Shared drive with neighbours - Am I not allowed to block my own half of the drive?

muffingg

We have just bought a semi-detached house and we have a shared drive with our neighbours.
The house boundaries run right through the middle of the shared drive so we both own half of it. Each half of the drive fits 2 cars next to each other. We often have guests over who we always ask to park in front of us on the street (i.e. blocking our cars from going out).
The problem is that our neighbours have a lamppost in front of their drive and if we have a car parked on the street in front of our half of the drive, it makes it difficult for them to get into their drive.  It is still possible for them to enter the drive, but just a bit tight. Therefore, they always make a big fuss of us obstructing their driveway although our guests are parked fully on our side of the boundary line.
They have justified it by saying that since it's a shared drive, the boundaries don't matter for the access to the drive and legally we need to leave the entire entrance free. Is this how it works?
Diagram below not to scale, just to give an idea

allconnected

Where are the dropped kerbs? i.e. what is the actual legal access point from the road to the drives? Because it looks like your visitors are parking on the public highway and partly on the pavement, and not on private property. If so, what is relevant is whether they are parking across the dropped kerb or not.

p00hsticks

I hope that your diagram isn't indicating that your guests are the sort of inconsiderate people who park half on the pavement and force pedestrians with wheelchairs or pushchairs to walk in the road ?

Even if they're not, then I beleive it's an offence to park across a dropped kerb, which presumably you have as access to the driveway.  And I would imagine that the reason for the shared driveway is to allow your neighbours to drive in and out of the house, so another reason not to park in front of the drive.

Surely the solution is for your guests to park in front of the lampost ?

GraceD_17

That's a bit of a tricky one, you could always tell them to contact the local council about the lamppost and see if there is any way they can get it moved? Seems like such a strange idea to put a lamppost in front of someones drive. 

Understandable if not, do you have a google maps street view link where this can be seen to scale? 

It depends on how much of an understanding person you are, if you understand their need to come through where your guests park then perhaps work with them and get guests to park further left (or right if you're basing it on the diagram) or is there a way of guests parking with their car on the drive facing the same way as yours (toward the house) so it's parked straight up leaving more room?

Even more simple, agree with your neighbours that your guests park in front of their lampost? 

AdrianC

Another vote for showing on the diagram where the drop kerbs are.

I can't believe there's a lamp post in the middle of a drop kerb...

ProDave

Why don't your guests park in front of the neighbours house, the bit already blocked by the lamppost?

jimbog

Ask guests to park properly elsewhere

kazwookie

Get the lamppost moved

NameUnavailable

p00hsticks said:

I hope that your diagram isn't indicating that your guests are the sort of inconsiderate people who park half on the pavement and force pedestrians with wheelchairs or pushchairs to walk in the road ?

Even if they're not, then I beleive it's an offence to park across a dropped kerb, which presumably you have as access to the driveway.  And I would imagine that the reason for the shared driveway is to allow your neighbours to drive in and out of the house, so another reason not to park in front of the drive.

Surely the solution is for your guests to park in front of the lampost ?

A couple of comments on this. Some areas require that cars park partially on the pavement, there are markings and signs directing you to do this and we don't know if this is the case here or not.

Also, it isn't illegal to park across a dropped kerb. It's perfectly legal to park across someones drive, if the drive is empty. It is illegal however to block someone else in by doing so. I know that sounds odd but it's the case, although I personally would never do that others have done it to me!

From that diagram it doesn't appear to be a shared driveway, rather a driveway that spans two properties. As said, exactly where the dropped kerb is will be a factor in this but also do you want to pxxx off the new neighbours when it's probably just a case of getting guests to park a little further back, or further up the road?

MoneySeeker1

They haven't "justified" it. They've "explained" it. Very different word.

You both have a Right of Way over each others drives - so I'm sorry but they have a ROW over your drive (as you do over theirs).

No-one is allowed to stop on a ROW except for loading or unloading people or goods. No parking on a ROW.

Not what you want to hear - but it is the case.

Stenwold

If the dropped kerb runs the whole width of the shared drive, then I'm on your neighbours side. Irrespective of the legal aspect of whether you should treat the whole entrance to the drive as shared - the neighbour has no choice but to enter/exit on your side due to the lampost being there. Deliberately blocking that part of the drive seems selfish (even if it is possible to still get through).