My neighbour says we can't park

Estate agents often include parking spaces which are not shown on the deeds.

Monitor the sale of home on your street and you’ll see what I mean.

Remind estate agents of their attempts to fraudulently sell parking spaces that meant to be shared.

Our local paper has written about the difficulties of some people who live near Manchester Airport. Rather than pay for Airport Parking, many holidaymakers are apparently leaving their cars in nearby roads, sometimes for several weeks at a time. Residents often find that almost all the parking spaces are taken up by strangers, causing them huge problems as they have no driveways. Although it isn't illegal, it's extremely selfish. I imagine that it's only a matter of time before angry residents start vandalising the obstructive vehicles.

Oooh - parking is a real nightmare. My daughter lived in a cul de sac and it was always a scramble to get a parking space as some people had two cars. When she got her Blue Badge she asked the Council for a Disabled Parking Bay outside her house to help her deal with getting three kiddies to school and herself to work. Two of the neighbours opposite decided (without any medical qualifications) that she wasn't disabled and made her life a complete misery. There were three bays in the road altogether and neither of the people who parked in the two other bays had any problems from my daughter's neighbours. They really were hateful. People need to realise there is no right to park outside your own house, even a Disabled Parking Bay can be used by someone else who has a valid Blue Badge! Too many cars for roads that were built in Victorian times

I agree with Teetime that good neighbourly relations are important (esp. in a small street). Has she just moved in? Is she lonely, perhaps or conscious that, in a street where everyone else is coming and going, she's stuck at home without a car? Perhaps you could build bridges with her, have a coffee and a chat. Failing that, I would do as others have said - stay calm and polite and stick to your guns!

We had a neighbour who hated anyone parking outside his house, but he thought nothing of plonking his dirty great van in front of ours. I`ve posted this pic before, one of his attempts to stop people parking. It lasted just until I reported it to the highways dept., half an hour later all was back to how it should be!

A relative lives in a cul de sac, so no through traffic. Very occasionally, someone's visitor or tradesman will park on the road, opposite her neighbour's drive. It doesn't actually block her exit/entrance, but it hampers her reversing in, which is her routine. It's a new build, and still within the first two years, so she eventually persuaded the builder to put a no parking sign on the grass verge opposite. There are no yellow lines, and neighbours have said that parking there can't be restricted. I suspect that the builder has no right to put a no parking sign there, but has done so anyway. I wonder if the sign will go walk about some dark night!

I think the idea of printing out the Council's Parking rules or giving their phone number and also giving her a letter as Jobey68 says her DH does viz.;
"kindly asked her to call the police if he is breaking any laws and send them to our door to point them out" Is a good idea.

I have decided that with someone as thick skinned and with such ideas of entitlement as this you will have no sensible, polite or logical conversation. I would limit your contact with her, note down any incidents, avoid her if you can and give her the above information in print. Do not enter into an argument. This type of person is unable to have a civilised conversation or discussion.
Good luck, again! ?

Parking on the public highway is allowed anywhere there are not signs or road markings indicating the contrary or where there is a dropped kerb allowing access to a property. Parking within a certain distance of a junction (can't remember how near!) is also not allowed but lots of people do it.

Many years ago, before DH and I were married, a neighbour of the shared house he lived in was possessive of the space outside his house. He'd leave notes or park so close it was sometimes difficult to get out of the space you were in. They just laughed and nicknamed him 'Van Man' as he had a small white van

If it's a public street, no one has any say about parking.

The parking permit only allows you to park your car in the designated bays. Unless the Council have allocated individual spaces, you are free to park where you wish. Even if your neighbour has bought a permit, she cannot reserve a space. In fact, she is probably wasting her money if she did as most permits refer to an identified car! Some Councils do sell visitors permits which you can hand to a visitor when required.

One of my neighbours tried to tell me that she had exclusive use of a parking bay on her deeds and I called her a liar to her face! I told her if she persisted, I would contact the Council Parking Department who would put her in her place. I do have a way with words!

The woman does not have any rights to the road outside her house but if she tries to pursue her spurious ‘rights’ the only thing the council will do is paint double yellow lines along the whole street. She needs to know that.

Regardless of permits or not, none of us has a divine right to park outside our own homes. The only exception will be if a disabled person had a space designated. Even then if another disabled person came along they could use the space. Tell her to take it to the Council or Police and they will tell her, save you having to educate her.

In exactly the same position re parking except fewer spaces than houses. No one has their own space, and she's in for an unpleasant time if she thinks she has in your road. Should it happen again (I'm assuming she's newish to the road) explain to her that 'all' the neighbours have 'always' parked where they can.

Teatime has the right attitude. Approach your neighbour in a friendly way, say sorry if you caused any inconvenience , again explain that each space isn't allocated to a specific house. That in future you'll endeavour not to park outside her house but if a similar situation arises again you may be forced to park there, but you'll move your car asap. If she's not happy with all that , well tough the law is on your side

There is a lady in my street who writes a letter to any new person moving in that we have to park outside our own house and nowhere else.She has made people cry so I think there must be some other things she says.But as we live onna curve one house has almost no space so they cannot park there!
Two families moved after she yelled and swore at them.And someone parked a white can outside her house before going on holiday for 2 weeks.The anger seems not to affect her.I think it's better to be polite, smile and walk away as some people are disturbed

A lot of people do think they own the space outside their property. As one poster has said life is too short to get in a tizz over spaces but also you do have to stick up for yourself as well or else bullying subsequently takes place, not all of the time but it’s better I think to state the facts which you did and kept cool, so you did nothing wrong at all. It’s a shame that the lady doesn’t have the opinion life is too short. Where we lived prior to here I used to garage my car, our garage was behind the house but hubbie had a van which because he came home after everyone else as he worked long days just couldn’t get parked outside our property. He had to park outside others. He got horrid notes on his windscreen and then scratches appeared all over it, horrid considering he worked so hard. We left and now have a drive thankfully. It’s hard as some families have to own a few cars for getting to work and it is difficult to find spaces down some streets. X

nettynan As far as I know, you have the right to park according to the rules of the Highway Code, in any road because it is public property and she does not own the road. However, for the sake of your peace of mind, I would avoid her. I had slashed tyres in an outer London Borough where I worked, apparently I was offending the person outside whose house I parked, but there was no "designated parking" sign so I was within the law. I also once found a very rude letter on my windscreen in a wide quiet residential road where I parked and the house holder assumed I had gone to the Park opposite. People are very selfish and have grand ideas about their rights to their little kingdoms. Even though they are not entitled to remove you from a public road, I would avoid such people as they usually are immune to logic or reason and can become aggressive and dangerous.

Sorry that you had to meet one of these people. They are a minority but they have a strong effect on us. I've been bullied by one-such recently who was doing something under the guise of his own self styled Christian charity, and over-stepped his brief into trying to run my life in a threatening and totally inappropriate way. He has retired and misses the authority he had in his office where he used to bully and brag and pompously strut around pestering people self-importantly. As a disabled widow with a house with maintenance needs, he saw me as an easy target.
Good luck! ?

The road is a public space; nobody has any rights to any space on that road unless the council advises otherwise. Despite that many people regard the space opposite their property/home to be "theirs". This is wrong but it does mean that some people need a little bit of education about roads and ownership. If there is a local bobby who can be contacted that person could make the position clear and obviously with authority, which may avoid and bad feelings.

Some people manage to get their council to mark out and place a sign for a disabled parking space. Even though that space may be outside the home of the person who requested the facility another person with a blue badge could srill use that space.

Speak to your local council they will put her right
Maybe give you a leaflet to pass onto her

Parking - a nightmare topic! However you only have a right to the space in front of your house if the kerb has been dropped - officially - thus giving you access to park on your drive, front.

It’s a public highway therefore anyone who has a permit can park there and she cannot dictate to anyone where they can park. She has no rights to the area outside her house. Explain this to her politely and if she does not believe you to contact the local council highways.

We are lucky we have a garage and drive. However, inconsiderate neighbours who have parking at the back of the property for 3+ vehicles often park all their vehicles on the road. This makes life very difficult for those neighbours who have only on-street parking, especially at weekends when there seems to be more vehicles around. I have no objections to anyone using the parking in front of my property however, I do object to people taking advantage or being too lazy to put their vehicles away making life difficult for others.

Park where you like she has absolutely no right to tell you otherwise! We do have a drive but hubby is a builder so parks one of his vans around the corner in the estate behind us as otherwise it would be obstructing the view or people pulling out of the junction if we parked outside of our drive. One lady is outraged at this and leaves notes on it telling him he must move it, he has kindly asked her to call the police if he is breaking any laws and send them to our door to point them out because the last he heard it was ok to park a legal vehicle on an unrestricted road! Funnily enough we have yet to have them knock on our door!
You simply cannot please everyone and as unpleasant as it is to.be at odds with a neighbour you must stand your ground.

On a visit from France I parked my French registered car near to my goddaughter's house and moved a cone from the middle of the space to do so.
When I went back to my car it had been keyed along both sides, across the bonnet and the boot.
I thought how mean that was considering it was obviously a one off visit by a 'foreign' visitor.

Yes just tell her it was a off as far as youre concerned,as youd rather park outside youre own house,but you couldnt,and that if anyone HAD visited you'd have been happy to move,but as they didnt it wasnt a problem,was it?