We have a shared drive between our and next door's property. When we moved in, our neighbours came out and introduced themselves. She told us that the widow we bought the house from didn't drive so they either parked outside her (our) house or up the drive. I pointed out that the drive was shared and neither of us should park on it.
They had two cars and would invariable park 'her' car outside our house leaving the space outside theirs for her husband. On the rare occasion we were able to park outside our house, she would park on the road, blocking the shared driveway. On one occasion when I asked her too move it so I could get my car out, I got a torrent of abuse. When her husband intervened, she moved it. In the end, we applied to have the kerb dropped and had a driveway made which is just wide enough for two cars.
There were other occasions in the intervening time when we had to ask them not to park up the drive or on the dropped kerb. When she got divorced the situation eased a little until her neighbours had family staying. Their visitors parked outside her house. She started to park on the shared drive. I asked her, yet again, not to. Despite some unlady-like language, she did stop.
Eighteen months ago she moved out and has been letting the property since. I wrote to the estate agents as soon as the sign went up, asking them to advise anyone moving in to keep the drive clear. I enclosed a copy of the title which has a restrictive covenant specifically stating that the shared driveway has to be kept clear at all times.
For about a year they complied until they got another car. We have had to ask them to move it a few times until in the end, I wrote to the estate agent again. We were sent a letter from the owner asking us to contact their solicitor in future.
The driveway leads to the back gardens. Neither of us has a garage but when a car is parked up the drive, there isn't much room to pass should we want to. Our main issue is the fact that we loose one of our two parking spaces in front of our house - in order to leave a reasonable gap between the cars we have to park towards the middle of the drive leaving only half a car's width.
A few weeks ago my wife came home to find a car parked on the shared drive. She knocked on the door and a man answered (not one of the current tenants). She asked him to move the car and he shut the door in her face saying he was 'sharing' the drive. She looked through the letterbox and saw our neighbour in the kitchen. She called to her to open the door. The woman said it was the owner & she couldn't tell him where to park. She said they themselves didn't park there, which may have been true these last 6 months but hasn't always been the case.
I saw the 'owner' leave and recognised him as the owner's father - he had said the same thing to me a few years ago when I asked him not to park in the drive.
I do not want to turn this into an official dispute by brining in the solicitors (even though my household insurance should cover it) but I don't want to ignore it in case we loose the rights due to constant use.
They had two cars and would invariable park 'her' car outside our house leaving the space outside theirs for her husband. On the rare occasion we were able to park outside our house, she would park on the road, blocking the shared driveway. On one occasion when I asked her too move it so I could get my car out, I got a torrent of abuse. When her husband intervened, she moved it. In the end, we applied to have the kerb dropped and had a driveway made which is just wide enough for two cars.
There were other occasions in the intervening time when we had to ask them not to park up the drive or on the dropped kerb. When she got divorced the situation eased a little until her neighbours had family staying. Their visitors parked outside her house. She started to park on the shared drive. I asked her, yet again, not to. Despite some unlady-like language, she did stop.
Eighteen months ago she moved out and has been letting the property since. I wrote to the estate agents as soon as the sign went up, asking them to advise anyone moving in to keep the drive clear. I enclosed a copy of the title which has a restrictive covenant specifically stating that the shared driveway has to be kept clear at all times.
For about a year they complied until they got another car. We have had to ask them to move it a few times until in the end, I wrote to the estate agent again. We were sent a letter from the owner asking us to contact their solicitor in future.
The driveway leads to the back gardens. Neither of us has a garage but when a car is parked up the drive, there isn't much room to pass should we want to. Our main issue is the fact that we loose one of our two parking spaces in front of our house - in order to leave a reasonable gap between the cars we have to park towards the middle of the drive leaving only half a car's width.
A few weeks ago my wife came home to find a car parked on the shared drive. She knocked on the door and a man answered (not one of the current tenants). She asked him to move the car and he shut the door in her face saying he was 'sharing' the drive. She looked through the letterbox and saw our neighbour in the kitchen. She called to her to open the door. The woman said it was the owner & she couldn't tell him where to park. She said they themselves didn't park there, which may have been true these last 6 months but hasn't always been the case.
I saw the 'owner' leave and recognised him as the owner's father - he had said the same thing to me a few years ago when I asked him not to park in the drive.
I do not want to turn this into an official dispute by brining in the solicitors (even though my household insurance should cover it) but I don't want to ignore it in case we loose the rights due to constant use.