my neighbours (?) keep blocking my driveway

Jemma01

Hi

Sorry, not sure which forum to post this in, please move it as you see fit.

I recently moved into my new home on Saturday 26th of October, and I've had 3 different cars throughout the week blocking my driveway (I can't see any of these cars, and I only took the registration number for the one today), I'm not familiar with who the neighbours are, the street is not full, and there are other places you can park in (literally 2-3 cars distance) without blocking anyone, and the previous owner had a car, so it isn't that the neighbours have gotten the habit of using the front of the driveway. 

This is the car today, they didn't even shy about it and left me a way out!! The other two blocked two-thirds, I still had no way out, and the road is tiny. You can see the two ends of the driveway and the tip of my car, the street is full of spaces!

I don't know what I'm supposed to do, call the council. Report it to the DVLA (doubt they'll care), report it to their insurance? I've never had to deal with this before.

ETA: It's the 25th of Nov 2024, and the council drew the lines I requested for which I paid roughly £100. I believe the request was put on the 2nd/3rd and was approved on the 5th. They said within 6 weeks and that's done within 3 weeks, really pleased ❤️. The process was seamless, inspector came without knocking, he marked the ground and left, then today, contractors arrived in a big truck, sorted it out without knocking. Great overall, I hope it makes a difference.

Thanks

Grumpy_chap

Jemma01 said:

Hi

Sorry, not sure which forum to post this in, please move it as you see fit.

I recently moved into my new home on Saturday 26th of October, and I've had 3 different cars throughout the week blocking my driveway (I can't see any of these cars, and I only took the registration number for the one today), I'm not familiar with who the neighbours are, the street is not full, and there are other places you can park in (literally 2-3 cars distance) without blocking anyone, and the previous owner had a car, so it isn't that the neighbours have gotten the habit of using the front of the driveway. 

This is the car today, they didn't even shy about it and left me a way out!! The other two blocked two-thirds, I still had no way out, and the road is tiny. You can see the two ends of the driveway and the tip of my car, the street is full of spaces!

I don't know what I'm supposed to do, call the council. Report it to the DVLA (doubt they'll care), report it to their insurance? I've never had to deal with this before.



Thanks

I can't see from the photo whether the house benefits from a dropped kerb - that can be significant in this situation.

Jemma01

Grumpy_chap said:

Jemma01 said:

Hi

Sorry, not sure which forum to post this in, please move it as you see fit.

I recently moved into my new home on Saturday 26th of October, and I've had 3 different cars throughout the week blocking my driveway (I can't see any of these cars, and I only took the registration number for the one today), I'm not familiar with who the neighbours are, the street is not full, and there are other places you can park in (literally 2-3 cars distance) without blocking anyone, and the previous owner had a car, so it isn't that the neighbours have gotten the habit of using the front of the driveway. 

This is the car today, they didn't even shy about it and left me a way out!! The other two blocked two-thirds, I still had no way out, and the road is tiny. You can see the two ends of the driveway and the tip of my car, the street is full of spaces!

I don't know what I'm supposed to do, call the council. Report it to the DVLA (doubt they'll care), report it to their insurance? I've never had to deal with this before.



Thanks

I can't see from the photo whether the house benefits from a dropped kerb - that can be significant in this situation.

does this help?

Brie

If you do have a dropped kerb there should be a way to notify the council to report the cars and they will get ticketed.  I wouldn't suggest you go down that route as a first step.  Instead I'd put a note on the window of every car asking nicely that they don't block the drive in future.  If they are neighbours they will hopefully be nice about it.  Also if there is a school nearby that can often be the culprit - or at least the parents dropping off or picking up children.  Same problem if there's a park where there might be a lot of sports going on.  Either way contact the school/sports club and ask that drivers take more care and respect those that live in the vicinity.

Bookworm105

you have a dropped kerb so it is an offence to park across it.
frankly amazed that anyone is so blatant about it in your circumstance 

firstly always try the note on the window, but if you find it is a repeat offender then contact your council and ask for a traffic warden (or whatever they call themselves these days) to come out, as it is an offence for which they can issue a parking ticket 

i would be very surprised if the police would respond if you contact them as they will have higher priorities to deal with, but for the council it is an easy win (free money) for them 

swingaloo

I would simply go to the house next door and introduce myself as the new neighbour. Just ask if they know who owns the car blocking the drive and explain that you are unable to get out.

Then when you know which house it is just knock and explain the situation. It could be that the house has stood empty for a couple of weeks and neighbours have just got used to parking there but it is a bit thoughtless when they can see a car in the drive.

You do look to have a dropped kerb so they should not be parking there but in the interest of keeping things neighbourly I wouldn't be reporting to the council yet.

It seems odd the different cars are parking there, are they possibly the same family. If it is awkwardness then I would leave my car across the drive for a while to get them used to having to park elsewhere.

EssexHebridean

I’d agree with the post above - definitely take the easy route first and knock at neighbours with the “hi, I do suppose you know who the X coloured car there belongs to do you? The one blocking my drive?” - no point in going downs possibly contentious route if it might not be needed! 

Jemma01

Brie said:

If you do have a dropped kerb there should be a way to notify the council to report the cars and they will get ticketed.  I wouldn't suggest you go down that route as a first step.  Instead I'd put a note on the window of every car asking nicely that they don't block the drive in future.  If they are neighbours they will hopefully be nice about it.  Also if there is a school nearby that can often be the culprit - or at least the parents dropping off or picking up children.  Same problem if there's a park where there might be a lot of sports going on.  Either way contact the school/sports club and ask that drivers take more care and respect those that live in the vicinity.

Thanks Brie. There is no park, church, or school nearby, but there is a secondary train station nearby. Even with that said, the road is peacefully quiet and not many cars there, they could still park without blocking anyone. Behind the blue car, there are often several empty spaces.

There has to be a reason why it happened multiple times. I went through the design documents just now and it says 


Surely if it is designed to allow disabled parking, then that driveway shouldn't be blocked.

Sarahspangles

Have you checked if your address is listed on those parking sites where you can pay to use someone’s drive?

Jemma01

swingaloo said:

I would simply go to the house next door and introduce myself as the new neighbour. Just ask if they know who owns the car blocking the drive and explain that you are unable to get out.

Then when you know which house it is just knock and explain the situation. It could be that the house has stood empty for a couple of weeks and neighbours have just got used to parking there but it is a bit thoughtless when they can see a car in the drive.

You do look to have a dropped kerb so they should not be parking there but in the interest of keeping things neighbourly I wouldn't be reporting to the council yet.

It seems odd the different cars are parking there, are they possibly the same family. If it is awkwardness then I would leave my car across the drive for a while to get them used to having to park elsewhere.

I'm too scared to knock on people's doors I'm 45kg if someone slaps me on the face, I'd fly a mile.
I came from an area where we had random people walk into our porch (apartments) and inject themselves with drugs, this property is 10mins walk from there. I had the next-door neighbour knock on my door yesterday my heart dropped, he had to identify himself before I opened the door (he owns the blue car).
I'm with you that I don't want confrontations with anyone, but I don't know how to go about it without risking my safety. I'll probably resort to leaving a note on the cars, I missed my gym class today thanks to this idiot.

Jemma01

Sarahspangles said:

Have you checked if your address is listed on those parking sites where you can pay to use someone’s drive?

Ah! didn't about that! I'll google and check with the previous owner. Thanks didn't cross my mind.