Advice on Driveway obstruction and potential sale implications

ReadySteadyPop

chug91 said:

bobster2 said:

@chug91

Now you've mentioned a "shared" driveway - it is extremely difficult to understand the situation from your description and the photos.

Could you please post a diagram? Showing the boundaries of the various properties (i.e. who owns what), with shading to show areas where people have a right of way, and what is public highway.

You should be able to see all this on your title plan.

Digram in attached link.
ibb.co…DHWkqZqw (replace dots with / to open link)

I’m only annoyed at the fact that 2 ***holes have claimed ownership of the footpaths and think they or their visitors are the only one who can park there. The whole point in my post is to try and get some different opinion. I agree with people saying there is enough space to drive through but the problem is that in effect it is someone else's decision to leave me enough space and even if I wasn’t able to go through once it is one time too many. This has been my argument all along and they know that and have been asked if one side of the kerb is occupied by a car there is plenty of space on the state to park and leave the other side free. When there were 2 parked and access was blocked it was always the other one’s fault when you tell them to move.
I’ve been told by solicitor I can take this to court and with all the evidence I have I’ll win the case and get an injunction as there are more than one covenant I can argue about regarding this and few other issues which I don’t want to get into details about. I couldn’t care less what they do with their property as long as it doesn’t affect my way of living and/or devaluing my property.
The difference for me is that I knew from day one we would live in this house for no more than 5 years at best, on the other hand for my neighbours it looks like its their forever home.
I have few trick up my sleeve I can pull to make it extremely difficult for them to use their drives efficiently but I’m not this type of person. However if it turns out we can’t sell quick enough for the right price I’m more than happy to rent it out and then I wouldn’t hesitate for one minute to take them to court and get this sorted once and for all.

If it is their forever home they don`t care about the value, you have more to lose than them, the more legal action you take the more you are putting off future buyers because you will have to disclose all this when selling, and you might have to inform a potential tenant and risk them going elsewhere to rent. I would immediately shut down all conflict with the neighbours, take no more action on the parking front and get the house valued.

Section62

ReadySteadyPop said:

Zekko said:

I’m not sure what the problem is. From the photos provided you could fit a bus through that gap.

Yes, people are obviously parking up on the kerb to allow space for others to pass, real problems might occur if a wheelchair user needed access to the pavement, then you might find the council being more interested?

I doubt it.  The footways are wide and there looks to be enough room for a wheelchair to pass the parked cars.  The road looks to be a quiet residential one, possibly a cul-de-sac.  It has been designed to keep vehicle speeds low without the use of vertical traffic calming features. So probably a road which could have been designed as a shared surface rather than the traditional layout as built.

In which case a wheelchair user using the road - if necessary - to pass a parked vehicle is likely to be deemed low-risk.

WIAWSNB

chug91 said:

bobster2 said:

@chug91

Now you've mentioned a "shared" driveway - it is extremely difficult to understand the situation from your description and the photos.

Could you please post a diagram? Showing the boundaries of the various properties (i.e. who owns what), with shading to show areas where people have a right of way, and what is public highway.

You should be able to see all this on your title plan.

Digram in attached link.
ibb.co…DHWkqZqw (replace dots with / to open link)

I’m only annoyed at the fact that 2 ***holes have claimed ownership of the footpaths and think they or their visitors are the only one who can park there. The whole point in my post is to try and get some different opinion. I agree with people saying there is enough space to drive through but the problem is that in effect it is someone else's decision to leave me enough space and even if I wasn’t able to go through once it is one time too many. This has been my argument all along and they know that and have been asked if one side of the kerb is occupied by a car there is plenty of space on the state to park and leave the other side free. When there were 2 parked and access was blocked it was always the other one’s fault when you tell them to move.
I’ve been told by solicitor I can take this to court and with all the evidence I have I’ll win the case and get an injunction as there are more than one covenant I can argue about regarding this and few other issues which I don’t want to get into details about. I couldn’t care less what they do with their property as long as it doesn’t affect my way of living and/or devaluing my property.
The difference for me is that I knew from day one we would live in this house for no more than 5 years at best, on the other hand for my neighbours it looks like its their forever home.
I have few trick up my sleeve I can pull to make it extremely difficult for them to use their drives efficiently but I’m not this type of person. However if it turns out we can’t sell quick enough for the right price I’m more than happy to rent it out and then I wouldn’t hesitate for one minute to take them to court and get this sorted once and for all.

If renting it out is a viable option, then it could be a good move.
Choose your tenant carefully. 
I'd suggest around 100kg, and roughly 4' wide. 

chrisw

ReadySteadyPop said:

housebuyer143 said:

I think the OPs plan to buy an old banger and leave it on the pavement isn't actually a bad idea. Just don't let them know it's yours and deny ownership and tax and insure it and they really can't do much about it. 

Not worth the drama, just price the house to sell and get out of there.

Yep, that's my view as well.

Hoenir

If you reversed in , Wouldn't that be far easier? 

HillStreetBlues

Grumpy_chap said:

chug91 said:

Now I have to admit I have thought of getting a banger and just park it on the kerb and leave it there until it turns to dust but I’m not sure I can be too bothered with all the grief. On the other hand getting one and reversing into them on my way out is not a bad idea.

Of course it is a bad idea.
And you know it is a bad idea.
Your motor premiums will increase going forwards.
You may receive a criminal record if investigated as vandalism, driving without due care and attention, criminal damage.   The pre-intent make all these a possibility.

Maybe that's why the OP wants to reverse into them

GixerKate

I would suggest moving, yes some people may be put off by the parking situation but others won't be.

I'm assuming the road isn't adopted so there is literally nothing the local council can/will do so you are stuck with this unfortunately, maybe reverse in so its easier to get out?

chug91

Just to clarify I’m not a psycho whose purpose in life will be to reverse into cars parked on the kerb 😂. On the other hand when its really tight and the sun is quite strong its almost impossible to see where I’m going…
Majority of the roads are not adopted yet however the estate is now finished and probs a matter of time before council assume ownership. I’m in the process of putting fence on the boundary line on the drive which will make it impossible for neighbour opposite to get into his car but unfortunately for him I couldn’t care less. But yeah we will be out of here soon, whether we will sell or rent out it will depend purely on the financial aspect of any deal.

Section62

chug91 said:

Just to clarify I’m not a psycho whose purpose in life will be to reverse into cars parked on the kerb 😂. On the other hand when its really tight and the sun is quite strong its almost impossible to see where I’m going…
Majority of the roads are not adopted yet however the estate is now finished and probs a matter of time before council assume ownership. I’m in the process of putting fence on the boundary line on the drive which will make it impossible for neighbour opposite to get into his car but unfortunately for him I couldn’t care less. But yeah we will be out of here soon, whether we will sell or rent out it will depend purely on the financial aspect of any deal.

Check there are no planning conditions or covenants which prohibit you putting fences up in the front garden.

If the neighbour is inconvenienced then he may be sufficiently incentivised to get the council or developer to take enforcement action against you.  If covenants are involved you may have problems when you come to sell (e.g. if the buyer's solicitor spots a breach of covenant).

chug91

Section62 said:

chug91 said:

Just to clarify I’m not a psycho whose purpose in life will be to reverse into cars parked on the kerb 😂. On the other hand when its really tight and the sun is quite strong its almost impossible to see where I’m going…
Majority of the roads are not adopted yet however the estate is now finished and probs a matter of time before council assume ownership. I’m in the process of putting fence on the boundary line on the drive which will make it impossible for neighbour opposite to get into his car but unfortunately for him I couldn’t care less. But yeah we will be out of here soon, whether we will sell or rent out it will depend purely on the financial aspect of any deal.

Check there are no planning conditions or covenants which prohibit you putting fences up in the front garden.

If the neighbour is inconvenienced then he may be sufficiently incentivised to get the council or developer to take enforcement action against you.  If covenants are involved you may have problems when you come to sell (e.g. if the buyer's solicitor spots a breach of covenant).

I had a look and the restriction is for a fence between property and road but nothing about boundary lines. Also they are the in breach of restrictive covenants by keeping their bins at the front of the property so not sure even if they had any grounds for complaints it would be a good idea for them to go make it official plus I also have evidence of them obstructing the shared driveway which is also covered by a restrictive covenant.
That is one of the main reason I decided to see what people think about the parking situation as they are quite ignorant and believe they cab do whatever they want and just because we are the type of people to only be vocal about issues once they start really affecting out way of living they thought they can just keep going.
The penny for them dropped when they asked me to park my car in a specific way as I started parking on the boundary line and one of them was unable to get into their car and politely told them for f*** off and I can park wherever I want on my land. It will come as a bit of a shock for them having a fence at the front as they will loose one parking space.