A couple who moved to London and made friends with their neighbours were brought back down to earth when they started taking advantage of their property
A couple who moved to a rented property in London and made friends with their neighbours realised they weren’t as cordial as they first thought after a major dispute. The couple moved to the area and had nothing but friendly interactions with the husband and wife that lived next door to them.
But one day the couple realised their neighbour was using their driveway for their own vehicle, despite not asking them beforehand. The disgruntled neighbour took to the R/LegalAdviceUK Reddit thread to rant about the situation and ask for help.
They said: “I approached him and made introductions and asked that they just ask us in the future so we know who is parking in the driveway, and I let him know it was our plan to get a car and we didn’t want to have a problem parking with them trying to also park in the driveway.
“He was not particularly receptive to my polite request, but I’m sure he was clear on what I was asking of him. About 45 days later, a car parks in the driveway. I didn’t recognize it as the one that the neighbour had used last time, and another neighbour across the street had been having parties around the time of the World Cup, so I thought maybe the car was from their visitors.
“I put what I feel is a polite note on the car saying ‘It is not very neighbourly to park in someone’s driveway without permission. Please do not park in my driveway again’.
“The car is gone the next day (Saturday) and then on Sunday it shows up again and the note gets put back through my mail slot on my front door – no apology or explanation – and the neighbours enter their home and don’t say anything.
“Now I know the car was my neighbour’s car, and I now I know that they have no intent to ask permission or to abstain from using our driveway.”
After realising the neighbour’s masks had slipped, the couple sought advice from their landlord to put up signs at the property. The landlord, however, was not interested.
The man said: “My wife speaks to the wife and she said that her husband asked her to ask us if they could park there but she forgot. And then she saw our note and thought that it was a rude way for us to handle the situation.
“Now they have parked that car, which I believe is borrowed, in our driveway everyday since then which has been 11 days.
“Our landlord has not committed to the signage and thinks that it should be up to us to sort out with the neighbour. The council’s advice department suggested that if the landlord was not receptive to resolving the problem that we should contact a solicitor, which seems extreme.”
What are my legal rights if somebody parks on my driveway?
According to The RAC, while there is no criminal law against the indecent act of someone parking on your driveway without your consent, your driveway is part of your property so by driving onto it the person is committing an act of trespassing.
Trespassing, however, is classed as a civil offence not a criminal offence, meaning the police don’t have the power to make an arrest. If the offence is committed on a public highway or the car is blocking the driveway while parked on a public road, the council has the power to act.
But when a car is on a drive, it’s technically on private property – and the council has no authority to remove it. The only other way forward is to pursue a civil case for trespassing. The courts have the jurisdiction to remove the car from the driveway.
A solicitor would be able to get the civil court’s permission to find out the legal owner of the vehicle involved, and a judge would have to make its removal an order of the court.
Another option is to pursue a legal claim for nuisance behaviour on the grounds that the driver is interfering with your use and enjoyment of your property. You should be aware, however, going through the courts, can be a long and potentially costly process if you do not have legal expenses insurance.
Another solution, which is not recommended by police, is to hire a private tow truck to take the vehicle away. If the car gets damaged, you could be liable to pay for damages.
The Ask The Police website says: “Don’t damage/clamp the vehicle or have it removed by a third party for destruction or storage without first seeking legal advice. If you do any of these things, you may commit a criminal offence or the owner may pursue a civil action against you.
“Under no circumstances would we advocate you merely pushing the vehicle on to a road and leaving it there as you may commit a number of offences.”
