Allocated parking space- five tickets issued to resident

amvo33

This is the advice I received from the Lease Advisory Service and I found it really useful as it explains things clearly and provides examples of case law.  After I read this, it made me realise how these companies just try it on and there's no way it would ever get to court or ruled in their favour.  Obviously it is based on the wording in my lease but I think it very much applies to your situation.  The section is bold is useful for responding to your landlord / property mgt company in the first instance.

The response from PCM to your property manager is shocking and I still can't believe that property mgt companies are not representing their residents / leaseholders more professionally.

If your lease does not state that each leaseholder is required to obtain a parking permit, then you will not need to obtain one. As you have advised that the lease does not specify that you are to have a parking permit, then your landlord cannot require that you have a parking permit.

Further, as you have advised that the lease does not mention parking permits, if your lease provides you with an unfettered right to park, then this cannot be altered later, for instance by requiring a permit to park.

In the case of Pace v Mr N [2016] C6GF14F0 [2016] it was held that the parking company could not override the tenant’s right to park by requiring a permit to park.
 
In Link Parking v Ms P C7GF50J7 [2016] it was held that the parking company could not override the tenant’s right to park by requiring a permit to park. If Link or CPML (the management company) want to have any right to manage the parking on the Landowner's property, the deeds would have to be altered to state this for the whole site.
 
I would advise asking your landlord to provide the clause in your lease which states that you are required to have a parking permit. I would also advise that you tell your landlord that that your lease has primacy over any parking management contracts.
 
· Derogation from grant
Your landlord has a duty not to derogate from grant. Bowen LJ stated in Birmingham, Dudley & District Banking Co v Ross that ‘A grantor having given a thing with one hand,’ as, ‘is not to take away the means of enjoying it with the other’.

Your landlord cannot grant a right to you as a leaseholder and then do something which prevents you from exercising this right. If the freeholder takes away the rights, substantially interferes with the rights or does something incompatible with the rights granted the leaseholder could seek damages or an injunction in court. 
 
Therefore, by requiring that you need to have a parking permit, you may be able to show that your landlord is derogating from grant as they have provided you with the right to park, but are not stating that a parking permit is required if you want to park a vehicle in your parking space.

In addition any fines levied would not be classed as a service charge, it would be a private charge and therefore are not chargeable under the lease.

Coupon-mad

They operate free.  Like a protection racket.  That's why they are predatory and issue as many PCNs as possible, or they get no money.

it's not CPM, that's a completely different PPC, so be careful when typing their name or the advice you get may go off on a wrong tangent.

Holtzmann84

amvo33 said:

The section is bold is useful for responding to your landlord / property mgt company in the first instance.

Very helpful, thank you. I really appreciate you including this. I think the lease advisory service would be useful for me to talk to.

Holtzmann84

Also why didn't they offer £12 settlement per PCN to cover admin costs, as PCM's employee (poor woman.. needs to get a real job)  'Lauren' did here?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78420279#Comment_78420279

Perhaps because they make it up all the time as Watchdog exposed...?

Yeah funnily enough the staff member from PCM who sent the response to my property manager is also called Lauren- so I assume it's the same person. From that thread it looks like the admin charge she offered was actually £36 for one ticket- which is obvs too high for an admin charge anyway. As they issued me with 5 tickets, even if they also offered me this option, it would work out as costing more money than they are currently asking for with the option of just paying the first two tickets at the reduced rate. Ugh they are the worst. 

Coupon-mad

They are, and they do not deserve a penny of your money do they, you've seen their background as clampers.  This is worse.

D_P_Dance

Why pay their admin charge when a judge will order them to pay you money when their case collapses.

amvo33

It’s straightforward to sort out, no need to go to the lease advisory people. You just need to highlight the bit in bold to the property mgt company, i.e. your lease mentions nothing about permits being required & that your lease has primacy so unless they can provide definitive evidence from your lease that states otherwise, you are not liable. If they drag their heels, ask to make a formal complaint & mention your right to quiet enjoyment.  My situation only dragged on because I didn’t get the LAS advice until much later along & I should have complained / escalated much earlier.

Holtzmann84

amvo33 said:

You just need to highlight the bit in bold to the property mgt company, i.e. your lease mentions nothing about permits being required & that your lease has primacy so unless they can provide definitive evidence from your lease that states otherwise, you are not liable.

Ok thanks. I am slightly concerned about my lease as it doesn't mention an allocated space for my flat anywhere in it- only speaks in very general terms about "if" your property has a parking space etc. I have checked through all my other paperwork and can't find any mention of an allocated space.

Hopefully you can see this photo of the one bit of text in the lease that mentions parking:
  


I have a copy of the purchase report on the property, that I received from my solicitor when I bought it, which confusingly states this: No parking is included with the shared ownership leases. Spaces may be available to rent.

Of course the fact is they did have an allocated space for the flat- which I was then informed of in an email from the property manager at the time. Interestingly he mentions this and the fact I need to use a valid PCM permit:

"In regards to the underground car parking, when you signed of the property was you made aware of the bay that is allocated to you?

I have looked at the bay that is allocated to the property is bay 79. To park in this bay you are required to display a valid PCM parking permit. I can order you a transferrable permit that can be used solely for that bay. Please advise if this is something you would like me to do."

So I'm just feeling a bit confused about whether I do have primacy of contract in this case?

amvo33

Hi - but your lease doesn’t mention having to display a permit, that is the important bit. 

Holtzmann84

In addition, as I didn't post this before, this is the response from my property manager- which accompanied the email he forwarded onto me from PCM, saying I still need to pay the first two tickets: 

As promised i have tried my best, please find below response from PCM for your urgent attention.

From previous and personal experiences with parking charges (I am currently going through a claim myself), it is very rare for the company to yield/offer a concession, in your case I would advise you to accept the concession unless you want to take this matter to a small claims court where you will need to follow the PCM escalations process.

Which very much reads like he's done everything he can and his involvement is now done.