To buy or not to buy - parking

Catgirl86

Hi all,
I know it's always the way that there has to be a compromise and there is a catch with every house, so just wondering peoples thought on a house with no parking on the deeds but where the owner has created parking.
We have found a Victorian house, most houses on the street are Victorian terraces with no off street parking. There are a few semi-detached ones though where there is walkway/side entrance to the back garden gate down the side, and then the house next to it also has the same alleyway but on the mirroring side of the house, so the two walkways are side by side. With this house, the neighbour and the owner have had the kerb dropped and have combined the pathways to make a driveway for each house to park one car- one in front of the other. The other houses in the street with this setup have also done the same. Obviously this involves communication as to who needs to use their car and when, but it seems to work well for them. The couple next door rarely use their car and have lived there for 30 years so far- I am aware this could change.

The house is on a square, so only residents are driving around it. There is on-street parking with no permits and its in a village in Hertfordshire near to Watford, its not extremely busy and we have been at several different times of the weekend/week and it seems we would be able to get a space either in front of or at least directly across the road from the house as there is a fence opposite the house which is the side of someones back garden.

We don't have children yet and commute on the train into London, only driving our car at weekends occasionally, so it wouldn't bother us personally, but we will most likely want to sell in 4-5 years so do need to consider resale. In fact this is just as important to us, we have had problems selling our flat so the thought of being 'trapped' again is not good.

I know a lot of people say no parking would be a deal breaker for them, but as this does have a bit more than zero parking; one through a mutually beneficial arrangement with the neighbour and one by potentially converting the small front garden area, as well as it being on a 'square', do you think these 'unique' circumstances make it more saleable than a house with no parking or would the fact there is no actual allocated parking space with the house still be just as off putting?

It coming to the point where the buyer of our flat wont wait any longer so we do need to move ahead either with this purchase, or with renting (I really didn't want to rent again).
One of the biggest issues with our flat was lack of parking (although that is because ours is the only flat without a space and there is a car park out the back of the building so it is confusing for buyers) so I am wary of making the same mistake again, but not sure if this is a different scenario. The same house with a drive would doesnt exist on the market at the moment and would be say £40,000 more.

Thanks for your advice!!

davidmcn

The tandem driveway shared with next door sounds a weird setup, and I presume doesn't correspond with whatever the title deeds say? Which in itself may be problematic if you're relying on being able to "trespass" on the neighbour's path to park your car. I certainly wouldn't pay for something which might cease as soon as the neighbours decide they no longer want to follow the arrangement.

But leaving that aside, if it's easy to park on the road then I wouldn't view it as being an issue - it is after all pretty commonplace for houses not to have off-street parking, so if you're not bothered it's really not a reason to discount the property. Just as long as you're not paying an "off-street parking" premium.

hazyjo

Did they get council permission for that dropped kerb? Councils charge for the pleasure, plus provide a list of authorised contractors to do the work. If the owners have just done this themselves and the council are unaware and find out, expect problems.

If authorised etc, what's the problem? I'd not buy or recommend something with a shared drive, but people still buy them so go with what you want...

Weathergirl_76

Personally, if there is on street parking and you wouldn’t have a problem finding a space, as a prospective buyer, it would worry me less, than dealing with shared access/driveway etc. 

If there is on street parking, in a reasonably wide road, where there are spaces day and night and weekends, and there is on street parking where if you arrive home after 6pm, you have to walk to the next street to park, or, where cars are so tightly parked, find damage the next day. I know what I would prefer as a buyer. 

I went to see a couple of properties for sale a few months back, we couldn’t even find a space to go for the viewing for one of them, ended up parking miles away and even before we walked through the door, the parking had pretty much put me off. 

NameUnavailable

As mentioned above there could be legal issues with use of the parking space - have the details been changed at the Land Registry to show the shared use for example? If it's informal then the arrangement may work well enough with reasonable people but what's to stop a new neighbour putting up a wall between the pathways, or just refusing to co-operate?

OTOH most Victorian properties don't have parking space because the horseless carriage/motor car was just about becoming a thing and then just for the most wealthy people, more as a novelty than regular transport.

If the house has on street parking available then I don't think the lack of off road parking would matter to most people (otherwise they wouldn't be looking at a Victorian property of that type) so the potential off street parking is a bit of a bonus.

Fiesto88

Nobody else can really answer this one for you because it depends entirely on how much you value having parking and how prepared you are to tolerate a shared arrangement. Or, risk a shared arrangement. I had a shared driveway - that like yours wasn’t on the deeds - at a previous house and it never brought me an ounce of trouble. But I was always aware that I was one change of neighbour and a bit of bad luck away from it becoming a nightmare. I’d knew I’d never make it a problem, but you can never guarantee how neighbours will behave. 

Drawingaline

We moved to a house which only had on street parking. When we moved in there was loads of room and no issues. Go forward 11yrs and it had turned into a complete nightmare. Houses with four cars per household, people who were just absolutely unable to park, people deciding to put cars on ramps to do work and then leaving them for six months. I used to regularly check ones that hadn't moved for a while for tax and insurance.

When we were viewing parking was non negotiable (and we only have one car) and after seeing all the various issues my in-laws had with a shared driveway that was another thing I wouldn't compromise on. 

So it depends on how strongly you feel about it, but neighbours move, and kids grow up and learn to drive. 

Since moving I like being able to go out in the car whenever I wish to without the worry that I will be able to find parking when I return. Also being able to unload the car at my front door is so much better than lugging stuff as far as 400m.

Cakeguts

What would you do if the house next door is sold to a family who have two cars and children who each have their own cars?  This is not unusual where I live, but a house with that parking that you are looking at this set up could cause a nightmare.

Drawingaline

Cakeguts said:

What would you do if the house next door is sold to a family who have two cars and children who each have their own cars?  This is not unusual where I live, but a house with that parking that you are looking at this set up could cause a nightmare.

This. But times it by 10. And then you face the kind of issue that causes stress, constantly watching the parking, being twitchy incase someone who is awful at parking damages your car (I was less bothered by this as my car is old and already dented.) Always dreading that turn into the road you live incase you have to drive back out and scour neighbouring streets for that elusive space.

Honestly it can be so more stressful than people realise.

princeofpounds

Cakeguts said:

What would you do if the house next door is sold to a family who have two cars and children who each have their own cars?  This is not unusual where I live, but a house with that parking that you are looking at this set up could cause a nightmare.

This times a hundred. This kind of shared driveway set-up is pretty insane, if I am interpreting your description properly.

If the kerb is dropped then it is probably legally ok to cross the pavement with a vehicle- it is meant to require permission from the council. Obviously you would do your due diligence into that.

Otherwise, parking as such doesn't need to be on the title deeds. 

However, rights and obligations regarding shared driveways most certainly do. Given that each car is, presumably, parking half on one side and half on the other. 

What happens if someone parks a caravan on your drive? If someone decides to do some mechanical work on a car on your drive? Or takes both spaces up?

It's got neighbour dispute written all over it, and you will have trouble selling it. Maybe not to everyone, but just look at the reactions on this thread.

Obviously I'm not inside your head, but it seems to me that you are trying to convince yourself of this one despite knowing there are potential problems, largely because of the pressure you're feeling because of your sale.

Rent for a bit. It may be a bit of a drag but I am sure you will find a better house than this one, and that will be worth it.

Nikkilou86

It might not be a problem now but family’s grow up and change. When my mum and dad bought their first house they had 1 car, by the time we moved we had 2 cars, a van and a motorbike. They now have 1 car and 1 van.

My first flat had no parking but being in Central London it didn’t matter. Our first house had parking but it was a block of garages to one side of the street with a space in front. I lost count of the number of times our garage neighbours kids whacked our car.  When we moved to our current house one thing we wouldn’t compromise on was our own private parking - we now have space for 3 cars although we only have one car but due to restrictions in the road it’s handy for visitors and as the littles grow up and have cars of their own. 

We didn’t even view houses that had no parking or a shared drive including a near identical house in the next street.