Parking outside own home in a 6 house cul-de-sac......?

General_query

Hello,

FAO: MODS If this is in the wrong place, please move it.

Background information - we have moved into my girlfriends childhood home that her mum lived in until she died 2 years ago. It is a small cul-de-sac with 6 houses on it in a L shape (see Picture 1).

They were Council Houses, all 3 bedroom semi's.

Number 1&2 were bought and now privately owned, number 3 is still a Council House, we have moved into number 4, number 5 was bought and has been rented out by the owners for over 12 years, and number 6 is still a Council House.

While my girlfriends mum lived there, she "verbally let" the owners of next door (number 5) have some of her front garden to build a driveway, which they did, having also "taken" some of the front garden of number 6. (Please see screenshots below). Girlfriends mum said to neighbours she didn't mind as she didnt drive or have a car, neither did either of her daughters.

Skipping forward, there was a long term renting couple who had a car that moved into number 5 and he built a gate across with loads of "No parking" signs on gate. Didn't effect us and we weren't living at number 4.

Then another family moved into number 5 and stayed a while, they didn't have a car and gates to number 5 stayed shut, so we parked outside their gates outside our house to be. In late October, nice family renting out number 5 told us they were leaving just as we were moving in.

We moved in to number 4 and have been parking outside along the hedge between our house and number 3, as they don't have a car.

However now, a new family have moved in next door to us at number 5, and they have to park at the end of the cul-de-sac on the road or they'd block us in. The loud, aggressive woman and family who live in number 6 (the Council house) have a car and she insists it is HER space outside HER home and has parked there for over 8 years when they moved in.

Anyway there was a huge verbal bust up the other week, I was parked outside our house, and SHE was parked outside her house at 6. Number 5's parked at the back of her car for a short while and she kicked off yelling and screaming and honking her horn at number 5 for blocking her in, this went on for 20 minutes then she had a go at them for blocking her in.

Yesterday No. 5 put a polite note through our door asking us not to park outside our house as it is blocking them from parking on there drive.

It's not a dropped kerb but do I have to now permanently move from parking outside our home along the hedge as I am blocking access to/from the new family next door at number 5?

They used to have a single wooden gate but "took" land from number 6 on their left and land of my girlfriends mums house at number 4 as marked on the photo's. I suspect if this got legal, someone up high would say number 5 has a driveway and has been used since it was "illegally" (?) built so WE now have to not park their?

Sorry this is so long and disjointed. Just needed to type it all out in one go, and hopefully the pictures explain how it looks now.

Thanks.

Picture 1 - show houses and how narrow entrance to No. 5 was before they "took" land and made it a driveway.

(Image removed by Forum Team)

Picture 2 - shows the owners driveway shortly after it'd been done and area they "took" in blue. You can see how much they "stole" from each side. And they had a single gate like we do and number 3.

(Image removed by Forum Team)

Picture 3 - This shows again how much they took so they could build a drive:

(Image removed by Forum Team)

Picture 4 - shows how it pretty much currently is. Not sure whose car that was but it's where I have been parking since we moved in. You can see gates to driveway behind car to No.5

(Image removed by Forum Team)

ChirpyChicken

I am confused.

General_query

Sorry, question is, can I no longer park outside our house (aka my girlfriends mums house, number 4 on map) as people next door at 5 want to park their 2 cars on the drive, which was built with the house owners land grabbing in order to have their driveway built? i.e. am I legally not allowed to park outside our house anymore? The new people renting it will just see a driveway in front of their house and that is it theirs (without knowing any of the dodgy ways they acquired it), whereas I see a driveway (that was built underhand stealing land on either side), that doesn't have a dropped kerb (in which case I know I couldn't park), so can I still legally park there, even if it blocks access to driveway at No.5?

Le_Kirk

This does no fall into the remit of this forum; you might get some responses if you post in this forum: -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/in-my-home-includes-diy-moneysaving

General_query

Can I legally park here outside our house - in the yellow area on the photo I've marked on. Yes, it blocks the driveway and gate (marked orange), to next door, but I thought in situations like this, it's first come first served - unless there is a paid for, dropped kerb outside No.5 which there isn't. It was just flat access they had with a small garden and wooden gate (like we have), then they landgrabbed and built an extra wide driveway even if it was over 15 years ago….

(Image removed by Forum Team)

General_query

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81886749#Comment_81886749

Thanks, I'm happy if a MSE Forum moderator can move it please.

Le_Kirk

There are no Mods. You can click on the red "Report" button and ask for it to be moved.

Gr1pr

We have no pavement outside our houses on my cul de sac , which all had driveways from when they were built 50 years ago, so i would expect that it counts as vehicle access. Most people near me have extended them to multicar access, so in my view a driver cannot park and block access, but clearly your case is more complicated

Nobody has the right to a space on a council street without the council granting it

General_query

Thanks, I don't want to be a pushover and move my car to the start of the cul-de-sac (and park on the adjoining street) forever and lose OUR spot, but don't want a war to start over this as new people seem okay, although it's us who say hello to them, not the other way around. But why should I stop when the original driveway built years and years ago was done underhand and the owners got away with it? I am dreading the new neighbours knocking tonight and ask me to move my car so they can use their drive…..

They are just renting the place from the people who own the house at 5 - and built the drive years ago - so won't be aware of any politics surrounding what they will naturally think is their drive in front of their newly rented house.

Of course now No.5 have staked their claim via this 'note' wanting access to the drive at all times, there's nothing I can do if I have to go out then return to find they have parked one of their cars on their drive and left the other in front of ours against the hedge from now on. Even if I parked outside our house and they did have a car on the drive I would then legally be blocking them from leaving 😔

General_query

And they've only shown interest in accessing their drive since the awful, loud rude woman at No.6 had a right go at them for temporarily blocking her in. She's blocked me in many times btw, and when she has visitors, she doesn't tell them to park on the road at the side of the cul-de-sac start, no, she lets them park behind her car, which then blocks me in.

If only there was a way for the council to send a letter saying "anyone can park here"…

user1977

Apart from anything else, you can't "informally" shift boundaries between different owners. It's going to be a right mess the next time anybody sells (assuming it's noticed then).