Neighbour running van hire business from home

m0t

There's a little history to this one and I wasn't quite sure where to post it.

About 7 years ago when one of our neighbours started parking full sized coaches on our road and several round the area. This frequently blocked traffic because of the width of the vehicles. Apparently this was because the local bit of waste land he rented had been sold to a house builder. 

Despite this being expressly against local council parking rules it took a lot of effort to get anything done and in the end it was only stopped after one of the local residents groups delivered a petition to a meeting of the local councillors. Even after the council took action he would park the coaches on the local roads every now and then.

Over the past two years he has started buying up vans and parking them up and down the road. Whilst they are taxed and insured they aren't roadworthy with most having at least one flat tyre and they rarely move. I think he claims to be running a van rental business now.

I was trying to stay out of this but over the last two weeks he has taken to going out between midnight and two in the morning and swapping the vans around on the street, I assume to make some kind of point. This has been waking my baby up.

Is there anything that prevents him running a van hire business and using the road for parking (even if the business isn't really trading)?. 

DB1904

Has he got planning permission to run the business from his home?

Unless there are covenants preventing vans on the road there's not much you can do about the parking if anyone else has a van. 

If he simply has a collection of vans which are insured and taxed he's a free to use the road as anyone else is.

Grumpy_chap

m0t said:

About 7 years ago when one of our neighbours started parking full sized coaches on our road and several round the area. 

Over the past two years he has started buying up vans and parking them up and down the road. Whilst they are taxed and insured they aren't roadworthy with most having at least one flat tyre and they rarely move. I think he claims to be running a van rental business now.

over the last two weeks he has taken to going out between midnight and two in the morning and swapping the vans around on the street

Is there anything that prevents him running a van hire business and using the road for parking (even if the business isn't really trading)?. 

Whatever he used to do with the coaches is now history, so forget about it.

If the vans aren't roadworthy, he can't be running a van rental business.  Who would hire a van and take it away if they turn up to collect and the van is not roadworthy - flat tyre etc?

Moving the vans about might be to avoid the LA coming round and declaring the vehicles as dumped.  If the vehicle is logged as "parked outside number 10" and when the scrap-police arrive it is "parked outside number 25", that'll be enough to avoid the vehicle being considered dumped.

There usually are rules about street trading.  Before you can take any action to encourage the Council to do anything in that regard, you'll first have to establish that he is actually running a business.  If he is running a van hire business, he must be advertising somewhere....

Ebe_Scrooge

There's nothing to stop him from running a business.  If he's running the business from home then he may be breaching the terms of his mortgage - but that's (in the nicest possible way) nothing to do with you.  If he's a council tenant there may well be rules to say the premises can't be used for running a business.  He may need to pay business rates.  There may be a restrictive covenant in place.  If he's causing a "nuisance" (always difficult to define/prove) then you can make a complaint to the council.

In terms of parking - as long as the vehicles are taxed, insured and MOT'd, he can park where he wants - unless he's causing an obstruction or contravening any signed parking restrictions.

None of this is probably very helpful, I'm afraid.  These situations are always tricky, and unless you're careful can escalate into quite some unpleasantness.

DB1904

Grumpy_chap said:

m0t said:

About 7 years ago when one of our neighbours started parking full sized coaches on our road and several round the area. 

Over the past two years he has started buying up vans and parking them up and down the road. Whilst they are taxed and insured they aren't roadworthy with most having at least one flat tyre and they rarely move. I think he claims to be running a van rental business now.

over the last two weeks he has taken to going out between midnight and two in the morning and swapping the vans around on the street

Is there anything that prevents him running a van hire business and using the road for parking (even if the business isn't really trading)?. 

Whatever he used to do with the coaches is now history, so forget about it.

If the vans aren't roadworthy, he can't be running a van rental business.  Who would hire a van and take it away if they turn up to collect and the van is not roadworthy - flat tyre etc?

Moving the vans about might be to avoid the LA coming round and declaring the vehicles as dumped.  If the vehicle is logged as "parked outside number 10" and when the scrap-police arrive it is "parked outside number 25", that'll be enough to avoid the vehicle being considered dumped.

There usually are rules about street trading.  Before you can take any action to encourage the Council to do anything in that regard, you'll first have to establish that he is actually running a business.  If he is running a van hire business, he must be advertising somewhere....

Tax and insurance would be enough.

jon81uk

Can you get the council to introduce a residents parking permit for the area and only allow each household to have two permits?

May well take a lot of effort to get the council interested but if you can prove it is depriving other residents the chance to park close to their home. But if there is still plenty of space for everyone then council might not see it as an issue.

For the noise in the night might be worth looking into anti-social behaviour though.

user1977

Lack of planning permission would seem to be the most obvious fundamental problem (unless they actually have permission).

Grey_Critic

First call is your local councillor. You do not say what sizw vans but if they are 3.5 tons then he requires an Operators Licence a condition and for that you are required to have an opertors licence and outside 22 acacia ave is not accepted.

LeafGreen

If they appear unroadworthy, have you checked the MOT statuses?

jimjames

grahamgoo said:

If they appear unroadworthy, have you checked the MOT statuses?

Flat tyre isnt really an MOT issue

jimjames

m0t said:

Over the past two years he has started buying up vans and parking them up and down the road. Whilst they are taxed and insured they aren't roadworthy with most having at least one flat tyre and they rarely move. I think he claims to be running a van rental business now.

Not being funny but how can you run a van hire business with vans that rarely move. That would suggest it's not really a business at all. If they were being hired then the vans would be changing around and not there at different times of the day/week plus a stream of visitors taking them for hire.