How Many Cars Can I Park in My Driveway

Debate: Parking On Other People's Driveways

• The council will not remove a car parked on your driveway
• The police will class it as a civil offence
• It will cost you a small fortune in court
• You may be liable for damages if the car is towed

Shockingly, over the past few years there have been reports of people parking on driveways that don't belong to them.

Whether you're a homeowner or renting a property you would expect this to be something unacceptable and pretty darn rude.

A logical response to this happening would be to report the offender and get the vehicle towed away but according to recent events back in 2018, it would appear that this might be a waste of time and money.

What Happens If Someone Parks On Your Drive?

Let's imagine there is a stranger's car parked on your driveway. It's fully road legal, it's taxed, it's in date for it's MOT and has been there for two weeks.

Your local council have no power or authority to remove a vehicle from your driveway due to it being on private land. Considering the vehicle is trespassing, you'd think the police would be able to do something about it? Wrong, the police are more likely to chalk it down to a civil offence which holds no bearing in criminal law.

What Can You Do About This?

Your options are very limited when dealing with this.

The only time the council will remove the vehicle is if it is abandoned. To be classified as abandoned the vehicle needs to be untaxed for at least one month and left in the same location for a long period of time.

You can't cause any damage to the vehicle so scrap that option straight away.

You could pay over £100 to tow the car away but this might cause damage to the vehicle where you would be liable to pay for any damages.

Police have advised in the past "Don't damage or clamp the vehicle or have it removed by a third party for destruction or storage without first seeking legal advice.".

The only legal way to resolve this issue would be to obtain an eviction notice from the courts however this might cost you a hefty amount of money. The court would process the order for removal which leave you with legal fees that could tally up to thousands of pounds.

How To Prevent People Parking On Your Driveway

There are a few solutions designed to help prevent this from happening:

• Installing collapsible bollards

This could cost you hundreds, if not thousands of pounds just to prevent someone from parking on your driveway.

• Installing a gate

This could be costly depending on what system you would want to be installed.

• Placing cones on your driveway

This would be very annoying to get the cones in and out every morning.

As you can see, the main ways to prevent this from happening will cost you money for something that honestly should never happen in the first place. Take our poll and let us know what you think should be done?

Let Us Know Your Thoughts

Take our poll or let us know in the comments below.

How Many Cars Can I Park in My Driveway

Source: https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/blog/debate-parking-on-other-peoples-driveways/

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