Neighbours and private unallocated parking
Discussion
Firstly I'm not sure that this is the right forum to be asking this in as I'm aware in many cases the strict letter of the law can be almost irrelevant when trying to maintain a decent relationship with the neigbours but I'm at a bit of a loss so thought here would be a good place to start for advice. Hopefully someone will have managed to resolve a similar issue!
We moved into a rented house about 5 months ago and have found it impossible to park anywhere without either being told to move/blocked in/note left on our car. We have really made an effort to use spaces that are not being regularly used, gradually we've been ''moved on'' from every space.
The layout is a private courtyard of 8 houses with 8 unallocated parking bays to the front, to the rear there are 2 blocks of 4 garages with a further 8 unallocated parking bays. That's 2 spaces + a garage per house so you'd imagine with all 8 houses only being 2 bed there would be plenty of parking. The problem is 3 of the houses always park both their cars to the front as it's directly outside their house, but they (+2 others) have also put their house numbers on the unallocated parking bays at the rear so they always have a visitor space.
I've confirmed with my landlord + land registry that all parking spaces are unallocated... I had another note left on my car last night telling me not to park in the space I've been using for 3 months as it is a private space (this happens to be the last space I haven't been told to move from, otherwise I'd just park somewhere else).
The only thing I can think of is getting the management company to come along and take the numbers of the bays + follow up with a letter reminding that all bays are unallocated, but I have no idea how to find out who the management company is; that's assuming there is one.... (no luck asking the landlord - his view is just park where is free and tell them to f
k off. Which is a brilliant apart from the potential damage to a car/one was ttish enough to block me in and bugger off to work on the train.)
I know the problem is caused by 3 houses who have all been here a long time, are good friends with each other and feel like they have some level of authority owed to them due collective numbers and length of time they have served living in this sthole. Bearing in mind I plan to move in 7 months when the lease is up but have no reasonable option to just park somewhere else, any advice on how to resolve this would be appreciated?
We moved into a rented house about 5 months ago and have found it impossible to park anywhere without either being told to move/blocked in/note left on our car. We have really made an effort to use spaces that are not being regularly used, gradually we've been ''moved on'' from every space.
The layout is a private courtyard of 8 houses with 8 unallocated parking bays to the front, to the rear there are 2 blocks of 4 garages with a further 8 unallocated parking bays. That's 2 spaces + a garage per house so you'd imagine with all 8 houses only being 2 bed there would be plenty of parking. The problem is 3 of the houses always park both their cars to the front as it's directly outside their house, but they (+2 others) have also put their house numbers on the unallocated parking bays at the rear so they always have a visitor space.
I've confirmed with my landlord + land registry that all parking spaces are unallocated... I had another note left on my car last night telling me not to park in the space I've been using for 3 months as it is a private space (this happens to be the last space I haven't been told to move from, otherwise I'd just park somewhere else).
The only thing I can think of is getting the management company to come along and take the numbers of the bays + follow up with a letter reminding that all bays are unallocated, but I have no idea how to find out who the management company is; that's assuming there is one.... (no luck asking the landlord - his view is just park where is free and tell them to f
k off. Which is a brilliant apart from the potential damage to a car/one was ttish enough to block me in and bugger off to work on the train.)I know the problem is caused by 3 houses who have all been here a long time, are good friends with each other and feel like they have some level of authority owed to them due collective numbers and length of time they have served living in this s
thole. Bearing in mind I plan to move in 7 months when the lease is up but have no reasonable option to just park somewhere else, any advice on how to resolve this would be appreciated?Edited by Black_S3 on Monday 24th November 06:03
Breadvan72 said:
The police are unlikely to be interested in a parking dispute off road. The only solution here involves discussion with the neighbours, not confrontation.
Was hoping you'd have some input 
I wouldn't even entertain that anyway as it would just turn it from mainly silent warfare to open warfare straight away.... I know the space to avoid being blocked in now anyway.
Thanks - I'll give the letter a try but thought it might be easier to get the management company to do it if there is one as I've already spoken to most of them - they all seam quite cagey when it's mentioned... (apart from the blocking in tosser)
Thanks for all the replies.
No one would have any want or need to park here if they didn't live in one of the 8 houses in the courtyard. It's at the end of a mile long cul de sac with all the houses on the way in having space on the drive for 5+ cars and double garages.
I'm sad to say that "the gang" are extremely likely to ignore any nice letters from you.
Let me guess, none of them have spoken to you face to face? Usually the next step is keying your car so preempt a face to face meeting before this starts. You're certainly not going to make any friends here but don't feel upset as the neighbours who feel that they own the place clearly don't care.
If asserting some authority/reason doesn't work then get nasty.
This is the concern... I don't want to escalate it to stupidity.
I think the cars might have a fair bit to do with why we're being seen as easy targets. Neither are of great value, both are over 10 years old but are in immaculate condition and fairly obviously cared for.
One car is now fine - Cleared the garage out today and the OH's car will be kept in there. We had avoided using this as we both work nights and are both on call when not working nights. How long would you give it before we get a complaint about the noise of the garage door being opened at fairly regularly at unsociable hours? Maybe the catalyst some need to behave reasonably?
Letter has also been dropped round.
Blaster72 said:
Have you spoken to the ones who leave notes and block you in or are they too cowardly to identify themselves?
If you have spoken to them, what reason do they give?
Perhaps they don't recognise your car and think it's someone who doesn't live there just dumping the car?
At my place all the spaces are numbered but for God knows what reason the numbers don't correspond to the flat numbers so whenever someone new moves in there's always a bit of confusion.
We never resort to petty notes or blocking in though, we just pop round and say hello and let them know which spot is there's.
7 months left is a long time to be messing about getting the run around
Only one neighbour is happy to discuss it and that would be the same one that us blocked in - waste of time/energy with this one. The rest all just claim ''that's someone else's space type thing''If you have spoken to them, what reason do they give?
Perhaps they don't recognise your car and think it's someone who doesn't live there just dumping the car?
At my place all the spaces are numbered but for God knows what reason the numbers don't correspond to the flat numbers so whenever someone new moves in there's always a bit of confusion.
We never resort to petty notes or blocking in though, we just pop round and say hello and let them know which spot is there's.
7 months left is a long time to be messing about getting the run around
No one would have any want or need to park here if they didn't live in one of the 8 houses in the courtyard. It's at the end of a mile long cul de sac with all the houses on the way in having space on the drive for 5+ cars and double garages.
1Addicted said:
Foliage said:
Simple answer is to put your house number on all and any spaces that don't already have a number on, then start leaving notes for them and blocking them in. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.
For extra fk you factor, install drop bollards.
Fight fire with fire For extra f
k you factor, install drop bollards.I'm sad to say that "the gang" are extremely likely to ignore any nice letters from you.
Let me guess, none of them have spoken to you face to face? Usually the next step is keying your car so preempt a face to face meeting before this starts. You're certainly not going to make any friends here but don't feel upset as the neighbours who feel that they own the place clearly don't care.
If asserting some authority/reason doesn't work then get nasty.
Edited by 1Addicted on Monday 24th November 12:24
Red Devil said:
Who do you pay the rent to: the landlord direct or a letting agent? If it's the former, unless he himself is renting and sub-letting he will definitely know and appears to be being deliberately awkward by not telling you. If the latter, they will too, so ask them.
Direct to the landlord who is down as the owner on land registry. I get the impression he lived her for a fairly long time and may well be friendly with the lot so is trying to wash his hands of being made to be the middle man/bad guy.gsr121 said:
I'd bring it to your landlord's attention again. If it I something which might make you consider moving on, then he/she may be more interested in sorting it out. If it is an issue for you, then it will most likely be the same for any future tenants, and the landlord may find that his turnover of tenants is very high.
Unfortunately I don't think your landlord is under any obligation to assist you, unless the property was advertised with allocated parking, which it sounds like it isn't.
Good luck.
I've just dropped him an email again. Nope no allocated parking and I accept that... Think the only way this will get sorted reasonably is if there's a management company.Unfortunately I don't think your landlord is under any obligation to assist you, unless the property was advertised with allocated parking, which it sounds like it isn't.
Good luck.
LeftmostAardvark said:
Change car to something you don't care about (beaten up old discovery of similar, ideally with bull bars, side steps, rock sliders and a mahoosive winch). They'll be less keen to block that fker in...
I like this idea ker in... I think the cars might have a fair bit to do with why we're being seen as easy targets. Neither are of great value, both are over 10 years old but are in immaculate condition and fairly obviously cared for.One car is now fine - Cleared the garage out today and the OH's car will be kept in there. We had avoided using this as we both work nights and are both on call when not working nights. How long would you give it before we get a complaint about the noise of the garage door being opened at fairly regularly at unsociable hours? Maybe the catalyst some need to behave reasonably?
Letter has also been dropped round.
ging84 said:
What exactly have the land registry confirmed?
I've paid for the plan for every house and surprisingly the house I rent has the red outline around my garage and actually 4 parking spaces - no other houses have anything marked indicating they have any entitlement to the spaces. One other house with a mirrored location to mine has the same footprint around their garage and the other 4 spaces to the rear. I'm not sure what relevance this has to me because my tenancy agreement isn't too specific and only mentions off street unallocated spaces, garage + house.It's 100% clear that the spaces that have had numbers put on them definitely are not owned by the people who have put the numbers up. Also the numbers that have been put up are all different styles of screw in numbers from B&Q type places.
Edited by Black_S3 on Monday 24th November 22:45
bad company said:
The letter is a good thing. Please keep us up to date with progress.
In the meantime have you parked in one of the spaces?
Will do. I think there are a few houses that don't even use their garage for storage so I'm going to drop a note in to a couple of the more friendly neighbours (both single elderly people with no cars) asking to rent their garage for 7 months if it's completely unused. Hopefully I can get a 2nd garage for around £100 a month then happy days and the other lot can find some other way to entertain their fetish for authority!In the meantime have you parked in one of the spaces?
Yep I've just moved to a different space that I got a note in shortly after moving in - with the exception of a rare visitor no one ever parks in it.... Honestly it's a joke, everyone is back home for the night now and there are still 5 empty spaces.
surveyor said:
If this is common parking it must be owned someone.
This maybe by a separate freeholder or a company owned by all of the flat-owners. Your landlord most likely knows more than he is letting on and should really be dealing with this IMO.
A letter pointing out that you need to park somewhere, are aware that the spaces are not allocated and it is in the benefit of all to agree a revised modus operandi may be called for.
There is the nuclear power of you blocking people in. While you don't want your car scratching - neither will the neighbours. It's a kind of hostile neutrality.
Pretty the exact conclusion but creating a situation where everyone can just get on with the important parts of their life is not proving to be so straightforward!This maybe by a separate freeholder or a company owned by all of the flat-owners. Your landlord most likely knows more than he is letting on and should really be dealing with this IMO.
A letter pointing out that you need to park somewhere, are aware that the spaces are not allocated and it is in the benefit of all to agree a revised modus operandi may be called for.
There is the nuclear power of you blocking people in. While you don't want your car scratching - neither will the neighbours. It's a kind of hostile neutrality.
PV7998 said:
A lady I know has a very similar situation - she lives on a small estate of 30 or so houses, none of which have their own driveway and there's no garages. There's about 40 parking bays which the title deeds said are communal.
One or two houses have painted their house numbers on a couple of bays and get quite shirty if anyone parks in them.
The maintenance of these bays is, I understand, a shared responsibility between all the houses. As you can imagine, for the last 25 or so years there hasn't been a need for any maintenance, although it's not difficult to imagine that cleaning up an oil spill or something even more serious may prove problematic.
In this particular close, it's only about 3 houses that get territorial about their places, so everyone more or less lives with it.
Police wouldn't be in the slightest bit interested, it's private land and an unadopted bit of road.
There isn't a management company, so anyone seeking a remedy will have to do it alone.
Not much advice I can offer that hasn't already been said - although I've been tempted to park a snotter in one of the "marked" bays for a week or so even though it really isn't my problem.
I like you're thinking re the maintenance of the spaces. I wonder how quickly they would remember they don't own the space if someone was to play pogo sticks in the space with a pneumatic drill. All hypothetical but amusing still.One or two houses have painted their house numbers on a couple of bays and get quite shirty if anyone parks in them.
The maintenance of these bays is, I understand, a shared responsibility between all the houses. As you can imagine, for the last 25 or so years there hasn't been a need for any maintenance, although it's not difficult to imagine that cleaning up an oil spill or something even more serious may prove problematic.
In this particular close, it's only about 3 houses that get territorial about their places, so everyone more or less lives with it.
Police wouldn't be in the slightest bit interested, it's private land and an unadopted bit of road.
There isn't a management company, so anyone seeking a remedy will have to do it alone.
Not much advice I can offer that hasn't already been said - although I've been tempted to park a snotter in one of the "marked" bays for a week or so even though it really isn't my problem.
The more I look into this and get opinions/hear of similar situations I think for me the solution is to just try get through the next 7 months without incident and leave knowing they are still stuck with the stress. Put this one down to experience and be thankful I learnt the lesson in a rented property, not one I'd bought.
No update on a solution, but for those interested. Just had a knock on the door asking me to move my car forward so one of the neighbours could get out... They had managed to get their car stuck on mine while coming out their space.
Reasonable amount of paint damage on 3/4, Bumper and boot with the implication that it 'might just need a bit of tcut'. Glad they came and asked instead of just doing more damage un sticking themselves. All the time there are 4 unused spaces that this wouldn't have happened in.
Reasonable amount of paint damage on 3/4, Bumper and boot with the implication that it 'might just need a bit of tcut'. Glad they came and asked instead of just doing more damage un sticking themselves. All the time there are 4 unused spaces that this wouldn't have happened in.
No - Really nice retired couple... Iced up side windows and just misjudged it I think. More of a side effect of bays being reserved but not used so have been parking in a bay next to them that makes it quite tight for both to get in and out. In hindsight parking there it was enivitable at some point.
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