Right to park

our_des

loubel said:

our_des said:

, the previous owners/estate agent have written there is a garage and space for 2 cars in front of it. Not that it justifies their actions but they've probably been led to believe from the start they could park there.

Nipping this in the bud sooner rather than later would be sensible, before they get used to parking where they shouldn't be.

Oh absolutely it need nipping in the bud before a ripple of other cars start parking where they shouldn't/on OP's land.

They may however not have given that section much attention, thinking they had a garage and 2 spaces or they did and they're just rude/entitled.

artyboy

I guess the OP could always offer to let the neighbours informally rent that little bit of land as a parking space.

For a decent but reasonable sum if they'd like to make a bit of money.

Or for an outrageously prohibitive sum if they'd rather just make a point...

loubel

The land is presumably required for access/turning by the OP and the other garage owners. 

artyboy

loubel said:

The land is presumably required for access/turning by the OP and the other garage owners. 

If it's an actual right of way for anyone other than the offending neighbour, then that's potentially an easier/less aggressive way to put this to bed for the OP - they can't block anyone else's ROW by parking there...

Yes I know that's not the main point, but if the OP wants to avoid a dispute, it's a softer but still definitive argument...

Wyndham

our_des said:

OP you should edit the pictures to remove the names of the streets, its possible to find the house and most recent listing on rightmove. Which, the previous owners/estate agent have written there is a garage and space for 2 cars in front of it. Not that it justifies their actions but they've probably been led to believe from the start they could park there.

Please do this. I think you've done it on your first post, but I've just found your house from the post at 8.26 this morning.

However, having looked on streetview, there are several parked cars in strange places, so suspect you're not the only one on the estate with this sort of issue!

WIAWSNB

Hi RRabbit.

We do still need to see what your deeds state in writing about these plans. But, tbh, this is a fairly modern housing develoment, so we can assume - with almost certain accuracy - what the deeds will effectively say.

First, do you have legal protection included in your house insurance? Phew - well done.

The first thing to note is that your new neighbour is almost certainly just misinformed, so hopefully they'll do the right thing once you show them evidence - and that is what it says in their, and your, deeds about the shared access area of the drive.

At first I thought it strange that you would be given the painful task of owning that shared access, when one of these garages isn't yours! But I guess you do have a garage, and it's down the side of your house - the 'orange' car is yours? In that case, you'll have equal rights over that shared drive, which - taken to it's logical conclusion - means that you have as much right to park in front of your garden as your misguided neighbour! Of course, that 'right' is zero, but just making a point; if he can do it, so can you.

A beligerrent thread poster would likely consider doing this just to prove a point, as it would seriously restrict the naughty neighbour's access to their garage. Of course I'm not saying you should do this - not at all - but if you happen to have a son who is built like a brick outdoor WC, drives a giant SUV, and who likes to regularly visit, I think the point would be made very quickly. But, don't do this :-)

So, to clarify; almost certainly your neighbour has made a simple mistake. This may have been exacerbated by the EA's listing. You need to locate the paragraphs in your, and their, deeds that state the rights over the shared access drive. On their deeds, it should state where they can park - the garage and immediately outside it only. Ie, within their marked red boundary.

Armed with this, you have a friendly chat. Explain that parking there is not only outlawed by the deeds, but makes exiting your driveway to your garage more awkward - I presume you either reverse in or out? Explain further - if needed - that there are good legal reasons to have this sort of issue clarified early, as it's important it doesn't set any precedent; if all three garage owners did this, access would be really awkward.

If they do not respond to this, speak to the owner of the other two garages and seek their thoughts. If they are in agreement, you can use this to add peer pressure.

Write down everything you have said, and how they replied.

Finally, call your LegProt for guidance - it's what they are there for.

Please come back and let us know how this turns out. It's a not-uncommon issue.

Section62

WIAWSNB said:

...

If they do not respond to this, speak to the owner of the other two garages and seek their thoughts. If they are in agreement, you can use this to add peer pressure.

...

As Wyndham pointed out, there's cars parked in various strange places.  It may have been a one-off, and it may be someone else's car, but it appears possible that the owner of number 20 is also parking on this shared area.  If so, number 20 is possibly more likely to ally with the neighbour rather than the OP.

It could also hint that the typical arrangement doesn't apply here... perhaps the garage owners do have two spaces in front of their garages after all?  The 2008 Streetview also has some evidence that the parking of a second car in this position isn't a new thing.  So to avoid further problems, nothing - including the parking of giant SUVs - should be done before checking all the deeds to see exactly what the rights (and responsibilities) are.

There's also a bit of information missing from earlier posts... if the OP owns/owned a blue Citroen and parks it at the front of the property then it appears their own parking arrangements differ from the original plans.  If so, before starting anything with the neighbours it would be a good idea to check that this additional parking isn't in breach of any covenants and/or planning conditions/restrictions, because the antagonised neighbour could use this against the OP.  Worth noting too that the recent streetview image appears to show the blue car is apparently parked obstructing the shared access.  Not by much, but if this is the normal parking position then it would be enough for the neighbour(s) to use the words 'goose/gander' in their response(s) to the OP.

I'm not sure this is a simple case of telling the neighbour what the deeds say and asking them to comply.  There's aspects - including the middle house having a possible rear access - which make this feel different from the usual set up.  Hence it being critical to see exactly what the deeds say before doing anything rash.

Niv

our_des said:

OP you should edit the pictures to remove the names of the streets, its possible to find the house and most recent listing on rightmove. Which, the previous owners/estate agent have written there is a garage and space for 2 cars in front of it. Not that it justifies their actions but they've probably been led to believe from the start they could park there.

The description by the EA has likely been taken at face value by the new owners so the OP may have a battle on their hands. Looking at the situation with street view makes it clearer that the OP getting on and off their drive could become awkward. If each owner of the garages did the same it could become pretty stressful situation to say the least.