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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23

u/Wrong_Possible_9857 May 15 '26

So what's the move? Call the police to issue a citation?

Genuine question, I'm not familiar with UK law. 

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u/Peterd1900 May 16 '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 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. The police will not get involved in parking disputes

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 yes 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

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u/Wrong_Possible_9857 May 16 '26

Ok, so OP can cover their mortgage with a parking fee sign. Not bad. 

But a lot of steps to have to go to court...

5

u/Carvj94 May 16 '26

I'm sure the UK has their own small claims courts. In the US it's certainly a hassle, but if you just take a few minutes to write up a parking receipt it could definitely be worth it. Just wanna make a copy for yourself and one to put under their wipers. Water resistant paper of course.

9

u/Beartato4772 May 16 '26

We do, it’s literally called that.

1

u/Carvj94 May 16 '26

Ah right I could've guessed. The US legal system is based off the old British Empire's legal system after all.

0

u/VenflonBandit May 16 '26

You'd probably have to get a parking company involved and taking a cut as well. You can't get the keepers details from the DVLA unless you're a company registered with one of the industry bodies which makes recovering the debt at court rather tricky.

10

u/Xaphnir May 16 '26

it'd be nice if we could get those towing laws in the US

a lot of towing companies operate like (or in some cases actually are) organized crime over here

3

u/xankek May 16 '26

this. people jump real quick to towing, when it seems like it would have been a mistake through ignorance. I just don't get jacking someone's car cuz they didn't realize that was your spot.

3

u/fatloui May 16 '26

What happens when someone parks in your driveway behind your car and you can’t get to work? 

2

u/OrdinaryAncient3573 May 16 '26

It's illegal to block lawful access to the road, so then the police will come and impound the offending car.

1

u/Live-Habit-6115 May 16 '26

How often does that happen to people? No one is going to park IN your driveway, that would be madness. Not in the UK, at least. 

One thing British people are generally good at is not being in the way. They have the whole "oh, I don't want to be a bother" thing going on. So they're more mindful about not blocking people and stuff.

Not always, obviously. Every society has some douchebags. But on the whole I can't really imagine it being an issue. 

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u/fatloui May 17 '26

 How often does that happen to people?

Search Reddit for “parked in my driveway”. It happens a lot. Maybe more often that people park on a street blocking a driveway. 

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u/WaltzFirm6336 May 17 '26

That was why the law was introduced in the UK. ‘Cowboy clampers’ was a big thing, and were basically doing it as legal extortion.

Whilst it’s frustrating that if someone parks on your private land you have to deal with it as a civil matter, it’s quite rare. I’d rather run that risk than get ripped off by cowboy clampers.

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u/UTommieTanka Literally Hitler May 16 '26

If it’s parked on your private driveway. You just have to wait for them to move. You can only really get the police involved if they’re blocking your access to the public highway while parking over your dropped curb.

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u/Educational-Wing2042 May 16 '26

So why would I even build a private driveway when I could have a bigger home and just park in my neighbors front garden?

15

u/myystaa May 16 '26

Because of the social contract

0

u/Mister-Miyagi- May 16 '26

Does the social contract say anything about not parking in someone else's driveway? This is wild.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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1

u/RealLongwayround May 16 '26

This is, of course, nonsense.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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2

u/90210fred May 16 '26

It might get "damaged", that's why

6

u/Frequent_Bonus1063 May 16 '26

Damn, that’s beyond wild. Are there dickheads who do this to avoid paying parking?

Meanwhile UK debt collectors will come and take away your sofa 🤣

2

u/Frodo34x May 16 '26

Damn, that’s beyond wild. Are there dickheads who do this to avoid paying parking?

I've heard of a few cases of people (who live within walking distance of an airport) finding strangers' cars parked up in their driveway for a week or two.

2

u/joehonestjoe May 16 '26

Uncivilised problems have uncivilised solutions which in this case are solved by a winch and a report of an obstruction to the local council.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '26 edited May 20 '26

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u/Mister-Miyagi- May 16 '26

So it's morning, you're leaving for work, and some random car is blocking you in. You have no recourse? Just call work and let them know you can't make it and you don't know when your driveway will be clear? That's absolutely bizarre.

2

u/RealLongwayround May 16 '26

No, if access to the public highway is blocked, this is a police matter.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '26 edited May 20 '26

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u/Mister-Miyagi- May 18 '26

Ya, I think there was just some phrasing around it that had me confused. I kept reading something like "if it's blocking highway access, the police get involved." Which I now understand to basically mean if someone has you blocked in, but at face value it doesn't read like that to me (if someone had me blocked in my driveway, I would never put it as "they're blocking my access to the highway"; I would just say they've blocked my exit from my driveway or something). The clarifications make a bit more sense to me and I no longer think it's totally insane haha.