How much is a private driveway worth?

p00hsticks

Yorkie006 said:

There's a .... 2 bed semi without a driveway (nearest on street parking is about 100 yards away from the house, no vehicular access to the house at all, only a pavement) with asking price of £110,000.

Yorkie006 said:

Just for an illustration, similar houses in this area in good condition and with driveways are currently going for around £130,000.

Haven't you effectively answered your own question ? Assuming the house without a driveway is also in good condition, houses with a driveway are being priced at around £20k more.

By all means in the current climate put in a lower offer, but - assuming it was obvious from the listing and viewing that there was no on site parking - I'd suggest that the lack of parking is already priced in, and so wouldn't see that in itslef as a realistic justification for offering low.

Emily_Joy

OP, if you are planning to have a family, I would go for this one, as otherwise I would be constantly worrying about my little one running out on the road... this depends of course on how busy the road is, but I would rather have a delivery company to carry stuff extra 100 yards than risking family safety.

silvercar

lookstraightahead said:

With so many people living in flats etc, the whole electric car thing will be sorted. You won't need a driveway to charge a car, in the same way as you don't need a stable to keep your horse and cart, or a huge room to keep your videos in. Or a tank for your water. Or a meeting room for a staff meeting. Or a floppy disk. Etc. Space needs to be utilised in a better way so driveways will feel really old fashioned in the future, and a waste of space/resource.

Given people will still want cars in most areas, even if there are charging options elsewhere, it will be more convenient and probably cheaper to charge at home. Anyway, charging aside, there are benefits to knowing you can park your car on your own driveway.

mi-key

I don't think the provision or lack of driveway is the issue anyway. The OP just wants to justify a reason for putting in a lower offer, thinking the seller will be 'tricked' some way and accept this as a reason to reduce their price.

They aren't going to knock £10K off a £100K house because it doesn't suit exactly what the OP wants. It seems to be the cheapest 2 bed in the area, and they will sell it for £100K or very close to to someone.

lookstraightahead

mi-key said:

I don't think the provision or lack of driveway is the issue anyway. The OP just wants to justify a reason for putting in a lower offer, thinking the seller will be 'tricked' some way and accept this as a reason to reduce their price.

They aren't going to knock £10K off a £100K house because it doesn't suit exactly what the OP wants. It seems to be the cheapest 2 bed in the area, and they will sell it for £100K or very close to to someone.

I agree with this. A driveway isn't worth over 10% of a house's value to most people. To some it means everything (by the looks) and to some it makes no difference.
I can't imagine negotiating on my house because of a lack of driveway as it's plainly obvious there isn't one (although there is an old stable entrance 🤣)

BungalowBel

When we moved after forty years of living in an inner-city terrace with only on-street parking, one of our main criteria was to have a drive.  I would not consider the house under discussion for this reason, and also because of visitor parking and deliveries.

My son on the other hand, who lives in a flat and doesn't drive, wouldn't find it a problem.  His delivery people already have to go up two flights of stairs to get to his door and his visitors just park where they can.  So to him the lack of vehicular access would not be a problem.  He could  still get his bike to the house. 

So, horses for courses.  If you don't mind minor inconveniences, then go for the house without a drive..  But don't expect to knock down the price because of it, the price will have been decided with that in mind.

mi-key

BungalowBel said:

When we moved after forty years of living in an inner-city terrace with only on-street parking, one of our main criteria was to have a drive.  I would not consider the house under discussion for this reason, and also because of visitor parking and deliveries.

My son on the other hand, who lives in a flat and doesn't drive, wouldn't find it a problem.  His delivery people already have to go up two flights of stairs to get to his door and his visitors just park where they can.  So to him the lack of vehicular access would not be a problem.  He could  still get his bike to the house. 

So, horses for courses.  If you don't mind minor inconveniences, then go for the house without a drive..  But don't expect to knock down the price because of it, the price will have been decided with that in mind.

He might find it an issue in the future though if  he either gets a car, or ends up moving in with a partner who drives. Also if having kids, unloading them and all their stuff 100 yards from the house is a pain !  Having lived in both in the past, I would never buy another house without a drive with room for at least two cars

BungalowBel

mi-key said:

BungalowBel said:

When we moved after forty years of living in an inner-city terrace with only on-street parking, one of our main criteria was to have a drive.  I would not consider the house under discussion for this reason, and also because of visitor parking and deliveries.

My son on the other hand, who lives in a flat and doesn't drive, wouldn't find it a problem.  His delivery people already have to go up two flights of stairs to get to his door and his visitors just park where they can.  So to him the lack of vehicular access would not be a problem.  He could  still get his bike to the house. 

So, horses for courses.  If you don't mind minor inconveniences, then go for the house without a drive..  But don't expect to knock down the price because of it, the price will have been decided with that in mind.

He might find it an issue in the future though if  he either gets a car, or ends up moving in with a partner who drives. Also if having kids, unloading them and all their stuff 100 yards from the house is a pain !  Having lived in both in the past, I would never buy another house without a drive with room for at least two cars

He lives with a long-term partner who also doesn't drive and they will not be having any children.  But I take your broader point. 

TBagpuss

OP, I think how much a driveway is worth is going to be very dependent on the specific circumstances- if there is plenty of on-street parking it will be worth less than if parking is limited , permit only or ticketed. One issue is of course that's hard to judge whether, or how much that may change in future. 

Last time I was house-hunting, I viewed (and decided not to offer on) a house with no driveway. At the time, the seller and agent were telling me it was never a problem as you can easily park on the street (which, at the time, seemed to be broadly true) however, since then things have changed - there has been some redevelopment, the access to the new development is wider than the old gateway so part of the kerb / space available for parking is gone, there are more people living in the area, and the new development only has enough parking for one vehicle per flat so there's more pressure on the on-street parking, as as the road is now busier an includes a new junction, part of the road now had double yellow lines, including the bit immediately outside that house. I'm pretty sure that that house would now be worth significantly less than the neighbouring ones which turned their front gardens into driveways when the council was still willing to grant permission to do so (they won't, now ) 

In you case, you also have the issue that the house ha no roadside access, which may be a concern for lots of people bearing in mind everything from deliveries to access for ambulances, even things like how far you have to carry shopping etc - some people won't care, but it will narrow down the pool of possible buyers (obviously things like how close you can get a vehicle if you need to will make a bit of a difference)

stevelogan

That is exactly what i think. For the visitors and deliveries it would be much more convenient if you have a driveway