Adjacent driveways!

My uncle had a house with a garage and access in a narrow road where his was one of only a few garages. As a result cars often parked across his access. This caused him real problems as his wife had a heart condition which meant he sometimes had to rush her to hospital at all times of the day and night.

After his polite notes, personal requests etc not to block his access were ignored he spoke to his Neighbourhood Watch police officer. After that whenever his drive was blocked, he phoned the police and if there was a police car in the area they would come and slap a parking ticket on the offending car for obstruction. To begin with he called them frequently, but after about a month as the offending drivers got the message - and the tickets - his drive was no longer obstructed.

Years ago we lived in a terrace house and had to put up with noise from both sides, parking problems etc. a nightmare.
We had an outside toilet no bathroom and the man who shared our yard used to pee out of his upstairs window because he couldn't be bothered to go to the toilet. He was disgusting and always drunk.
We saved and saved and bought the cheapest detached house we could afford.
We have never looked back it as worked out and we don't have any problems with neighbours.
Heaven.

We didn't think out parties and parking when we moved here, there is only our drive, three cars, our grass, one car, and our verge outside, maybe two or three. So we don't have any large gatherings. Our neighbours however are not so considerate. The ones across from us could ask everyone to use the entrance on the top lane, but they don't, they come by our bottom lane and clog up the whole lane. Sometimes it's almost impossible to get out of our lane, especially where there are houses where the older DCs still live at home and leave their cars on the lane rather than have to shuffle cars on the drive.

People! Our son lives in a pleasant village, in a nice semi-detached bungalow in a small cul-de-sac, with three off-road car spaces in front of his house. The cul-de-sac contains three other houses each with off-road parking for at least three cars, so there should be no parking problems. But there are, because people and visitors will insist upon parking in the cul-de-sac restricting and sometimes blocking-up access to the houses. It drives my son nuts. Because of traffic density he leaves for work very early in the morning and sometimes cannot get out of his own drive and has to drag his neighbour out of bed to move his car. Further up his road people park on both sides of the road or on the verge and pavement and this restricts the flow to just one lane. At peak times it will take five to ten minutes to turn out from the village onto the main road. That's country living for you!

Twice, your situation sounds pretty similar to the one I outlined. My neighbour had no qualms about her visitors parking in front if our house (and neither did we, as long as they didn't block the drive, but if the situation was reversed and anyone visiting us parked outside hers, she would make the most enormous fuss. My SIL's mum came to visit me one day and the back end of her car encroached beyond the boundary. My neighbour came out and took issue with her - told her to move it up or she would call the police. "Oh" said A with a nice smile, "I'll just call my husband, shall I? He's a JP, he'll be able to tell you whether I'm breaking the law." Next door turned on her heel and went back indoors. All our other neighbours were lovely, but it only takes one to make life a misery.

We live on a private access road that serves three houses, we are furthest from the access point. Our houses do not really have front gardens and the middle one has no garaging or off road parking. Both owners of this house have always been very considerate about parking. It is visitors to their house that cause us grief.

They park both sides of the access road, and sometimes in the centre, so that we cannot get past them to our house, they constantly back into our short garage access, which is private property, to turn round. The worst problems were with the previous neighbour who used to run flower arranging courses at her home. Despite her giving course attenders instructions to park on the public road, they would park on the access road, blocking us in completely and were outraged when we complained and made them move their cars.

In the end we bought some traffic cones and when our neighbour told us she was going to run a course we would put the cones out all along the front of our house and across the garage access

I live in a semi which is attached to me on the left hand side. The neighbours friends and relatives park right outside my house when they visit even when there is room on his drive it really annoys me as I can see the car just outside the living room window all the time, not so bad at the moment when it's dark and I have the blinds shut but very annoying in the summer when its light and the blinds/window is open. They never speak to me and rarely answer even if I say hello. The neighbours on my right have an adjacent drive to me and we park side by side with no problems at all. They are lovely friendly people and have been so kind to me since I moved I,n earlier this year. If we go away we put one another's bins out and if I am away she parks on my drive so it looks as if someone is still home. I sympathise because the first neighbours really get on my nerves but I feel so lucky to have the second neighbours. It's the luck of the draw I guess. Hope you have nicer ones when you move next year.

My drive is a foot lower than my neighbour's. I cannot imagine her trying to park her car half on my drive.

I once saw my neighbour pulling up the Californian poppies that I have along my driveway; he said they were 'poppy weeds'. Then, not long afterwards he was on my drive with his grandaughter collecting pine cones. They're really good neighbours and we've never had an arguement in nearly 40 years but I came close to it then . Thankfully it never happened again.

Put a row of planted-up containers along the boundary. You could just about plant them now with something that will bloom in spring, or be evergreen foliage. Or put supports into them to hold up some non-existent plants "when they come up". You can complain to the neighbours later that those plants you put in were sheer rubbish and have not done at all well. How about artificial plants?

Put a couple of garden chairs outside your French windows to at least look as though you sit out there (possibly cementing them down in case they walk away) You would freeze at the moment, but if you wait until the summer they will have got well into the habit of using the space as a highway.

Park your car beside the containers, so that the neighbours have to walk round it to cross the rest of your drive.

Make a big thing of needing lots of space to get in and out of your car, use a couple of sticks ostentatiously to show that you (or DH, or a visitor who is game to act the part for you) would struggle if there were another car parked beside it.

On bin days, use your drive as a halfway house for the bins on their way from the back to the pavement. Put them there when it is too early to put them out properly, but convenient for you to have them ready for the short distance when it is time.

Be very sweet and nice to them. Tell them you do hope that the little boy won't come to any harm if he wanders into your garden, where there are some rather dangerous plants, with leaves and berries that could cause him a nasty tummy upset - nothing really poisonous, of course, but unpleasant for him.

You could, of course, just ask them nicely if they would mind leaving your drive for you to use, and you will keep off their property in return. It may never have occurred to them that you would prefer that, if they have been used to flats with a little bit of communal garden/yard at the back and a strip of weed-infested gravel at the front.

Agree with what you said earlier, annie. If you are going to move next year, do not fall out with your neighbours over what is a temporary inconvenience. You will have to put any disputes with your neighbours on your house sale details. If you lie, you could be held liable by the purchaser.

Yes rosesarered, it's the slipping into it being the norm that I'm worried about. The houses are designed so that the kitchen French windows open to the front and I'm afraid I think cars are ugly great lumps of metal! For the first time in 9 years I don't always have to stare at ours and I don't want to stare at anyone else's! And it's a slippery slope, what's next? Attaching their bicycles to our fence? Putting their wheels bins on our drive because we happen to have more room?

And we all have different sensitivities. As I said, I feel invaded by them at the moment, they are much more noisy and obtrusively there than the people before and I need personal space and some peace and quiet. The removal and replacement of the hedge in the garden was insensitive enough for me to fear the worst. My garden was carefully designed to have private spaces where I could enjoy a book and some sunny peace and that has now gone. I cannot cope with the front suddenly being used too, it's like a siege!

Agree, that pots planted up would be a good barrier, and also look nicer?
The problem with neighbours getting used to you agreeing they can park on your drive [or their friends and relatives] is that they will do it all the time, and maybe without asking if you are out.We had this problem a long time ago, and also ended up with oily patches from their cars on the drive.
If anyone has a good neighbour, and they only ask this favour because of a wedding or similar, then that is different.Glad that we don't have that problem nowadays.

Well said Pompa, my feelings exactly.

annie if you do not need the extra parking space over Christmas, why don't you offer some room to your neighbours if they need it. That way you are letting them know it is your space and by your kindness they may use it when you agree.
But if you do need all your parking space over the Christmas period, then just mention that too.

We have a joke metal sign which says "Mercedes Benz parking only" all other vehicles will be towed away. DD bought it for her Dad as we have a Mercedes but so does our next door neighbour so I could hardly complain

We have adjacent drives with our neighbours. I would nevr have considered it a problem with utilising each others space to enable us to park or move our cars. Our neighbour has several cars and if he needs to get the furthest one out he will use my drive, I don't see any problem with that, he is causing no harm to my property. Likewise I normally park at the front of our house and use his drive to enable me to reverse into my space.

We are often away for periods, I then ask my neighbour to park one of his cars on my drive, looks like I am in.

Unless damage is being caused, live and let live.

Thanks for the reminder of that FlicketyB, it's one of those things that I call 'modern world'! I don't intend letting things progress to a row, it's good to have a place to let off steam so thank you GN! I've never had a neighbour problem before and I think I am amazed at their insensitivity and it's so out of character with the rest of the street. Hopefully, they'll fall into line in time. I am worried about Christmas when I suspect they'll have both families around and the parking question may arise again. Oh dear, people...sometimes I think I'd like a detached house with acres around!

Annie, if you are thinking of selling soon, grin and bear it, although putting a barrier down the edge of the properties, planters or post and plastic chain, should help anyway.

There is a question on the documents the solicitor will send you when you have a buyer asking about any disputes with your neighbours. You need to be able to tick the 'none' box.

Gold star, Sunseeker, one up for you and your son. Bet that wiped the smile off their faces!

Respect, Mr Sunseeker!

We used to have a really nasty neighbour who resented our moving into the village (I have no idea why) and even knocked on our door to tell us we weren't welcome in the village! We had a large drive and when their daughter got married most of the guests parked on our drive (without asking) and I couldn't get my car out of the garage. I was about to go across and ask them to move when DH arrived home. At the time he had a JCB which was kept on our land at the rear of the property. He went across to the neighbour and told them he was going to start up the JCB and he would use it to remove any cars still on our drive. People came streaming out of his house running for their cars and the last one got off the drive just as DH arrived in the JCB!! They never parked there again. However, I understand this was rather extreme (and not everyone has a JCB handy!).

I'd rather say nothing and just try to accept the situation. I do think its a good idea to invite them round for a mince pie and mulled wine though. When you know them better you may not mind the intrusions so much and as we get older it's better to be on good terms with neighbours.

Come to think about it, my other neighbour pointed out that the boundary wall is about 2 degrees out of square with the house last month. He went away happy when I pointed out that the house itself is about 2 degrees out as well.

I have a friend with the same problem, I sent her a link to cheap white chain fencing (she was trying to sell the house and didn't want buyers to know she had neighbour problems) and she put it down the central reservation.

The previous owners of this house (detached but with big wide shared driveway) built a wall slightly to our side. Our neighbours have small children and would like us to knock it down again. Of course they would - they want extra room to get the children in and out of the car without scratching the paint. However, they could also widen their drive, as we have on our side. Also I don't want the girls running all over my garden. Sweet though they are.

The wall is starting to crumble. When it gets bad I shall erect a living fence, which is a wooden paling fence planted up with ivy. The fence gradually disintegrates, but by then the ivy is firm and creates an evergreen hedge that can be cut right back thinly and kept as a fence.

If you say nothing, this will niggle and niggle until resentment spoils any chance of a friendly neighbourly relationship Either speak out now or put some sort of barrier- planters if appropriate. Do not get involved in any sort of dispute as that could "bite you in the bum" when you come to put the house on the market. Maybe a Christmas drink of mulled wine and a mince pie would be a good opportunity?