Parking, only 1 space?

Section62

greensalad said:

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.

A point which I think everyone would agree with.  If you only have one car and never have friends/family coming over by car then one space is completely Ok.

A problem only exists where you need more than one space for some reason.

The majority of properties within that development have (or have room for) 2/3 spaces. And on-street parking is severely limited.

Hence this property is Ok for someone who is satisfied by only having one space, and if it is priced accordingly, compared to the neighbouring ones.

BarleyGB

Gavin83 said:

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.

The garage isn’t big enough to get a car in, many aren’t these days.  That said, I don’t know anyone that’s ever put their car in their garage ever (including those I know with double garages), not in my current street nor the 45 houses on the street this potential purchase is on.  Is the really a consideration for some, surely th3 garage is mainly used for storage or junk.

Football field isn’t a problem for me personally but I can appreciate it would be a consideration for resale.

Room sizes aren’t to small, I’m happy with them, total space is compatible to most older semis in my view, much larger than newer builds.

Local market is about £350k poor location ex council houses, to £575k for large rear extension / loft extension.

My choice at the end of the day, I’m viewing again tonight.

lookstraightahead

Good luck op - I actually enjoy threads like this as lots of different viewpoints and a lot of helpful research which hopefully gives you some help with your decisions.

MSE have been so helpful to me.

Gavin83

BarleyGB said:

Gavin83 said:

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.

The garage isn’t big enough to get a car in, many aren’t these days.  That said, I don’t know anyone that’s ever put their car in their garage ever (including those I know with double garages), not in my current street nor the 45 houses on the street this potential purchase is on.  Is the really a consideration for some, surely th3 garage is mainly used for storage or junk.

Football field isn’t a problem for me personally but I can appreciate it would be a consideration for resale.

Room sizes aren’t to small, I’m happy with them, total space is compatible to most older semis in my view, much larger than newer builds.

Local market is about £350k poor location ex council houses, to £575k for large rear extension / loft extension.

My choice at the end of the day, I’m viewing again tonight.

Even by garage standards that's small. Most are at least 8ft wide, that's under 6ft. Also I appreciate room sizes are difficult to gauge from photos and you get a much better idea by being stood in it. 

I think the second viewing will help you to make your mind up. Everyone is different and if it's the right house for you then I wish you the best of luck in getting your offer accepted.

[Deleted User]

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[Deleted User]

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Section62

[DELETED USER] said:

There is a solution, but come on, this is the UK. We aren't going to do it. We are terrible at big infrastructure projects, and we hate helping our own.

That's one way of looking at it.

Another is that providing on-street charging isn't as simple as it sounds.

E.g. When councils put in parking restrictions the usual practice (where possible) is to mark long lengths of bays with no intermediate markings to divide the space into individual bays.  The reason for that is the wide variety in vehicle lengths, and if 'standard' bays are provided there will be fewer spaces in total.  The better solution is to let drivers figure it out for themselves and make the best use of the space available in a 'long' bay.

So what do you do when you are providing on-street charging points? Do you make them a standard spacing apart? Even though that might mean the charge points not being in the right place for the vehicles actually parking there? What happens to the extra vehicles that can squeeze in, but don't have a charge point?  Is it better to mark individual bays (as currently done for EV spaces) even though that reduces the number of parking spaces available?  There are a lot of factors that will need figuring out.

Some people are talking about converting street lighting columns into charge points.  Typically they are people who've not noticed that street lights aren't conveniently provided one per car (or pair of cars), and the columns aren't always next to the road.

Mass provision of on-street EV charging will have numerous legal and practical problems to overcome.

[Deleted User]

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ProDave

BarleyGB said:

Thanks for all the replies, lots of good comments for consideration, I really do appreciate all the views, great to understand how others feel.

Overlooked at front, I’m not so concerned about the closeness to the neighbour, the nearest rooms are curtesy glazed bathrooms, yes one bedroom is near but would use blinds/curtains for privacy, two other bedrooms are rear facing to fields / woodland.

The immediate rear is a floodlit private football pitch (to which the house has access), it’s used 2 nights a week (lights must be out by 9pm) and at weekends, I’m not concerned about this personally 

Parking, is the one doubt I have which ultimately I’ll have to decide on but I’m inclined to balance vs the positives below, also that I’m moving from a 2 bed with just one parking space.

- Faces the right direction (west) for sun on the garden all day, garden not to small/to big, nice lawn, not over fussy design

- Not overlooked, football field unlikely to be developed

- 3 good size double bedrooms back one with corner windows perfect for office/sofa bed storage (other back bedroom for guests)

- good size kitchen (dishwasher, modern appliances, room for American style fridge freezer) lovely flow with family room gabled ceiling, ceiling windows

- perfect (lovely) fit and finish, inc all fooring/carpets, wouldn’t need to lift a finger, bathroom and kitchen just my taste, nice fire place.  Good spec, newish double glazed windows and doors

- nice location, quiet safe culdesac, no neighbour issues I’m aware of, know the area

- great entertaining space downstairs

- garage for bikes / storage, 1 parking space (same as current 2 bed)

- access to football field when not in use, glubhouse does the best breakfast in local area (7 days a week), also bar open to public

- know the seller/builder and all renovations great workmanship

- Great views from upstairs beyond football pitch, allotments to woods

- downstairs toilet/utility

- small nature pond (no fish) could develop into nice nature zone

- good internal storage, loft/ladder & electrics installed

Energy performance?  Or does it not bother you having high heating bills and high CO2 emissions?  do you care that at some date in the future someone is going to have to pay to update old houses and that someone might be you, or if you are lucky it might be me (the tax payer)

I am still staggered that energy performance is so way down the buyers list of wants, even now.  Until it is high up their list of wants we have no hope.

Section62

[DELETED USER] said:

As you say, there are too many problems and no will to solve them, so it won't get solved. Houses without off-road parking, or even where the parking is separated from the property so it can't have a charge point installed, will be worth much much less than those that have it.

The point is though that the will to solve them is not necessarily the issue, it is that in solving one problem different problems will be created.

As another example, parking in the street the OP is looking at is currently informal and people are parking 2 wheels on the footway to which a blind eye is being turned by the council.

How could this street get on-street charging points?  Providing the charge points alone could be seen as indirectly sanctioning unlawful parking on the footway, or obstructive parking on the road.  Providing bays would explicitly sanction footway parking, but to the detriment of pedestrians and particularly wheelchair/buggy users. That is a big circle to square.

The one thing we can be sure of, as you allude to, is that people owning properties with adequate off-street parking will not experience the same problems (while at home) and therefore it is reasonable to expect a more obvious price differential between properties depending on the availability of private off-street parking.