Worth the risk?

dantheram1985

What are peoples thoughts on shared drives? Well in this case a private drive but accessed via a shared piece of tarmac -

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-78858977.html

bouicca21

Deal breaker for me. Some 40 years ago my mother told me never to touch a house with a shared drive. There have been plenty of threads on here that tend to suggest she was right.

hazyjo

Search the forum for 'shared drives' and 'shared driveways' etc. Comes up a lot, and the majority wouldn't touch them (me included). Been a few stories lately that may put you off.

ReadingTim

I think you should use the search function, read the comments on the numerous occasions the same question has been asked before, and draw your own conclusions.

Not many people have positive things to say about them, but hey, it's your money....

hazyjo

PS even in that streetview shot, you can see someone has parked alongside that house on the shared 'area'. I doubt there's something to say that particular bit belongs to that house. How would you feel if the house at the back had 5 cars (as my sis does with 5 adults in the house), or maybe a campervan, work van, or truck and parked it down the side next to 'your' house?


As your title suggests, it's just too risky. You never know who's going to live there in the future, even if the current neighbours are fine with one car between them!

JGB1955

Our last house had one - as do hundreds of thousands of 1930's semis. Ours gave access to a garage but modern cars don't fit in 1930's garages so, although my mini DID fit, the option for my husband was to park on the road. It was never a problem.

hazyjo

JGB1955 wrote: »

Our last house had one - as do hundreds of thousands of 1930's semis. Ours gave access to a garage but modern cars don't fit in 1930's garages so, although my mini DID fit, the option for my husband was to park on the road. It was never a problem.

And if you had just one large car and your neighbour had a small one that fitted and they kept parking there, saying you didn't need it so they'd use it as their driveway instead, would you not have minded?

If you could both have fitted cars down there and they kept saying 'we're just parking on the access bit so just come and knock every time you want to get your car out and we'll move it...' - would that have wound you up? If they'd said neither of you had cars that fitted so they were going to stick a fence down the middle - would that bother you?

What I'm saying is, some will get along fine and dandy. But one day, you might find yourself next to one of these.

I have parking for two cars outside my house. My next door neighbour's dad thinks it's fine to park in front of my drive when he can't get a space. I feel like I've got a bloody shared drive. We have had to tell him no as he was taking the pee - but he has still done it once or twice since. It is VERY hard not to fall out with people, especially when you like them. My OH has been for drinks with the bloke (and his son who owns next door).

You also have to be very careful about declaring neighbour disputes when you sell. I'd not buy a house that had an ongoing one.

Mutton_Geoff

I'd never have a shared drive. My first and only house with one, my new neighbour came out to ask me to move the removals van off it whilst I was unloading. Had to park across the road and carry furniture over a road.


He soon moved out but was replaced by a really awkward neighbour. Used to come and complain if I got the shared drive wet washing my car on it (before reversing the car back into my tiny garage).


Never again.

babyblade41

As soon as I see shared drive that's me offski, did it once many moons again and unless the human in its primitive form has changed then I still wouldn't contemplate it

zagubov

Our first house had one. However we thought we would be starting with a flat or a terraced house. This was a semi and one of the very few in our conveniently located street that had a drive or off-road parking at all, we were pleasantly bemused by it.

We never used it, ever. There was enough parking outside that it didn't matter.

There was conflict: our neighbour sublet to students who parked in the drive. And when we had kids, the many relatives that popped in to support us in childcare would park in the drive despite our protestations.

I realised later we should have made a bit more use of it. Having said that when we put our house on the market with a decent markup it sold instantly and helped us buy a bigger terraced house with off-street parking near a good school, so it was worth it.

Waterlily24

A deal breaker for us too. Our first house had a shared driveway. Our neighbour left his car there for a long time while he was away - it caused us loads of problems with deliveries etc - we were renovating the house at the time. The wife didn't have the keys!