Do dropped kerbs increase house price?

Alan2020

In real terms about £5K to £40K depending on how difficult to park.  I paid £3K to increase parking from 1 car to 3 cars in London, was it worth it, every single penny and more.  House has far more value now that I added 32amp electric chargers, and with ULEZ people will fight for such properties.  Its all good with people talking about the beautiful gardens but if you don't have a driveway, how will you charge your electric car, and if you don't you will pay £20 a day in penalties or more in cities that will soon ban normal cars.

thegentleway

Thank you everyone, sounds like it's well worth it

Nikkilou86

Having lived in a house with a parking space I’m front of the garage across the street I wouldn’t even view a house that didn’t have a proper driveway now. 

General_Grant

My house and all others in the close were built with integral garages.  Some have converted the garages to other rooms and simply park on the forecourt.  Some houses have dropped kerbs and others do not.

I have to drive over the kerb (not dropped but not particularly high) in order to access my garage.  I shall cough up for a dropped kerb if the LA give me notice to pay them for the privilege but until then I do not believe my little car is causing damage.  It seems to be that given the houses all had garages originally the developer should have dealt with the dropped kerb requirement.

GaleSF63

I'd have thought that even if it made no difference to house value it's worth £2000 to yourself for the convenience and peace of mind of having your own legal parking spaces, and knowing no-one else will be in them and no-one blocking your front. 

TBagpuss

GaleSF63 said:

I'd have thought that even if it made no difference to house value it's worth £2000 to yourself for the convenience and peace of mind of having your own legal parking spaces, and knowing no-one else will be in them and no-one blocking your front. 

Not to mention the peace of mind of knowing that the council isn't going to start enforcing the rules!

I's also get it sorted now rather than waiting, as the council's rules about whether they will grant permission may change.

When I was last house hunting, I viewed one property which didn't have a dropped kerb or off-road parking. Nearly all of the other houses in the street did (pretty much all of them had cars parked on the front, about half had dropped kerbs) 

I made some enquiries and found that the council was unlikely to grant permission for a dropped kerb where there wasn't one already.
I didn't by the house. 

About 6 months later the council started enforcing the rules and about a year after that they added double yellow lines along one side of the road, so the people who'd decided not to bother with a proper dropped kerb ended up not being able to park on their front gardens and with virtually no on-street parking. 

My current home is the first time I have had off-street parking and one of the things I specifically checked was that there was a dropped kerb and that it was all official - the road is pretty quiet and 99.9% of the time it would be possible for me to park on the street if I wanted to, but that may not always be true.  *In fairness, I could mostly park outside my house in my last two properties, which were both terraces with on-street parking only, but it was getting harder and harder, as there was really only enough space for one car per house on the street, and although they were only tiny 2 bed terraces, more and more  residents had more than one car, or were bad at parking!

SaintJudy

Also don't forget that the cost of your car insurance will usually go down if you park on your own drive rather than the public road 

AnotherJoe

SpiderLegs said:

Oh man I would really love to get a job as council’s enforcement officer for these morons.

Just imagine the joy of seeing those bollards being cemented into place and the look of desperate anguish on the homeowner as they spend hours trying to manoeuvre their Qashqai through a gap that whichever way they go, is just too small to fit through.

Wasnt' there one where they put the bollards there whilst teh car was parked  and effectively blocked the car in?

AnotherJoe

General_Grant said:

My house and all others in the close were built with integral garages.  Some have converted the garages to other rooms and simply park on the forecourt.  Some houses have dropped kerbs and others do not.

I have to drive over the kerb (not dropped but not particularly high) in order to access my garage.  I shall cough up for a dropped kerb if the LA give me notice to pay them for the privilege but until then I do not believe my little car is causing damage.  It seems to be that given the houses all had garages originally the developer should have dealt with the dropped kerb requirement.

have you ever had someone block you in or is that not likely where you are?

powerful_Rogue

AnotherJoe said:

SpiderLegs said:

Oh man I would really love to get a job as council’s enforcement officer for these morons.

Just imagine the joy of seeing those bollards being cemented into place and the look of desperate anguish on the homeowner as they spend hours trying to manoeuvre their Qashqai through a gap that whichever way they go, is just too small to fit through.

Wasnt' there one where they put the bollards there whilst teh car was parked  and effectively blocked the car in?

Yup, this one.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315980/Council-workers-block-family-s-driveway-BOLLARDS-cars-parked-it.html