Going from unallocated parking to allocated ADVICE

Mistymootle4

So me and my partner have lived in our rented apartment for about a year now with no issues. There were two apartment blocks with 18 x 2 bedroom apartments per block when we moved in, both sharing a carpark and a security gate that is accessed by keycode. The carpark has always just been blank and paved over and everyone parks where there is an empty space - there have never been any issues of struggling to get a space even when people had visitors over. Our landlord lives in the opposite apartment block and told us when we moved in that there are no allocated spaces, it has always just been a first-come-first-served carpark.

 Now they have constructed two additional apartment blocks next to ours, again 18 x 2 bedroom flats per block. They are due to finish these in the next two weeks and have posted an updated parking plan through everyone's letterboxes. The parking plan has shown that one of the new blocks will be parking in our existing carpark, whilst the other has a new carpark to themselves, so therefore an additional 18 apartments will require parking. They have also shown on the plan that from now on there is only one allocated parking spot per apartment and these are to be marked out specifically. Knowing most of the residents in the building most people have two cars and they are often in house shares with two people, one per bedroom. So now many people in car park have nowhere to keep their cars. The road outside is all double yellows so there is no other parking available. As well as this even though the carpark is now for 54 apartments in total there has only been allocated 2 visitor parking spots?? Which seems ridiculous as well. 

We spoke to the landlord about this and voiced our concerns, he also has two cars he keeps in the same car park. He has told us he is just going to continue parking as he usually would and ignore the allocated spaces. I have contacted the building company also to query the plan but they wont return my calls or answer. So in all honesty im panicking about what to do - we can't get rid of one of our cars as my boyfriend works at the hospital and does night shifts and I work 20 miles away with no viable public transport. But then I don't want to be that person who goes and parks in someone elses space either!

Alderbank

What does your tenancy agreement say about parking?

Mistymootle4

It says nothing specific about parking spaces as it has always just been an unallocated car park. The carpark and buildings are owned by a separate management company, not our landlord. All we have in our documents from the start of the rental is that we will have access to the carpark and what the keycode number is to get into it.

user1977

You're not going to have any more rights than your landlord has, and it doesn't sound like he had promised you anything more than you're getting. I guess you'll need to find somewhere else to park your extra car.

TBagpuss

Yes, it doesn't sound as though your lease entitles you to parking and your lanlord can only grant you what they are entitled to, so if their lease doesn't entitle them to parking, or limis it to one car, then that's all they can grant you.

Can you and your partner take it in turns ? You could try to find out if there is anyone in your block who doesn't have a car and would be open to subletting their allocated space to you, and you may find that there is not a singnificant issue unless/until the new blocks are sold. After that it may depend on whether the management co takes any steps to enforce the parking rules or whether you end up with a situation where it remains a free for all but with twice as many people trying to use it. 
In your position i would start urgently looking for other places to prk locally, including looking at options to rent a garage or driveway, or start to save for a season ticket for any local car park

Alderbank

From your tenancy agreement I think you are lucky that you will be given even one allocated parking spot.

If I was the 'they' who own the car park and are now building a new block of 18 flats which they will want to maximise the price of, I would market the new flats with 2 allocated parking spaces each. That is 18x2 = 36, plus 2 visitor spaces. I would then say the remaining 14 spaces are unallocated and are freely available for the residents of your block.

Titus_Wadd

Have a look at the planning permission for the new flats, councils usually have a minimum standard for parking spaces for each new build block.  I doubt they would have accepted the pinching of spaces from an existing building. 
Just to manage your expectations though, our LPA is averse to spending any money on enforcement for all their great words in planning conditions.
It will be for your landlord to try to protect the parking your flat has been used to enjoying, but that may prove difficult.  I wonder how they plan to police and enforce the new scheme?

Marky4040

Mistymootle4 said:

We spoke to the landlord about this and voiced our concerns, he also has two cars he keeps in the same car park. He has told us he is just going to continue parking as he usually would and ignore the allocated spaces. I have contacted the building company also to query the plan but they wont return my calls or answer. So in all honesty im panicking about what to do - we can't get rid of one of our cars as my boyfriend works at the hospital and does night shifts and I work 20 miles away with no viable public transport. But then I don't want to be that person who goes and parks in someone elses space either!

So first of all, it is the leaseholder (your landlord) who should have raised objections at the planning stage as should every other lease holder affected by this change. I find it very unusual the management company (or freeholder) would not have given this opportunity at the planning stage unless the original lease never provided the right to car parking in the first place. 

Secondly, in todays climate it is an absolute luxury to have TWO spaces to use at any apartment block, one space is the norm almost everywhere (if parking is provided at all) and will be specified in the lease.

Thirdly there is nothing you can do about this change I'm afraid and you'll quickly find yourself issued with parking fines for parking in other peoples spaces since those spaces are going to be included in the new leasehold properties. Allocated spaces are not created without a parking company to monitor them. Your landlord will also be fined for non compliance.  

Sorry but that's the reality of this situation. 

Alderbank

Marky4040 said:

Mistymootle4 said:

We spoke to the landlord about this and voiced our concerns, he also has two cars he keeps in the same car park. He has told us he is just going to continue parking as he usually would and ignore the allocated spaces. I have contacted the building company also to query the plan but they wont return my calls or answer. So in all honesty im panicking about what to do - we can't get rid of one of our cars as my boyfriend works at the hospital and does night shifts and I work 20 miles away with no viable public transport. But then I don't want to be that person who goes and parks in someone elses space either!

...there is nothing you can do about this change I'm afraid and you'll quickly find yourself issued with parking fines for parking in other peoples spaces since those spaces are going to be included in the new leasehold properties. Allocated spaces are not created without a parking company to monitor them. 

I live in Scotland and I know that we have different ideas here about parking enforcement.
However there are a few modern blocks of flats near where I am. They have car parks with numbered spaces corresponding to flat numbers but no barriers or monitoring and no signs of any kind.
If there is any enforcement it is done by peer pressure (if a non-resident parks repeatedly, residents will shout at them).

Mistymootle4

I've managed to find the planning applications for the buildings which actually show 10 spaces for visitors, whereas the actual work done on the carpark only has 2 visitors spaces? Is this something that I can request them to change? Is there anything to stop me just parking in the visitors space?

Mistymootle4

I actually spoke to the building company earlier to ask them how the policing will work. Apparently they are selling it off to a separate company, so block 2 which is the new block will be policed by that separate company, the rest of the spaces will not. So it sounds like we can't park in a block 2 space, but they are free to park anywhere else as well as long as its not another persons block 2 allocated spot. 


fTitus_Wadd said:

Have a look at the planning permission for the new flats, councils usually have a minimum standard for parking spaces for each new build block.  I doubt they would have accepted the pinching of spaces from an existing building. 
Just to manage your expectations though, our LPA is averse to spending any money on enforcement for all their great words in planning conditions.
It will be for your landlord to try to protect the parking your flat has been used to enjoying, but that may prove difficult.  I wonder how they plan to police and enforce the new scheme?