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Neighbour operating business from driveway

F37A
Posts: 333 Forumite

Hi
So new neighbour moved in and he has basically done up his drive and created a mini show room for cars. So he has 6 cars parked there and has customers coming at different times of the day. Some of these customers stand on our drive.
Is this legal for them to have a business on the drive? And obviously could be dispute with customers on our drive
So new neighbour moved in and he has basically done up his drive and created a mini show room for cars. So he has 6 cars parked there and has customers coming at different times of the day. Some of these customers stand on our drive.
Is this legal for them to have a business on the drive? And obviously could be dispute with customers on our drive
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Comments
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F37A said:Hi
So new neighbour moved in and he has basically done up his drive and created a mini show room for cars. So he has 6 cars parked there and has customers coming at different times of the day. Some of these customers stand on our drive.
Is this legal for them to have a business on the drive? And obviously could be dispute with customers on our drive
planning office, they'll make that decision for you! 😉
Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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May well be in breach of local planning laws and would invite commercial council tax rates. HMRC might also take an interest if the earnings are not being declared.
Her courage will change the world.
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.2 -
This situation does not bode well for neighbourly relations.
But then he started it.No man is worth crawling on this earth.
So much to read, so little time.2 -
Worth dealing with it now.
We had someone start a car reclaim business even though the deeds said no commercial business.
Once done it was sold as business premises with associated traffic, noise and parking problems.I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!
viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on
The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well
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F37A, how long has your neighb lived there? For how long have they been selling cars from there? Are they a registered business? Do you know how/where he advertises them? Have you seen an advert - does he acknowledge he's a 'trader'?And are any other neighbours affected by this?What to do? Try and get answers to the above, so you can also hopefully tackle it from a legal 'trading' point, as well as a possible breach of his house covenants.The following is based on surfs, so you'd need to carry out your own research to confirm...Oh, do you have LegProt on your house insurance? Cool, call them up for advice and they'll tell you what you need to do. If action is required, they'll hopefully take it on too.This needs sorting quickly, because if he gets away with this for a year without challenge, he may be able to take out an indemnity policy to protect him afterwards, or if he sells. "If you own a property and unknowingly (or otherwise) breach a restrictive covenant then you could be forced to undo any offending work (such as having to pull down an extension), pay a fee (often running into thousands of pounds) or even face legal action. In cases where an owner has breached a covenant for over 12 months without challenge and subsequently decides to sell the property, they should be able to get restrictive covenant insurance to protect what they have done."1st step, download a copy of his deeds from the Land Registry. Turn to "Section C headed 'Charges Register' and see what it says. Restrictive covenants should be listed there"What sort of covenants could help you here? 'Not to cause a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours', probably, and obviously, 'not to use the property for any trade or business'. Possibly others that may restrict the use of the land in front of the property - go through them with a fine-toothed.Based on the info you gather, I suggest you tackle him on as many fronts as you can at the same time, ideally with other neighbours doing the same - use 2'penny's example as a warning - do they want a permanent motor trade business on their doorstep?If he is not registered as a 'trader', then he is breaking the law. Report him to the LA's Tradings Standards - they frown heavily on this - as well as a 'letter before action' concerning his breach of his covenants. Your LP will guide you on all this.Yes, this is horrible, and yes it likely will become messy. But don't lose sight that HE is the 'ole here, HE is the one almost certainly doing wrong, HE has shown consideration towards his neighbs, and - if you don't sort it - it's almost certainly going to be a massive thorn in your side, and permanently affect the quality of your life in what should be a residential road.Matter-of-fact. He's done wrong. "What did you expect?!!"1
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So he has only just started business. Been a couple months.
My concern is that the people may become very intimidating very quickly if dispute occurs.1 -
F37A said:So he has only just started business. Been a couple months.
My concern is that the people may become very intimidating very quickly if dispute occurs.
I think that the simplest approach is to speak to your local councillor about this. The council has a planning enforcement team that can prevent the neighbour from doing this. There's no reason why your name should be brought up.
After a few years, if unchallenged by the planning dept, the existing usage becomes established, and at that point it may become more intensive. You really need to avoid that happening,
No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?2 -
That's a good suggestion and something we will look at. I am actually thinking the business could make the sale of our house less attractive if persists. Imagine if having viewings and got 6-10 people viewing cars on your drive.
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F37A said:So he has only just started business. Been a couple months.
My concern is that the people may become very intimidating very quickly if dispute occurs.That could happen. Or they might just not be that way inclined. I guess, at the very least, they'll be cheesed off, but they are the cause of this and that's their problem.It's either a case of you do something, or you don't.If you choose the former, then do it decisively and with conviction. If you do suspect they will turn aggressive or intimidating, then take mitigating action - have a witness with you should you ever approach them, and/or have you phone set to record before you do.Or, fit CCTV that'll cover an area of your frontage where you would be during any conversation - or them trying anything on on your land.Again - do you have LP on your house insurance? What do they suggest? And are any other neighbours also cheesed off about this?Once/if you decide to act, adopt a mantra; "What did you expect?!" "This is a residential area and the covenants are clear. They are for us all to follow for everyone's benefit, and not for a few to abuse at the expense of the rest."1 -
Jeepers_Creepers said:F37A said:So he has only just started business. Been a couple months.
My concern is that the people may become very intimidating very quickly if dispute occurs.That could happen. Or they might just not be that way inclined. I guess, at the very least, they'll be cheesed off, but they are the cause of this and that's their problem.It's either a case of you do something, or you don't.If you choose the former, then do it decisively and with conviction. If you do suspect they will turn aggressive or intimidating, then take mitigating action - have a witness with you should you ever approach them, and/or have you phone set to record before you do.Or, fit CCTV that'll cover an area of your frontage where you would be during any conversation - or them trying anything on on your land.Again - do you have LP on your house insurance? What do they suggest? And are any other neighbours also cheesed off about this?Once/if you decide to act, adopt a mantra; "What did you expect?!" "This is a residential area and the covenants are clear. They are for us all to follow for everyone's benefit, and not for a few to abuse at the expense of the rest."1
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