themselves. Wait for the engineer's visit before getting your hopes up too much.

somethingcorporate wrote: »

It's good thinking, we have one near our house.
It is usable by anyone with a blue badge though...

...and only by people with a blue badge (not clear the OP has one)

The OP also says they can't park on the road due to a bend, which almost certainly rules out having a blue badge bay.

drz4000

hey guys thanks for the replys greatly appreciated, the house is located to far back for a disabled bay we had one at the old house, but this house is in the corner and i would say there is 15 steps across the grass verge to the pavement but it has no drops,

it was a class F that was posted by the Engineer which is a "Application for a footway / Verge Crossing" i tried to upload a pic but it wouldn't allow me

i had a look at the adaptations thing but thats only for in and around the home it wouldn't help with them putting in a hard surface in order to take a car across