'No Parking Sign on private land - by that I mean OUR land

[EzyChic]

EzyChic, I have to agree with your earlier post, suggesting your neighbour must be a bit nuts. The stuff about planning permission, police involvement, etc is clearly pure fiction.

 

However, one thing to be careful of. When it comes to selling, you are supposed to declare any disputes you have with your neighbours. I am not sure what constitutes a "dispute", but you need to be careful to ensure it doesn't escalate too far, or selling could get hard if you have to own up to having looney neighbours who argue over everything. (Lying or failing to own up can also lead you into legal hot water further down the line.)

 

This as a concern - I think they are likely to sell before us (young boyfriends and girlfiend in a one bed flat) Vs proffessional married couple with 2 kids in a 4 bed house (and longer drive). But either way - this is something that I thought I may put to her if she persists - 'if I have to make a complaint of harrassment against you it will devalue your flat...'

[EzyChic]

Last post makes me sound a bit harsh... will try the nice approach to that first

[Jamberson]

I think it's a fair point. If your neighbour wants to bring on a dispute which may devalue your house, then it's reasonable to point out that they'll be devaluing their own too.

[EzyChic]

I think the flat is clearly NOT what she expected (maybe they thought the tarmac and cars outside when they bought it would be turned into green meadows..). I really think we are likely to own this house longer anyway. Either way I'm not disputing anything. I'm just parking on my drive,

[my-spirit-soars-free]

I think the coach house flats should not be allowed, they are a nightmare to live in. All the disadvantages of an integral garage, but you don't have any control over how the garage is used.

 

If you live in a coach house, you have a load of garages beneath you. The boy racer working on the car, running the engine for hours - thats under your living room. The family cutting the laminate flooring in their garage at 7am on a Sunday - that is under your bed. If people use the garage to store the car you get woken by the garage door opening in the night, and then the doors slamming again. You get the exhaust fumes coming in to your flat when the owners leave their engines running on a cold winters morning.

 

You get the smells from the garage up through the floors, you get the cold up from the unheated space, especially if one of the garage owners leave their door open.

 

 

 

From the point of view of insurance - you have to insure your flat when your neighbours have a load of inflammable items stored beneath you, you have to insure the whole building and you may find that some of the neighbours won't pay their share; your drains may be running under the neighbours drives, but if they block it is only your loo affected; if the garages have lights they may well be on your meter.

 

 

They are also the smallest properties on the estate, normally, which also increases resentment - illogical, but there can be an element of "they have all this space available and they have to use the space right next to us when we have hardly any space".

[EzyChic]

I think the coach house flats should not be allowed, they are a nightmare to live in. All the disadvantages of an integral garage, but you don't have any control over how the garage is used.

 

If you live in a coach house, you have a load of garages beneath you. The boy racer working on the car, running the engine for hours - thats under your living room. The family cutting the laminate flooring in their garage at 7am on a Sunday - that is under your bed. If people use the garage to store the car you get woken by the garage door opening in the night, and then the doors slamming again. You get the exhaust fumes coming in to your flat when the owners leave their engines running on a cold winters morning.

 

You get the smells from the garage up through the floors, you get the cold up from the unheated space, especially if one of the garage owners leave their door open.

 

 

 

From the point of view of insurance - you have to insure your flat when your neighbours have a load of inflammable items stored beneath you, you have to insure the whole building and you may find that some of the neighbours won't pay their share; your drains may be running under the neighbours drives, but if they block it is only your loo affected; if the garages have lights they may well be on your meter.

 

 

They are also the smallest properties on the estate, normally, which also increases resentment - illogical, but there can be an element of "they have all this space available and they have to use the space right next to us when we have hardly any space".

 

Funnily enough my friend put it down to resentment..... I look quite young too - bet that doesn't help if it is....

[seanamarts]

Sounds like you have this one in the bag, well done for keeping calm.

[Old Snowy]

Just checked with a mate who is a conveyencing solicitor - he says no rights at all to put the sign up. Contact the council re: removal so we can't be accused of theft.

Before you go and "up the ante" had it occurred to you that the deeds that your neighbours are working from might differ from the ones you have in their setting out of boundaries? They might just think that they are as much in the right as you are and it wouldn't be the first time this has happened. Nor would it be the first time that a plan provided by solicitors/agents/developers/builders was different to that filed at the LR. I'd suggest that it might be a mistake to rely on what you have and for a meagre investment you can obtain the definitive version from the LR.

[EzyChic]

Quick update:

 

Snowy - if we were parking on anyone elses land it would be next doors (not theirs) - next doors deeds show the same boundaries as ours.... Next door has just asked that we don't park encroaching their land as they are being harassed by these people over it.

 

Sadly the issue has not resolved - they have taken to banging on the door and threatening us whenever we use our drive. I made a complaint of harassment to the police. The police came around the other day but I was not home. They told my husband that the neighbours had made a complaint about us (though I can't work out what for). I'm unsure of what the police said to them.... Anyway, we had one car on the front part of our drive today- I had to go out this evening with my son. When I went to go to the drive there is a huge van parked right behind my car across my drive - there was no way I'd ever get my car out (unless I could get it through a 1 foot gap). I didn't knock on their door as they are very aggressive. But went out for a cigarette (I don't even smoke I just needed to calm my nerves) a couple of hours later and saw the neighbour driving off in the van. It was obviously put there to block me in, as parking further back (even still on my drive) would not have restricted my access. I know this is harassment, but any suggestions if they do it again? Say when I have to go to work, or take the kids to school? (since the signs there has been a plethora of incidents -tweeting about it is all that's kept me sane).

[dx100uk]

start taking photos

 

dx

[seanamarts]

Keep a diary of the incidents as well, build up a log and then see a solicitor and get an injunction. If they are threatening you get one with a power of arrest.

[my-spirit-soars-free]

Do you have a neighbour mediation scheme where you are? Some councils run them, and it WILL be a better option than going through the legal route.

 

The legal route is likely to mean that everyone loses out, and will cost thousands of pounds, if the other party also get a solicitor - and it looks like they will.

 

Neighbour disputes are expensive, and will ruin your quality of life, you are already starting to smoke when you don't smoke - even if you are 100% in the right, do you want a major legal battle that drags on for years?

[The Slithy Tove]

start taking photos

And start/keep a written diary of events. Will be useful if anything ends up in court.

[Conniff]

Now that your other neighbours are complaining about you as well, shouldn't you be taking a fresh look at this to see just 'who' is in the wrong.

 

If this disputed piece of land is shown on your deeds as belonging to you, then go to a solicitor and do something about it, a tweet will solve nothing.

[EzyChic]

Now that your other neighbours are complaining about you as well, shouldn't you be taking a fresh look at this to see just 'who' is in the wrong.

 

If this disputed piece of land is shown on your deeds as belonging to you, then go to a solicitor and do something about it, a tweet will solve nothing.

 

Maybe I didn't put that right... We used to park behind our drive on what is the other neighbours land... As that is what these people asked us to do so they could turn on our drive..... I pointed out the other week that where they wanted us to park wasn't ours... They now go and hammer on the people's land who's it is if we park there... (she's an old lady and gets frightened, so we've said we won't park there to save her the harassment) - if we park on our land they come threaten us!

 

Absolute nut jobs!

 

What can a solicitor do.... They've stopped even disputing its ours (think they paid LR for our deeds) just demand we don't park there... Because they don't want to look out their (coach house above garages) window at cars!

[dx100uk]

tough!!

 

dx

[Conniff]

Agreed - tough, invite you relatives and freinds around for a couple of days, but only the ones with cars.

[natalie]

subbing