Parking, only 1 space?

Section62

BarleyGB said:

Parking situation out the front (Saturday afternoon), note that the close only has houses on one side potentially alleviating demand for off street parking.

Looks like I'll be the only naysayer then.

The street isn't wide enough for parking fully on the carriageway, the parking opportunities there are all involve two wheels on the footway. And by the looks of it that applies to the whole of the similarly developed streets in that 'block'.

Whilst at present very little enforcement is done against footway parking, there is significant momentum to bring the rest of the country (or at least England) into line with the law that applies in London where footway (and verge) parking is unlawful by default and subject to enforcement through council-issued PCNs.

So in my view the limited on-street parking availability here could vanish completely if the law change does go through (and the current government are leaning towards being pro-pedestrians and cyclists - cf the recent changes to the Highway Code 'road user hierarchy')

The last revision of TSRGD also made a change which allows councils (outside London) to ban parking on footways or verges on a street-by-street (or local area) basis.  So even without a national ban on footway parking, the local council could still prohibit it on this network of streets.

That isn't a definitive reason not to buy though, just that if you buy you need to do so on the basis your parking might in future be limited to the garage plus one space on the drive, with no on-street parking whatsoever.


Development - adequate access to allow development of either the sports ground or the allotments beyond could be achieved by widening Gypsy Lane (most of the land required looks to be in public ownership already) and if widening the entrance onto the main road is a problem then an obvious solution would be to link Gypsy Lane to the close (the one you are looking at) where they run parallel and only a couple of metres apart.

I notice that the land surrounding the cricket club is currently (on google maps) under development, as is land near the A46 roundabout. So there is clearly a demand for development land in this location.  It is a nice place to live and the transport links are good, so in my view no open land adjacent to the existing development envelope can be viewed as 'safe' from future development.


Something else I would ask about is the ownership of the strip of land between Gypsy Lane and the close. If you go back to the 2008 streetview images there is what appears to be an extensive infestation of Japanese Knotweed on that land.  It looks like it was being cleared away in Oct 2010. The JK isn't really an issue for the property itself, but does raise the issue of how the JK was allowed to spread so much and who is/was responsible for maintenance of that land. There's a possibility the developer retained ownership of it (not adopted with the road) and if they have ceased trading then a lack of clear ownership/maintenance responsibility could cause other maintenance/ASB issues for residents of the close.


Other than that, it is a really nice house.

lookstraightahead

Section62 said:

BarleyGB said:

Parking situation out the front (Saturday afternoon), note that the close only has houses on one side potentially alleviating demand for off street parking.

Looks like I'll be the only naysayer then.

The street isn't wide enough for parking fully on the carriageway, the parking opportunities there are all involve two wheels on the footway. And by the looks of it that applies to the whole of the similarly developed streets in that 'block'.

Whilst at present very little enforcement is done against footway parking, there is significant momentum to bring the rest of the country (or at least England) into line with the law that applies in London where footway (and verge) parking is unlawful by default and subject to enforcement through council-issued PCNs.

So in my view the limited on-street parking availability here could vanish completely if the law change does go through (and the current government are leaning towards being pro-pedestrians and cyclists - cf the recent changes to the Highway Code 'road user hierarchy')

The last revision of TSRGD also made a change which allows councils (outside London) to ban parking on footways or verges on a street-by-street (or local area) basis.  So even without a national ban on footway parking, the local council could still prohibit it on this network of streets.

That isn't a definitive reason not to buy though, just that if you buy you need to do so on the basis your parking might in future be limited to the garage plus one space on the drive, with no on-street parking whatsoever.


Development - adequate access to allow development of either the sports ground or the allotments beyond could be achieved by widening Gypsy Lane (most of the land required looks to be in public ownership already) and if widening the entrance onto the main road is a problem then an obvious solution would be to link Gypsy Lane to the close (the one you are looking at) where they run parallel and only a couple of metres apart.

I notice that the land surrounding the cricket club is currently (on google maps) under development, as is land near the A46 roundabout. So there is clearly a demand for development land in this location.  It is a nice place to live and the transport links are good, so in my view no open land adjacent to the existing development envelope can be viewed as 'safe' from future development.


Something else I would ask about is the ownership of the strip of land between Gypsy Lane and the close. If you go back to the 2008 streetview images there is what appears to be an extensive infestation of Japanese Knotweed on that land.  It looks like it was being cleared away in Oct 2010. The JK isn't really an issue for the property itself, but does raise the issue of how the JK was allowed to spread so much and who is/was responsible for maintenance of that land. There's a possibility the developer retained ownership of it (not adopted with the road) and if they have ceased trading then a lack of clear ownership/maintenance responsibility could cause other maintenance/ASB issues for residents of the close.


Other than that, it is a really nice house.

You're very thorough (I mean that in a positive way).

however, how do you ever buy a house when every single house has a list of negatives this long?

I have to say I worry about everything and I did so before buying my 200 year house (I'm your ultimate chicken licken).

What's your ideal house then? 

BarleyGB

Section62 said:

BarleyGB said:

Parking situation out the front (Saturday afternoon), note that the close only has houses on one side potentially alleviating demand for off street parking.

Looks like I'll be the only naysayer then.

The street isn't wide enough for parking fully on the carriageway, the parking opportunities there are all involve two wheels on the footway. And by the looks of it that applies to the whole of the similarly developed streets in that 'block'.

Whilst at present very little enforcement is done against footway parking, there is significant momentum to bring the rest of the country (or at least England) into line with the law that applies in London where footway (and verge) parking is unlawful by default and subject to enforcement through council-issued PCNs.

So in my view the limited on-street parking availability here could vanish completely if the law change does go through (and the current government are leaning towards being pro-pedestrians and cyclists - cf the recent changes to the Highway Code 'road user hierarchy')

The last revision of TSRGD also made a change which allows councils (outside London) to ban parking on footways or verges on a street-by-street (or local area) basis.  So even without a national ban on footway parking, the local council could still prohibit it on this network of streets.

That isn't a definitive reason not to buy though, just that if you buy you need to do so on the basis your parking might in future be limited to the garage plus one space on the drive, with no on-street parking whatsoever.


Development - adequate access to allow development of either the sports ground or the allotments beyond could be achieved by widening Gypsy Lane (most of the land required looks to be in public ownership already) and if widening the entrance onto the main road is a problem then an obvious solution would be to link Gypsy Lane to the close (the one you are looking at) where they run parallel and only a couple of metres apart.

I notice that the land surrounding the cricket club is currently (on google maps) under development, as is land near the A46 roundabout. So there is clearly a demand for development land in this location.  It is a nice place to live and the transport links are good, so in my view no open land adjacent to the existing development envelope can be viewed as 'safe' from future development.


Something else I would ask about is the ownership of the strip of land between Gypsy Lane and the close. If you go back to the 2008 streetview images there is what appears to be an extensive infestation of Japanese Knotweed on that land.  It looks like it was being cleared away in Oct 2010. The JK isn't really an issue for the property itself, but does raise the issue of how the JK was allowed to spread so much and who is/was responsible for maintenance of that land. There's a possibility the developer retained ownership of it (not adopted with the road) and if they have ceased trading then a lack of clear ownership/maintenance responsibility could cause other maintenance/ASB issues for residents of the close.


Other than that, it is a really nice house.

  This is very very thorough, thank you.

As you suggest, further development of the football field may happen, but with local knowledge the football field is unlikely, but not impossible, this surely affects any property.  Some established local properties have been compulsory purchased for HS2.

The local secondary, and upper school which is adjacent to Gypsy Lane are very likely to be developed in the next 2-3 years as the schools are being relocated to a greenfield site on the edge of land.

The current pavilions, school and areas currently zoned for housing, light commercial will add approx 1000 houses to the town, there’s also an area south of Coventry (adjacent to HS2 intended for another 1500 or so).

This is of lesser concern, I’m pretty sanguine about it, the last house I offered on backed onto the school field.

mattyprice4004

lookstraightahead said:

Personally private parking is well down my list of needs, but you do need somewhere to park cars generally.

I find houses with lots of cars in the driveways messy 😂.

a garage and space for another car is absolutely plenty.

I do remember a neighbour commenting about my 4 cars (mostly older cars, and I work on them outside regularly) and suggesting I had too many and should sell some! 

The kicker was they rented their property and I actually owned my house, the nerve of some people is amusing bordering on staggering at times. 

lookstraightahead

mattyprice4004 said:

lookstraightahead said:

Personally private parking is well down my list of needs, but you do need somewhere to park cars generally.

I find houses with lots of cars in the driveways messy 😂.

a garage and space for another car is absolutely plenty.

I do remember a neighbour commenting about my 4 cars (mostly older cars, and I work on them outside regularly) and suggesting I had too many and should sell some! 

The kicker was they rented their property and I actually owned my house, the nerve of some people is amusing bordering on staggering at times. 

Did you say this to wind me up 😂. What difference is there between renting and owning in real time? 

Were you running a business from home or was it a hobby? 

You do make a valid point though of the negatives of lots of parking room at the front.

Section62

BarleyGB said:

As you suggest, further development of the football field may happen, but with local knowledge the football field is unlikely, but not impossible, this surely affects any property.  Some established local properties have been compulsory purchased for HS2.

The local secondary, and upper school which is adjacent to Gypsy Lane are very likely to be developed in the next 2-3 years as the schools are being relocated to a greenfield site on the edge of land.

The current pavilions, school and areas currently zoned for housing, light commercial will add approx 1000 houses to the town, there’s also an area south of Coventry (adjacent to HS2 intended for another 1500 or so).

This is of lesser concern, I’m pretty sanguine about it, the last house I offered on backed onto the school field.

This makes sense, and I only raised the issue of development because your list of 'positives' included two points which were entirely dependent on this land not being developed -

• Not overlooked, football field unlikely to be developed
• Great views from upstairs beyond football pitch, allotments to woods

I would view them as 'neutrals', or potentially 'negatives', because the property is currently being sold with that feature (clearly important to yourself and some of the other contributors to the thread) but this is something which could be taken away from you within the period you intend to own the property.  How will the value of the property be affected if the great view(s) are replaced with rows of box houses?  Having the benefit of now seeing the EA pictures, that would concern me more because the rear garden of this property is quite shallow, so any development that did happen would be close to the rear of the house.

I wasn't aware of plans to redevelop the school site* when I posted earlier, but similar development opportunities were what I had in mind when I referred to the land being in 'public ownership', and how either Gypsy Lane or 'your' close could be used to facilitate access.  The existing access arrangements don't limit the development potential of the football field - about the only thing which does would be the new owner's intentions. (*you also need to factor in living next to a building site for the next 'X' years)

The local plan has allocated a lot of land to the east of Kenilworth for development, but that is now up to the 'hard' boundary of the A46. It appears all the available sites within the existing development envelope have now been allocated (mainly to housing) which means when the next Local Plan round happens (if not before) the council is unlikely to have any option but to encroach onto greenbelt land.  IMV, that's going to make the land to the south of the main settlement vulnerable because that area is closest to the A46 (junction) now that everything to the east has been allocated.


TL;DR - Don't buy this property because you like the view and appreciate not being overlooked. This is not guaranteed.

Section62

lookstraightahead said:

You're very thorough (I mean that in a positive way).

however, how do you ever buy a house when every single house has a list of negatives this long?

Because fortunately it wasn't a long list of negatives.  Two and a half I would say. 

I went into some detail on the parking issue so others could see this was an objective assessment of the situation, rather than an expression of personal preference over whether or not I would want more parking.

If having more than one parking space isn't an issue to someone, then this 'negative' isn't an issue. And if that person was me then I'd happily buy the property knowing that I had at least one space which was guaranteed to be mine for the foreseeable future.

I assume though, the fact the OP started a thread with the title this one has, that only having one parking space (excluding the garage) is a matter of concern, and therefore the availability of on-street parking needs to be objectively assessed.

In this case, contrary to some of the comments made, the availability of on-street parking is very poor, and what there is could be vulnerable to a change in footway parking enforcement.  The combination of only one off-street space and limited alternatives is a more serious 'negative' against the property than the original picture suggested.


The comment about the JK issue was just an aside, because I noticed it when looking for how the parking situation has changed over time, and that amount of JK is indicative of land that someone doesn't care about - which wouldn't necessarily be apparent when viewing the property today.  IMV definitely something to look into before committing to the purchase.

Gavin83

lookstraightahead said:

[DELETED USER] said:

I'd steer clear. You may end up needing two spaces if you meet someone, and the garage is probably too small to put an actual car in.

Also consider resale value. Sales of fossil fuel vehicles are due to end in 2030 and everyone will want easy off-road parking so they can charge at home for a fraction of what it costs to use public chargers. Even today I would not buy a house with inadequate parking as I only drive electrics.

I think about a third of U.K. homes have no off street parking - off street parking takes up a lot of space/brickwork from an environmental perspective, so I'm sure there will be a solution for charging electric cars (I think there's already research being done on it). 

I read about something the other day where it'll be possible to charge while on the go. Wireless charging will be built into the road and will charge your car as you drive along it, similar to how wireless phone charging works. Potentially once that matures cars wont require charging at all anymore. Only issue with this is how companies make money out of it but I'm sure they'll work something out.

Slithery said:

[DELETED USER] said:

Sales of fossil fuel vehicles are due to end in 2030

No, sales of new fossil fuel vehicles are set to end. The second hand market will carry on for decades and the vast majority of people never own a new car during their driving life.

I expect petrol cars will still be fairly commonplace on our streets by 2045 and that's assuming the 2030 date doesn't get pushed back for some reason. You'll need to look into the 2050's before petrol cars will start to become a rare sight.

lookstraightahead said:

Drawingaline said:

Having lived in a house for 11yrs with only on street parking, when we were looking for a new house parking was absolutely top of my list. With our old house there were neighbouring houses with four or five cars all fighting over the limited on street parking. It had reached ridiculous levels by the time we moved. We are a one car family, but I wouldn't have looked at a house without room for two cars, for visitors, or for my teens if they get cars in the future.

However this was my priority. Yours may be very different. 

I agree it's experience of things isn't it.

I've lived on a main road and I could never do so again, my parents would never buy an old house as they grew up in one, and I couldn't live in a new build.

We struggle with parking but even if we have to park a little down the road we are in the middle of the countryside and it's blissfully quiet. Just not hearing traffic is enough for me.

Doesn't this suggest that most houses are crap in some way and people just dismiss what they've had before? I do agree with you though. I've also lived on a main road, never again. I've lived in a new build, never again. I've lived with no off street parking, never again. I'm sure the next house I live in will throw up something else I'll never want to experience again.

Gavin83

BarleyGB said:

Not sure if I’m allowed to post links (if not I’ll take it down)

Here’s the whole property:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112466051#/media?channel=RES_BUY&id=media20&ref=photoCollage

I think there's some major issues with this house.

Firstly the garage is no where near wide enough to fit a car in. To give you an idea a Ford Fiesta (which is a small car) is wider than that garage and that's without even taking into account opening the doors. It would be suitable for a bike and storage but certainly not a car. That means you truly do only have one parking space.

Given the photos I think street parking might be problematic for the reasons others have given.

I personally wouldn't want to back onto a football field. The noise can be significant and there's always the risk of getting your windows broken by stray balls. The garden isn't long enough to counteract these issues. There is also the risk of redevelopment as already stated.

It's well decorated but the rooms look quite small from the pictures. I think it would feel cramped. I don't know much about prices in that area but it feels a lot of money for what you're getting, is this the going rate?

It is of course your choice, you're the one who'll live there but I wouldn't buy it.

greensalad

As a counter point to people who are saying they would run a mile... it wouldn't bother me. My partner and I share a car, one spot would be perfectly fine and I wouldn't really even consider it an issue.