Parking

I can see both sides really. If someone lives near a shopping centre, bus stop or train station they can find it impossible to park on their road which must be very frustrating, particularly if they have small children in the car, or have to carry luggage or heavy shopping back to the house.
Multiple car families, taking up several spaces on the road are another issue. As is the amount of renovation work that gets done on houses nowadays which means lorries, vans and trailers parked all over the road.
So I can understand why people in those situations get very irritated with other people constantly parked outside their house.

But coming out and rudely ordering people to move their cars is not on, yet a growing number of people seem to think they are entitled to do this.

But I also feel sorry for commuters who have no public transport where they can afford to live, no parking at work, and a limited number of streets where they can park because so many now are metered or resident only.

If they don't have a dropped kurb, it doesn't matter their view in principle. Dropped kurbs when you've paid for one can add some issues.
But they either are nosey and want to see what's going on and your car stops that or just your normal moaners. I wouldn't take it personally.
Obviously if it's the only place to park, then park there. For your own peace sake, if there is somewhere else, then park elsewhere and leave someone else to fight that battle.

Smurf52

They have no right to complain. They don’t own the road space outside their house.

Another one who hasn’t read the thread.

Elvis58

People dont own the road outside their homes if you pay road tax you are entitled to park there if you are not breaking any parking rules or regulations.

Clearly you haven’t read the thread. I own the land up to the middle of our road.

They have no right to complain. They don’t own the road space outside their house.

We live literally across the road from the local airport.

A couple of years ago the airport phased out any free parking so now people who don't want to pay for parking park outside our gates (sometimes for weeks as some are FIFO workers) or days if they are flying to the mainland for sporting events etc, and it is difficult for residents as visitors cannot park nearby etc.

I must admit I get very crabby about this sometimes.

We have a house in Cumbria where the roads are very narrow,it is a nightmare to get through,I must admit drivers are very good and wait for others to pass, but the amount of cars parked half on the pavement is getting ridiculous,I feel sorry for the bus drivers of small but necessary buses, who have this challenge several times a day.So many people have several cars in each household this is the problem.Our immediate neighbour has four cars,mainly parked n their own space but when boy friends come along,there are six cars in one household

Ridiculous
Just park there, they don’t own the road

kevincharley are you a driver? If so do you only park in car parks or on parking-metered spaces? Never, ever outside a house you don't own?

Kevincharley you’re entitled to your opinion, but the bad manners belonged to the people who complained.

I back the people whose house you parked outside. It may not be illegal but it's definitely bad manners.

I lived in a village where one resident kept complaining about planning applications that had no bearing on his home and other things. It went round the village that the new head of planning sent him a curt letter in response to one objection. It read - "You live in this village, you don't own it and you are not entitled to a view."

They must be really bored if all they can focus on is who parks outside their house. Tell them to get a life!! The road belongs to everyone.

I’m disabled and my mobility is pretty rubbish. So when I arrived home one day to find nowhere to park, I parked in a bay three houses down.

Next day I was really sick and didn’t go out at all. The following morning when I went to move my car I found a notice on it - stuck to the paintwork with brown parcel tape. I was furious. A bloke came out of the house telling me I had no right to park there. The note stated if I parked there again, they would call the police on me. Bloke was so rude, screaming in my face, saying I didn’t even live in the street! I was the first to move in when it was newly built!

I took photos and moved my car. I called my landlord (same as his) as I was shocked at what he’d done. Police said it was criminal damage (the tape took parts of the paint off) and did I want to press charges? I said no, but I’d like you to have a word with him to let him know anyone can park and that he doesn’t own the road which is what he was screaming at me!

That night at 11.30pm one of his sons knocked on my door. I opened it reluctantly for him to threaten me with violence if I parked there again, and he’d MAKE SURE I never used that spot again! What the f?!! My daughter was behind me and has the sense to record the conversation on her phone. Again reported it so it was on file in case of further incidents.

A few months later I had no choice but to park there again. As I hobbled up the hill walking stick in hand, another son raced up behind me and started screaming at me about parking there ‘It’s not your bay/this bay came with the house (none of them do!)
my Mums disabled (as am I - with a blue badge) move your car now or I’ll smash it up!’ He tried to stop me going into my house but I brushed past him. Reported it again, and waiting for the police to arrive. They never bothered. That was over 5 years ago!

But I had to make a formal complaint to the landlord for them to speak to him and stop him and his family screaming obscenities at me and my daughter in the street.

They’ve been quiet for a while now, Tho I often get two fingers up at me if I go out. I just laugh and if I have to park there again I will, even though I have since applied for a disabled bay which has been put outside my house. It’s not just for my use, but anyone with a blue badge and there’s a few people around here that have blue badges so it’s not always empty.

I say… Live and let live. No one owns the public highway apart from the council.

The law states that a road is a public highway and no one owns it, even outside there own house. I have had large vans parked outside my house which have blocked the light from my front room for over a week. The police say there is no law to stop this. As it is classed as a public highway anyone can park where they like, even large vehicles. If anyone asks me to move from outside there house , I tell them they can consult the police for information on this.

I was once told off for parking outside MY OWN house ! Actually, it was s taxi that had brought me home from work, The neighbours saw that it was me but still told the driver to move as her daughter, who lived in the house next to mine, might need the space outside my house for guests to park. So we, the driver and I,chatted for a while and watched her rant and rave in front of my garden wall. Some people need a reality check.

Rosie51 In some cases people do own the bit of the road outside their home. It's in the title deeds of a home. Both my mum and I did own the bit of road outside her home. I had many an argument with a neighbour who parked at the bottom of my driveway when I needed to head out to work and couldn't as he was blocking my drive. Pretty annoying. Different if someone was still in the car who could drive

I have no parking at my house as I live on a single track road. I parked nearby on a public lay-by and someone who lived opposite, who thought he had a better right than I to park his commercial vehicle plus 2 cars there keyed my car badly, smashed the windscreen and punctured the tyres on 3 separate occasions. All the police could suggest was to install a camera in my car as I had no proof it was him, except that he’d harangued me several times.

arthurboyd.co.uk/using-company-vans-for-tax-free-home-to-work-travel/

Possibly why so many work vans/vehicles are parked in residential streets nowadays.

If people choose their residence to be on a busy road or near a doctor's or retailer's establishment, then they should expect and accept that there will be parking in front of their house. If they are uncomfortable with that, then they should relocate.

If they don't own the road, then they can't dictate who can park there. I would continue to park there, and if something is said again, I would consider it harassment. Perhaps you can report them.

Pammiel. Thank you for your comment. I’m very new to being so immobile so trying to find my feet (literally!)

I’m not sure that the council would mark a disabled area out although I have contacted them with that in mind and asking if it could be considered. The Blue badge is something that I am in the process of applying for as it would be handy elsewhere and not just at my home address.

Our village has no pavements along the roads and is a ‘no through’ village so it’s generally the local folk that need to park but the problem arises with the number of cars to the number of households. Most have at least two. The large house across from mine has a minimum of five cars most days and sometimes they can have as many as seven which is a total nightmare. They can accommodate four or five vehicles on their drive but often choose not to because of ease of driving out of the village! They don’t want to get blocked in by the other vehicles in the household. When we bought the property a couple of years ago my feet worked and the house opposite ours was occupied by a family with just two vehicles.

Whilst I agree with what has been said about parking outside someone else's house, can I say a bit about the other side. I live immediately opposite a GP surgery, and people park whilst they go in, often a relative sits in the car waiting. They re not long usually, and drive off. Then are immediately replaced by another car that sits for 10/15 minutes, that goes and is replaced by another car and occupants. you get the picture. When it is cold the person waiting in the car often has the engine running, or in summer has the radio on with window open. I cannot open my window because of fumes, noise and and comings and goings. The worst thing is, this is supposed to be for residents only and the notice is generally ignored because "I'm only going to be a few minutes", It is the "only a few minutes" that is the problem. On the rare occasions I have spoken to somebody (to ask them to switch of the engine maybe) I have been met with hostility and incredulity that I would dare to ask them.

@Breda. Can you not ask the council to mark out a disabled bay by your house - if you have a blue badge you can then use it to park. Other blue badge holders can park in it though - but from what you say that wouldn’t be much of a problem and might give you better access.

The residents at our local primary got a petition up and now there are yellow lines where the parents used to park outside the school. Apart from blocking driveways it is totally unsafe for children to be going between parked cars with or without their car obsessed parents. The children are better off walking with their parents to school anyway so long as they haven’t got too far to walk.

We had an off road parking space at the end of our garden when we lived in an end terrace house years ago. There was a dropped kerb and lines, but that didn't stop a few neighbours parking over it and blocking our car. One woman who did night work would regularly park across the space at about seven in the morning and go home to bed. So frustrating - one day I thumped on her door until she got up, and said politely that I would come and knock every time she did it as she was stopping us using our car for the day - did she not think this was unreasonable? She stared at me as if I were speaking another language, got her keys and moved the car. Fortunately now we have ample parking and more considerate neighbours - it certainly can cause stress and arguments when people are thoughtless - or don't care.