Parking car on grass

twopenny

I used to just park on the grass in my garden. For a while there was no problem but the years have changed with more rain.

So I dug out a car sized space in the turf and put membrane down and filled with gravel. That kept me going fine for more years than it was meant to but it was a cheap option. Not beautiful but functional

The cost of putting down concrete was a lot.

I sold it like that no problem and despite being a builder he kept it the same for a couple of years.

The only thing I would say is that your shoes get wet in winter but a sunken paving slab sorts that.

Using a row of pavers requires stronger pavers than average and a whole lot of laying carefully.

The honeycombe stuff was not available domestically when I did it. It is now but not cheap overall and then you have the problem of mowing/strimming.

Ajmason42

Do you have to cross a pavement to access if so you should have a dropped curd. Illegal to bounce up a high curd. 

TELLIT01

Ajmason42 said:

Do you have to cross a pavement to access if so you should have a dropped curdb. Illegal to bounce up a high curb. 

You are correct, but thousands of people do  this every day.  Councils would have great difficulty stopping the practice, although there have been a number of cases reported of councils putting bollards up to prevent cars doing this.  There was one instance where the new bollards prevented somebody from getting their car back onto the road.

Section62

TELLIT01 said:

Ajmason42 said:

Do you have to cross a pavement to access if so you should have a dropped curdb. Illegal to bounce up a high curb. 

You are correct, but thousands of people do  this every day.  Councils would have great difficulty stopping the practice, although there have been a number of cases reported of councils putting bollards up to prevent cars doing this.  There was one instance where the new bollards prevented somebody from getting their car back onto the road.

Actually they are 50% wrong, it isn't illegal unless the Highway Authority have served notice on the property occupier/owner to stop doing so.

Enforcement is relatively easy - by serving the notice above, or by the strategic use of street furniture to prevent vehicular access to the property.  The issue is whether the authority have the resources to proactively seek out cases, or rely on being informed by neighbours, or periodic inspections of the highway.

Applying for a crossover is a good idea because it avoids the risk of either of the above happening, and the potentially greatly increased costs of getting a crossover installed if the council have previously blocked it.  It also avoids the risk of doing damage to your vehicle by repeatedly bumping up the kerb.  And it means you can sell the property with a driveway, rather than a paved front garden.

Brewer21

Ajmason42 said:

Do you have to cross a pavement to access if so you should have a dropped curd. Illegal to bounce up a high curd. 

Who told you that?

Easy solution it to put gravel down, just on the part a car would run over 
Nothing is cheap to do these days, especially if have to get the labour in to do the job.
I have a gravelled area to the fron of my property and the rear, did it myself very cost effectively. It's about the prep, dig enough out and firm the ground. Fill the base with MOT grade stone fill and leave enough space left for a dressing of decorative stone fill. Of course it needs to be firmed down, hire a wacker plate, I didn't need to as my ground was pretty firm to start with.
Added costs involved would probably be a skip to move the ground that's been dug out unless you can distribute it elsewhere.

FreeBear

Brewer21 said: Added costs involved would probably be a skip to move the ground that's been dug out unless you can distribute it elsewhere.

A grab hire may be more cost effective, and you don't have to struggle getting a wheelbarrow in to a skip. Depending on the area that needs digging out & leveling, hiring a mini-digger and an operator is worthwhile. Hired one last year, and we got 45m² done in less than a day and also dug out a soakaway.

travis-powers

FreeBear said:

Brewer21 said: Added costs involved would probably be a skip to move the ground that's been dug out unless you can distribute it elsewhere.

A grab hire may be more cost effective, and you don't have to struggle getting a wheelbarrow in to a skip. Depending on the area that needs digging out & leveling, hiring a mini-digger and an operator is worthwhile. Hired one last year, and we got 45m² done in less than a day and also dug out a soakaway.

You’ve mentioned this before, I looked into it and the cost difference is quite substantial!
Even on a small project you will fill a skip quite quickly!

FreeBear

travis-powers said:

FreeBear said:

Brewer21 said: Added costs involved would probably be a skip to move the ground that's been dug out unless you can distribute it elsewhere.

A grab hire may be more cost effective, and you don't have to struggle getting a wheelbarrow in to a skip. Depending on the area that needs digging out & leveling, hiring a mini-digger and an operator is worthwhile. Hired one last year, and we got 45m² done in less than a day and also dug out a soakaway.

You’ve mentioned this before, I looked into it and the cost difference is quite substantial!
Even on a small project you will fill a skip quite quickly!

I had some 18t of subsoil taken away with a grab hire for £200. Still got another 8-10t to go... Maximum weight for a skip is 8t*, so would have needed several (and somewhere to put them).

*) https://www.batemanskips.co.uk/skip-sizes/

Bendy_House

KerensaDelphi said:

Thanks for advice. My neighbour suggested a contract. And she even said about paying me something, but I said no but if that would help the contract then I would, if that makes sense. They would just be borrowing the space. If I wanted to build they would have to use the road again. If they moved the new neighbours would have to use the road too. Its more of a good neighbourly gesture. We are most respectful of each other. They have helped me no end to maintain my garden, they're good souls. Decent human beings. 
You have made me think though ... would some type of contract work? 
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post

Lawdie, it's so nice to hear a tale like this. :-)

My understanding of 'adverse possession' is that it would have had to have taken place without the owner's knowledge or permission for the required time, so simply saying (ideally proving...) that you've said "I give you permission to do this..." should be enough to prevent such an action.

I also understand that the law on AP has changed fairly recently so that the first step in any AP claim is that the Land Registry contacts the rightful current owner to ask if it's 'ok'.

But NFLO is right in being cautious, and ensuring you future-proof the situation.

TELLIT01

Section62 said:

TELLIT01 said:

Ajmason42 said:

Do you have to cross a pavement to access if so you should have a dropped curdb. Illegal to bounce up a high curb. 

You are correct, but thousands of people do  this every day.  Councils would have great difficulty stopping the practice, although there have been a number of cases reported of councils putting bollards up to prevent cars doing this.  There was one instance where the new bollards prevented somebody from getting their car back onto the road.

Actually they are 50% wrong, it isn't illegal unless the Highway Authority have served notice on the property occupier/owner to stop doing so.

Enforcement is relatively easy - by serving the notice above, or by the strategic use of street furniture to prevent vehicular access to the property.  The issue is whether the authority have the resources to proactively seek out cases, or rely on being informed by neighbours, or periodic inspections of the highway.

Applying for a crossover is a good idea because it avoids the risk of either of the above happening, and the potentially greatly increased costs of getting a crossover installed if the council have previously blocked it.  It also avoids the risk of doing damage to your vehicle by repeatedly bumping up the kerb.  And it means you can sell the property with a driveway, rather than a paved front garden.

It is illegal to drive over a pavement, but action can only be taken if the offence is actually seen to take place.  A car parked in a garden, even if the only way to get there is to drive over a pavement with no drop kerb, is not proof that the vehicle has actually broken any rules.