Car trouble...

[taxi4ballet]

We live in a small cul-de-sac with about 12 houses, and although most other people have both a garage and a drive, we have neither, so I park by the kerb outside my house. It has always been a tight squeeze for all the residents to get their cars parked. There is literally no room left. A lot of them have two cars and a garage full of barbecues, bikes and assorted household junk, so don't use them and park in the road outside their house like I do. The arrangements have always worked ok for decades because we all make allowances for one another, and have our own mutually-agreed spots. Until this week... when someone has moved in and decided to park outside my house in my spot (I've parked there every day for 27 years, and my car is even on Google Earth - IT'S MY SPACE!!!) His car is so big it won't fit into the space in front of his house, or so he says. He has a garage round the back of his house but won't use it, even when we've explained the mutual agreement between all the other people living here. He says "It's a free country, and I can park where I damn well like!" Normally I wouldn't make a fuss, but it means I have to use my next-door neighbour's place (she is a nurse and works shifts, so I don't want her coming home at 2am and not being able to park) or I have to block someone else's car in, which makes it look like it's me being the trouble-making nuisance. Today, my husband went to fill my car up with petrol, and in the 5 minutes he was gone, this bloke deliberately moved his car from the space outside his own house and into mine! What can I do? I take my dd to dance classes every evening and we don't get home till after 10pm, and I can see him pinching the space on purpose every time now just to be aggravating! Help!!! How can I persuade this bloke to co-operate with everyone else and not be such a total pig? AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!

[AnneMarriott]

I sympathise.  We have a similar, but less tricky cul-de-sac situation where we live - too many cars and not enough garages.  There's an unspoken understanding that we'll all park outside our own houses, but people with two cars and no garage obviously need more room than their own frontage allows.  Although it's irritating, your difficult neighbour is right - he can park where he likes, unless there's some obscure bylaw or covenant to the contrary.  Since his attitude has already made itself plain there's little you can do but grit your teeth and hope that he will become more neighbourly in time. 

 

Please don't be tempted into indulging in a tit-for-tat battle - you'll almost certainly come off worse.  Best to ignore it and try not to let it upset you - it's bad for the health - and he may get bored and stop being provocative.  Or you could try the neighbourly approach - perhaps he has a nice wife you could chat to?  or little acts of kindness like taking in parcels for him might make him see that consideration for others makes life more pleasant than selfishness.  If all else fails, just remember what a sad individual he must be!

[Jan McNulty]

It's a horrible position to be in.  Our house is on an estate that was built in the mid-30s - before car ownership was an issue so there are only one or 2 houses that have garage space.  Until recently it wasn't too much of an issue but as houses have been changing hands people with more cars have been moving in.  A lot of people have been converting their front gardens to run-ins but there are still too many cars.  Our garden is like that but is not suitable except in emergencies because the porch door opens outwards and there is the potential for damage to the car.  Sometimes people park outside our house, not blocking the gateway but not giving me enough space to park on the road.  It's really frustrating but there is nothing I can do.

 

Your new neighbour is trying to intimidate you into submission but, as you have realised, you have no legal right to park outside your own house on the open road.  Hopefully he will become more considerate and neighbourly in time.  If not, vent your feelings here and I am sure people may be able to chip in with suggestions!

 

Could you mention your problem to your nearest neighbours to explain that you are not trying to to cause parking problems yourself but that you have little option?  Could you park outside his house without blocking his drive?

[KathyG]

This has just made me realize how selfish I've been. We also live in a sort of cul de sac, big green in the middle with houses round it. Very few houses have drive ways partly due to the fact we're on a hill but because of the green they would be difficult to get into. However we do have a big drive when we built an extension the council insisted we should be able to park 5 cars on our property. Silly I thought at the time but now when all of us are home that's 5 cars in the drive.  

 

Finally getting to the point DS has gone to Canada this weekend for an audition (that's another story, snow storm ) before he went I got him to park his car on the road so he didn't block the driveway. Where I should have got him to park in the corner of the drive .  I 'm off to find the car keys and put it in the drive to free up a space. 

[swanprincess]

There is a huge blue van that always parks outside my mum's house- mum finds it very annoying as we have 2 cars, so often end up parking one across the road!! Grr...

[taxi4ballet]

I don't know why he has started this, he only moved in on Monday. There isn't a wife - I hear she's just kicked him out (no wonder!). We aren't parking our car on the open road, either, it's a private road that has never been adopted by the council. He can park outside his own house, but won't. He can park in his garage round the back, but won't. He isn't parking in anyone else's space either, just mine, even when there's room elsewhere. All this week he has been parking outside his house, and the minute I drive off, he moves his car into the space I just left. I thought I was imagining it at first, (as you do), until I saw him at it last night. His car was parked outside his house, then literally the second my hubby drove off to fill the car with petrol, he was out of the house and moving his car into the space. Why? We haven't even spoken to him until last night, so we can't have annoyed him in any way... when my husband went round to try and explain the shortage of room and the neighbourly agreements with all the residents, he basically said he couldn't care less about anybody else and would do exactly as he liked and there was now way we could stop him. Charming.

[Jan McNulty]

My aunt didn't have a car but one or other of my cousins used to visit her every day.  Mobility problems though she has she acquired 2 traffic cones from who knows where (I dread to think!) and she used to put them on the road outside her house to deter people!  It worked too!

 

Would it cause too much trouble if you parked outside his house when he is outside yours?

[Fiz]

He sounds an utter pig, Taxi!

[taxi4ballet]

Perhaps I should start parking in his garage!

[Jan McNulty]

Just got back home from dropping my niece off to find someone park outside our house and obstructing vehicular access to my garden (my emergency parking).  I've left a note on the windscreen and am currently parked precariously half on the pavement opposite.  Watch this space....

[hfbrew]

Perhaps I should start parking in his garage!

Get a friend to park a big van outside his house for while, he might want to think about preserving his own space then..

 

And whilst I agree about keeping friendly, it doesn't look like he is prepared to be considerate so I think its definately wise to alert the neighbours so they don't assume you to be at fault if you inadvertently cause them any inconvenience.

 

Someone was blocking my drive tonight and I had to get them out in the snow but they were very apologetic! My pet hate is people who park their cars in such a way that it takes two spaces in our road, others double park without any thought for bin lorries or more importantly, ambulances and gritters!

[spooky]

Like others we do not have a driveway or garage and have to park our car on the road like many of our neighbours. We all know each others cars and those with driveways are happy for others to park across them if no other space is available - I even park on my next-door neighbours drive at times - we just knock and ask people to move their cars as neccessary. The problem is we are 10mins walk from the mainline station (50mins into London) and, due to the high cost of station parking, a prime area for commuter parking. If we leave the house early in the morning a commuter car appears almost instantly and we know it will be there until the evening and frequently we find cars parked for a week at a time! I realise I have no right to park outside my own house and don't mind having to park a short distance away although carrying a shopping load into the house is a pain but I really feel for my neighbours with toddlers etc. Our parish council is currently monitoring the situation as the commuters park outside the church which is just up the road which causes huge problems when there are funerals/weddings on (currently the church warden has to put cones out at 5.30 on these days and some people just ignore them and park anyway) but if they introduce resident only parking it is going to be quite expensive to get a permit. 

 

Taxi - if your neighbour moves into the space infront of your house doesn't that leave space infront of his house that you could use?

[Jan McNulty]

Fortunately we don't get the problem of commuters parking in our road.  However the access roads to our estate are now full of commuters parking as the council recently introduced charges for parking in the car park.  I can understand the commuters as it adds £15 per week to travelling costs but it is a nightmare trying to get home during the day (not going out as we get out of the estate a different way but can't come back that way because of the one way system).

[taxi4ballet]

I don't really want to have to park down the road and round the corner when there's a perfectly good space outside my front door! It looks as though he's annoyed the people who live either side of him as well, because they each have two cars and they're now parking them all at the front instead of having two at the back. Hoping that it improves slightly when the people at the end of the row finishes their extension and can use their drive again.

[2dancersmum]

Taxi - I would suggest avoiding any contact or conversation with him and park wherever you can, especially in front of his house when he is in front of yours.  He sounds like a bully who wants to loudly announce his arrival in the street.  I imagine he will soon tire of having to walk further from his car to his house when he realises his behaviour is not having the effect he wants of winding you up and causing arguments.  A cheerful hello when you see him is all you need say.  Think of him as the naughty toddler that misbehaves to get attention because he does not get the attention when he is good.

[taxi4ballet]

I tend to think of him as more of a total prat!

[Ian Macmillan]

Lightening the mood somewhat, I hope, but certainly 'Car Trouble' related is this video collage to be found sitting alongside Luke Jennings' Observer piece in this morning's Links.  Difficult to be sure that they're real and not computer-generated:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/feb/15/russian-roads-dash-cams-video

[Sheila Beelam]

This thread reminds me of our first flat, a ground floor period property, with the upstairs owner having use of the front garden and us, the back. The chap upstairs had a mobility scooter and used to park it right in front of our lovely bay window. That would have been tolerable in spite of blocking out the light, but for some strange reason he used to put a "Twister" mat over the roof to protect it from the rain, so we had a coloured spotty view

[Jan McNulty]

I mentioned earlier in the thread about commuters using the access roads to our estate to escape council-imposed parking charges.

 

Ho ho ho!  The council has put yellow lines on most of them.

 

I am dreading to think what will happen when these motorists realise that there are 2 pedestrian walkways that lead to the main road and onwards to the station at the top of our road!

 

Has your situation changed Taxi?

[taxi4ballet]

So few stations have decent car parking. They're either ridiculously expensive, or have too few spaces.

 

Our neighbour seems to be fine now - I can't help wondering if he was so awkward at first because he had just split up with his wife and was angry with life in general.

[Jan McNulty]

Thank goodness the situations seems to have been resolved. 

[Dance*is*life]

My son and his wife live in a flat on the coastal road by the sea front. Anyone can park in the street and in the evenings or any time at the weekends, they sometimes circle round for half an hour or more looking for parking. Many a time, they'll ask for a lift because they don't want to lose their parking space!!!