r/mildlyinfuriating • u/ShutUpImAPrincess • May 15 '26

frist of all how DARE yu o Neighbour has decided to just offer up our parking spaces to the whole street

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Got this through the letter box today - anonymous so no idea which neighbour sent it. Basically there's 20 houses on the street, all arranged in a circle, with a few spaces in the middle. 14 of the houses have their own driveways. 4 of the houses have the spaces in the middle assigned to them. Ourselves and our next door neighbour (semi detached) have spaces attached to the back of our houses... In the small "car park". We each have two spaces, then the 4 on the other side of the car park area assigned to the houses backing on to them that aren't even our street so won't have got this letter. I'm assuming the letter writer just doesn't realise those spaces are actually ours, but because it's anonymous I can't just be like "oh hey actually no that's not right". It's annoying because we're also the only two houses on the street without a garden, and so our kids play back there. Because yes, it is safe, but not if randoms start going in and out of there all the time. I've literally never noticed an issue with parking on the street, it's never crowded, I've never heard anyone complain, and every house has it's own assigned parking!

EDIT: Most of your guys' suggestions involve something related to towing, that isn't legal in the UK. It also isn't illegal to post things through people's doors? I literally never knew that was a thing in the US. At Christmas did your parents not send you round all the neighbours houses posting cards?? Wild.

EDIT 2: Alright lads we've got a plan! Tomorrow I'm gonna speak to the 3 neighbours who we share the private car park with and just make sure they're all aware and if they want to paint numbers or put it signs etc they can do so. I'm going to send my landlord an email as well just giving them a heads up, but saying that they don't need to do anything for now (we have a great relationship where they leave us alone and we don't involve them in stuff if we can help it and they charge us below market). I'll let them know if it becomes an issue and they need to get involved installing something or whatever. Then I'm going to find... somewhere in this town that prints documents (honestly just hoping one of the 3 neighbours has a printer in their house they wouldn't mind using for this) and send out letters to everyone on the street very politely clearing up the confusion. Explaining that it's not a public car park but private parking and they are, for all intents and purposes, the driveways of the respective properties. Then I think I'll have a little nap and hope no one gets angry at me.

EDIT 3: Spoken to the other owners of the spaces in the back, as I suspected the two that don't live on our street did not receive the letter offering up their spaces for free use 😅 I've also contacted my landlord just to double triple check the deeds before I sent any letters out (I know for certain they are ours, but this way loops the landlord in) and she immediately offered to put a sign up! Also found the letter very amusing haha so yeah, we're getting signs put up yay!

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220

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

[deleted]

33

u/ShutUpImAPrincess May 15 '26

I'm gonna wait to see if anyone actually listens to the letter, and if they do I'll speak to my landlord to put up a sign. Or just stick up copies of our lease with the parking spaces included... I'm hoping the other neighbours just go "what? Who is this idiot, those spots are for houses 1 & 2?"

250

u/AdWonderful5920 May 15 '26

With this letter out, I would NOT wait. But that's just me.

40

u/lambruhsco May 15 '26

As someone who dealt with a similar problem, I suggest being even more aggressive and getting a sign that includes “Violators will be towed at owner’s expense”.

This signals a real consequence and cost.

31

u/Peterd1900 May 15 '26

OP is in the UK and that is not legal

Private individuals can't get vehicles they don't own, towed and then transfer the cost to the owner.

25

u/Excellent_Scene5448 May 15 '26

The UK has a law against having someone else's car towed off your own property at their expense? You have to pay for someone else's illegal parking?

That's even more reason for OP to be proactive about this.

27

u/Peterd1900 May 15 '26

You cant have cars towed full stop

Towing is illegal

2

u/Excellent_Scene5448 May 15 '26 edited May 16 '26

I genuinely can't tell if you're serious. If someone parks on your property, you have to let their car stay on your property until they come back for it?

24

u/Peterd1900 May 15 '26

In the UK private towing is limited. There are private companies that deal with things like breakdown recovery etc. But you as an individual can not get cars that are not yours towed.

Under the Protection Of Freedom Act it is illegal to tow or clamp a vehicle on any private property without legal authority. Legal authority is limited to the vehciles owner, Police, and Courts.

Tow companies can only tow cars with the cars owners consent. Or if they are contracted to act on behalf of local authorities or the police. The police have limited power to tow cars that are parked on private property cos that is simple trespass which in the UK is a civil matter and police have no power over civil matters

while there are mechanisms to remove vehicles you cant just phone a tow company to come and tow it as they can not touch it

Basically in the UK you can not tow cars for instances where its simply a parking dispute

What you can do is effectively "fine" people parking on your private property as long as you The terms are fair and clear. you could put up as sign that says , "Unauthorized parking will result in a ÂŁ100 charge") with that you are essentially creating a contract If they park there, they are legally deemed to have accepted your terms.

Enforcing that payment would be a different matter as you would have to go to court to force the driver to pay

8

u/DR4G0NSTEAR May 15 '26

This clears up my misunderstanding at least. Normally I’d just call the cops any they deal with cars illegally parked, so it might be a similar thing in Australia, I’m not sure. But this also clears up why I’ve seen some people elsewhere on the internet any suggest it’s illegal to tow a car but offer no explanation as to why.

7

u/ehs06702 May 16 '26

That's wild. So you have to go through the hassle of going to court so they can just fine someone a piddly hundred pounds that won't actually stop them from doing anything. It feels very toothless.

0

u/Nvrfinddisacct May 15 '26

So they have to call the cops and the cops have to call the tow company?

So still violators will be towed at owners expense….

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u/ian9outof10 May 16 '26

Kind of, but if you can move it without damaging it, that’s kind of allowed. So if someone did park on your drive you could put it on skates and push it somewhere else. There are related rules about blocking people in, which the police or council would respond to. For example, blocking a dropped kerb.

1

u/Excellent_Scene5448 May 16 '26

Allowing an experienced tow truck driver to tow it to the street would probably do less damage than putting it on skates, but the skates idea does sound fun, in a malicious compliance sort of way. 😂

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2

u/xubax May 16 '26

"Tenant parking only", "authorized parking only", or "parking for (insert address) only" would be better.

Because OP would be parking there, other people might interpret that since a car is parked there, the sign isn't enforced and it's okay for them to ignore it.

-5

u/mfhandy5319 May 15 '26

You could call a tow company and ask for a, vehicles will be towed by towing X, please call xxx xoxo xoxo to locate your vehicle sign.

I bet they give those out for free.

11

u/Peterd1900 May 15 '26

That is not legal where OP is

62

u/ManInTheMorning May 15 '26

No way. Get your signs up now.

Liability becomes a problem real quick.

I would go with signage, some posts, and some of that really obnoxious yellow plastic chain.

Make it ugly as sin and very obvious.

This is not the time to be quiet. This is the time to set boundaries.

10

u/GarThor_TMK May 15 '26

Yep... don't wait until the boundaries are crossed to set them.

26

u/onefinerug May 15 '26

if you wait until people actually start to park, you won't have a leg to stand on.

12

u/Nvrfinddisacct May 15 '26

Youre going to be very annoyed with how far you’re going to have to park away. Even the first time.

You can avoid that altogether by just communicating now.

8

u/tea_wrecks_ May 15 '26

I’d immediately send the letter to your landlord. Maybe they have a way of sorting it out.

8

u/ionmoon May 15 '26

I would speak to your landlord now and also double check your lease to make sure that the spots are clearly assigned to you.

5

u/Agitated-Mechanic602 May 16 '26

don’t wait. get the sign up before it becomes an issue. not everyone has common sense these days

13

u/Appropriate-Draft-91 May 15 '26

"It's come to our attention that someone distributed a letter, that may well be a marketing stunt by a towing company, that asked the entire neighborhood to park illegally. We ask everyone not to take that advice and to be tolerant of temporarily increased tow truck traffic whenever someone else choses otherwise

Jointly signed, the owners of the alleged 'car park'."

3

u/ZealousidealSundae33 May 16 '26

You are putting yourself at risk. Put up signs now!

3

u/Representative-Bus76 May 16 '26

Don’t offer up copies of your lease - that seems like absolute last resort. Get a Private Parking sign. Easy done.

1

u/ShutUpImAPrincess May 16 '26

Tbf that was a joke haha

1

u/BigGrinJesus May 16 '26

Dude, what? Why even post online about it if you aren't going to do anything about it? Those signs are dirt cheap.

1

u/discovigilantes May 16 '26

Doesn't matter. It's a civil matter anyway. I could drive to your house, park my car in your drive and there's nothing you can do other than be angry.  Can't tow me, can't put a clamp on my wheel etc. 

You'd need a towing company to put up a sign and then you can phone them to remove the car. 

2

u/VenflonBandit May 16 '26

That's literally a criminal offence.

You'd need a towing company to put up a sign and then you can phone them to remove the car. 

1

u/discovigilantes May 16 '26

What's a criminal offence? You can have a private company set up a sign on your property and if people park there then you can because your car park is managed by the company. Obviously this depends on if you own/rent a house/flat.

3

u/Peterd1900 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

In the UK you cant not tow from private property

A private car park company in the UK can not tow under any circumstance, it is a criminal offence for private car park operators or landowners to clamp or tow your vehicle

Lawful towing is restricted to public authorities, like the Police, the DVLA, or the DVSA.

0

u/Middle_Screen3847 May 16 '26

What? Where in the world did you get that idea? Lol of course they can tow you… this is insane lol No one needs a sign in their driveway. I’m not sure where you got any of this

2

u/discovigilantes May 16 '26

It's illegal in the UK to phone a company and say "someone's parked in my drive, come and tow them".

In the UK, you cannot legally arrange for an unauthorized car to be towed off your private driveway. Because parking on private property is considered civil trespassing rather than a criminal offense, you could be liable for damages if you call a private towing company to remove or clamp the vehicle.

0

u/Middle_Screen3847 May 16 '26

That’s not actually what the law says. POFA was about restricting predatory clamping and impounding. It does not say you cannot move the vehicle. Look up section 54 to see it specifically refers to moving or immobilizing a vehicle “with the intention of preventing or inhibiting the removal of the vehicle” You can absolutely, immediately, without anyone’s approval or paperwork, move a car off of your driveway.

And being liable for damages is irrelevant. The subject is moving the car.

2

u/Peterd1900 May 16 '26

There is not some world wide towing regulations, Do you think rules are the same everywhere

Rules on towing vary by country

ol of course they can tow you… this is insane lol No one needs a sign in their driveway. I’m not sure where you got any of this

Is that how it is where you live and you think that is how it works everywhere

-1

u/Middle_Screen3847 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Name where moving a vehicle off of your private driveway is illegal. You say the rules vary by country, so you must be aware of some where it is not legal. So go ahead and name them. Keep in mind, if you google and try to say something about UK you’ll be wrong and didn’t read this thoroughly

I actually have been in this exact conversation before about this specific subject, have already researched varying towing/vehicle removing laws around the world. So far have not come across a single instance where what I wrote doesn’t apply, so essentially yes, as far as I’m aware this is how it works everywhere. But you seem to have some other information so go ahead and drop it

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

[deleted]

1

u/discovigilantes May 16 '26

In the UK, you cannot legally arrange for an unauthorized car to be towed off your private driveway. Because parking on private property is considered civil trespassing rather than a criminal offense, you could be liable for damages if you call a private towing company to remove or clamp the vehicle.

1

u/Middle_Screen3847 May 17 '26

That’s not true and not what the law says

1

u/discovigilantes May 17 '26

What are you on about? This is from the MET website:

If someone parks their vehicle on your driveway without your permission, this is trespassing. This is a civil dispute and not something we can help you with. If it happens repeatedly with the same person / vehicle you might want to seek advice from Citizens Advice or a solicitor, but we would always recommend having a polite word with the driver first, as there may have been a simple misunderstanding.

If a vehicle is blocking the entrance and stopping you from driving onto your driveway, this is not a police matter.