Can a car ruin a gravel drive?

[mazzy]

Can't find any info on the internet, but my current house has a driveway and adjoining a larger large stone gravel drive bit (all sloped).
Share the drive with another car so it's easier to park one on each bit - but our Landlord says that I can't as when it rains, supposedly somehow the drive ruins as it has done before and incurs costs to get car out or fix etc.

Can anyone see how/why as it's irritating parking in front as I always need to move & can never get a lift. Also I've always got it off in the rain fine. My own theory is that their cars were weaker (as their 1l & 1.2ls need to use gas to get out, while I don't in my 1.6l)

Sorry for the stupid Q in advance

[73mark]

If you can't use it,rents gotta be cheaper. Plus gravel drives need Constant Touch ups

Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 19th November 17:37

[Monkeylegend]

mazzy said:

- but our Landlord says that I can't

Anything said here is therefore irrelevant.

[mazzy]

73mark said:

If you can't use it,rents gotta be cheaper. Plus gravel drives need Constant Touch ups

Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 19th November 17:37

Ahh, sadly it's one of the more expensive rentals yet has something new fall apart/break almost weekly!
There's no way he touches it up aha, I'd suggest he get it resurfaced (it currently functions as a glorified cat litter box), but he's far too lazy

Monkeylegend said:

Anything said here is therefore irrelevant.

I'm more curious about why.

Also - considering that our house is barely functioning I'm irritated why yet another vital part of it is unusable for no apparent reason

[thelawnet]

Monkeylegend said:

Anything said here is therefore irrelevant.

Well that really depends. If he has signed a contract for the house with no prior mention of this, the landlord can go fk himself.

[dazwalsh]

^^ This

[Monkeylegend]

thelawnet said:

the landlord can go fk himself.

Is that legal jargon?

[Fox-]

Is it not called a DRIVEway? Surely it's intention is to park vehicles on. Otherwise why have it?

[anonymous-user]

I'm afraid previous posters saying that the landlord can pretty much have any arbitrary and stupid rules he wants are correct. He can end your tenancy and inconvenience you enormously by making you fight for your deposit. Their is a good reason landlords in fiction are usually portrayed as grasping, unpleasant and mean...

[mazzy]

thelawnet said:

Well that really depends. If he has signed a contract for the house with no prior mention of this, the landlord can go fk himself.

Haha, none. Or of the many other deficiencies.. but we cope!

• she - by the way.

dme123 said:

I'm afraid previous posters saying that the landlord can pretty much have any arbitrary and stupid rules he wants are correct. He can end your tenancy and inconvenience you enormously by making you fight for your deposit. Their is a good reason landlords in fiction are usually portrayed as grasping, unpleasant and mean...

Likely true, but it wasn't made out as a rule as such. Also he's far too lazy to be mean


I'm more questioning how it could ruin it - I can only imagine that a weaker car may spin if it was wet and thus dig through the stone. Otherwise I just don't get it

[mazzy]

Fox- said:

Is it not called a DRIVEway? Surely it's intention is to park vehicles on. Otherwise why have it?

Clearly he prefers its use as a kitty litter tray! lol

[HerrSchnell]

If the gravel is deep then cars can get stuck when they dig in after someone who has found no traction on wet gravel has floored it to get moving.

Same thing as getting stuck in deep snow and will leave holes in the drive and need digging out.

Can be avoided by pulling away at low revs in second.

[Rawhide]

Read your tenancy agreement, if it makes not mention of it then you can debate it with him. I have a gravel drive but the previous owner used cheap stones. Car tyres cause the stones to grind and they seems to wear away. This also happens doing three point turns on it with the car not moving.

I have had to top it up with three tons of new stones to keep it looking ok.

I'm also a landlord and would personally not be so anal about stuff like this but he could also claim repair costs from your deposit. You could get this back with a dispute but it's a lot of hastle and time.

Could you not agree you would fund any repair costs so he's not out of pocket?

[V8RX7]

Fox- said:

Is it not called a DRIVEway? Surely it's intention is to park vehicles on. Otherwise why have it?

The clue is in the name - it's to DRIVE upon.

You'd have a point if it was a PARKing area

[mike9009]

We have a large gravel driveway and I cannot quite comprehend what the landlady/ lord is saying?

Our gravel generally moves to the outer edges and leaves it thin on regularly driven parts. We have never got a car stuck in the deeper bits and the thinner bits don't seem to be degrading. The only issue is shovelling the bloody stuff every couple of years to make it even again. (plus the thing still gets covered in weeds - a right PITA.)

I think I may have misunderstood the thread though?

Mike

[DonkeyApple]

mazzy said:

Can't find any info on the internet, but my current house has a driveway and adjoining a larger large stone gravel drive bit (all sloped).
Share the drive with another car so it's easier to park one on each bit - but our Landlord says that I can't as when it rains, supposedly somehow the drive ruins as it has done before and incurs costs to get car out or fix etc.

Can anyone see how/why as it's irritating parking in front as I always need to move & can never get a lift. Also I've always got it off in the rain fine. My own theory is that their cars were weaker (as their 1l & 1.2ls need to use gas to get out, while I don't in my 1.6l)

Sorry for the stupid Q in advance

Not sure I fully understand but it sounds like the part at the front of the house has decent enough foundations that will take cars whereas the 'drive in' section doesn't. Probably just gravel cheaply dumped on soil?

The landlord is perfectly in the right to ask you to use his property as he wishes, within reason and this does sound reasonable.

I would simply write back seeking clarification of what he means and why. When you get a response, write back again saying that this was not made clear at the time you signed the tenancy agreement and add that if it had been you would not have taken the property. Outline why it is not possible for you to do as he has subsequently asked and request that he comes forward with a suitable solution.

Do this all in polite, amiable writing. Never verbal and never combative.

If your issue is valid then if he is reasonable you'll get something, if he isn't reasonable then you remain in the right and have matters on your side to take it further.

[skyrover]

did he advertise the property with a driveway?

[V8Ford]

Sometimes if water gets into the soil under the substrate the weight of your car can start to mash it up and you end up with a very bumpy surface, perhaps thats what he's getting at.

[DonkeyApple]

skyrover said:

did he advertise the property with a driveway?

To be honest, it's irrelevant. It reads as there is parking and a driveway.

In an ideal world the landlord would have made clear his specification in the agreement but not essential. Hence being polite, and wise and creating a paper trail targeting a concession.