Can we ask for a disabled space on a private road under the Equality Act?

honeybee1234

Hi all 

I have a couple of diagnoses that lead me to receiving PIP, and I have a blue badge. 

My partner lives on a private road with a good number of houses and flats. Most have some kind of drive; the remaining few have a designated parking space, which is the case for my partner. There are also a couple of spaces of free land where people can park if it's free, but are usually taken up by people's second cars. 

Due to the layout of the road, my partner's space is the only one that's not adjacent to the property, it's sandwiched inbetween other neighbour's parking spaces. This little row of spaces are not marked out, and what happens is  visitors to the neighbouring properties which are Airbnbs use the space, or visitors to other houses, or the landlord when they're doing work.

If anyone parks in any of the other spaces for the Airbnbs, or the other rented property with a allocated space, the landlord will stick notes on the windscreen, and pursue them. However my partner's space is basically a free-for-all; anyone can park there, the landlord parks there, so when I drive over, it's a gamble as to whether the space will be free or not.

This is giving me massive anxiety and panic (directly related to my diagnoses) and is quite literally stopping me from going over. I understand this is a private road, so I was wondering if we can legitimately approach the landlord to request the spaces are marked out, or his space is marked as a disabled space on private land? I understand it's different due to being on private land, so would this fall under the Equality Act? 

la531983

It probably wouldnt help anyway. Even if it was on the public highway, anyone with a blue badge could legitimately use the space anyway. On private land it wouldnt change that, plus what enforcement is in place anyway? Even if there was enforcement these are just speculative parking invoices.

elsien

The problem that you may hit is that you don’t live there so you don’t have any rights to request anything. 

Marking it is a disabled space on private land still gives no real grounds for enforcement. And if they are going to enforce that it’s only for disabled drivers, then that would effectively stop your partner from using it as well.
is your partner a tenant or an owner? There’s nothing to stop him from approaching whoever manages the parking to request that his space is marked and monitored in the same way as all the others are, whether it’s a disabled space or not.  

honeybee1234

elsien said:

The problem that you may hit is that you don’t live there so you don’t have any rights to request anything. 

Marking it is a disabled space on private land still gives no real grounds for enforcement. And if they are going to enforce that it’s only for disabled drivers, then that would effectively stop your partner from using it as well.
is your partner a tenant or an owner? There’s nothing to stop him from approaching whoever manages the parking to request that his space is marked and monitored in the same way as all the others are, whether it’s a disabled space or not.  

Just read the replies, and upon thinking, it would actually be perfectly adequate to know there's his space available, it's not that I'd want a specifically marked out disabled space to be enforced, but a marked out (as his properties') space that I could use as a disabled person. He's a tenant, and it seems hugely unfair that all the other spaces are informally taken care of, but his isn't 

calleyw

I couldn't get a disabled spot outside my own house as my husband was left physically disabled after a stroke.  I was told because there was a disabled spot within 6ft I could park in that.  Well no i couldn't as my one of my neighbours always parked in it.

If he has proper allocated spot and its as a proper drive in spot and not parallel parking like on street, get a foldable bollard then noone can park in his space unless they have a key.  But he needs to look on his deeds and get it installed in the correct space

Albermarle

la531983 said:

It probably wouldnt help anyway. Even if it was on the public highway, anyone with a blue badge could legitimately use the space anyway. On private land it wouldnt change that, plus what enforcement is in place anyway? Even if there was enforcement these are just speculative parking invoices.

In fact you do not even need a blue badge. Anyone can park in a residential disabled parking bay,
Although most people will not of course.