Hi wonder if someone can give me some advice? I have recently bought a caravan and parked it on the driveway and my neighbour is complaining. Apparently there is a restrictive covenant in place which states we can not park one there, which I didn't know as I rent the property. Their issue is that even though the caravan is on my drive, the driveways are next to each other with no fence in between and they are complaining that they can no longer use their drive as they can't open the car door at the side of the caravan. I measured the caravan and have left a 20cm gap and I can understand that they can't open their car door, however I have offered if they give me 2 days notice I will move it to give them access. I have informed that I will not put it in storage and I don't want to move it, can I be forced to move it?
Thanks
It will very much depend on who controls the covenant. If its the local Council you could be in difficulties. However if it is the original builder, usually the case, it could be debateable whether any action will be taken. Perhaps you need to check your rental agreement to make sure that you are actually allowed to store a caravan on the property. At the very least I think you should move the caravan over as far as you can to allow your neighbour a bit more room just in the sprit of goodwill. At the end of the day it will very much depend on how your neighbour acts so trying to calm things down might be advisable. Two days notice is unacceptable.
Thank you David for your reply, unfortunately I can't move the caravan any further as it is up against the house wall. There was nothing in my tenancy agreement about not parking a caravan on the drive however my landlord has said it should not be there and she has looked for somewhere for me to store it but I don't see why I should have to pay when I can park it on the drive. It is not a council property however my neighbour showed me the deeds stating we can't have them. My neighbour has been friends with my landlord for 10 years and I don't want to ruin their friendship but I don't see why I should move it when I have paid a lot of money for it.
Is there not a front lawn you could park it on for the time being whilst you sort this problem out? I can understand your neighbour wanting more than 20cm space to get in and out of the car, and even for the slimest and most nimble of people it would be a struggle and at risk of damaging the side of your caravan with the edge of the car door in the process.
Also regardless of any covernant, and if you are on a short term contract for your rented property, you risk a refusal of renewal from your Landlord should you refuse to abide by his request regards your caravan. Rental property is in high demand and very short supply, so getting a replacement tennant without a caravan would be fairly easy to do.
My own property had a covnant on it which lasted for 10years whilst the estate was being built. For several years we too had to pay to store our Caravan until we eventually sold up for a few years whilst our teenagers where at home, only to return to the hobby when my husband retired. We are lucky enough to have a double width drive, but considerate enough not to park the caravan on the side of our neighbours boundry, as this would not only block light out of their front window, but also block their view of oncoming traffic as they reverse out from their drive onto a busy road.
It is rather unlightly that any builder or original covenant owner would persue action against a homeowner due to the high legal costs involved. However, the local council may well serve a notice if they find that there is a health and safety risk or the offending artical or building is in breach of local byelaws for planning or building control.
Julia
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Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
If you're renting and breaking a covernant of the property I would comply. The landlord can make you comply and if they have a good relationship with the neighbour they are likely to do so.
I would also think how you would feel in their shoes not being able to open car doors. I wouldn't like my neighbours having vans on their drives even though I don't share a drive. We stored ours at a farm for this reason. I would only do as I would expect from others.
I don't think you should park a caravan on your drive if it stops your neighbour using theirs to park their car.
You may not like me saying this but it does seem a little selfish.
Quote: Originally posted by path20 on 28/5/2017
I don't think you should park a caravan on your drive if it stops your neighbour using theirs to park their car.
You may not like me saying this but it does seem a little selfish.
I know it must be difficult for you, but I agree with the above.
Quote: Originally posted by path20 on 28/5/2017
I don't think you should park a caravan on your drive if it stops your neighbour using theirs to park their car.
You may not like me saying this but it does seem a little selfish.
Would you be happy to come home and find a neighbour had taken down your fence because they positioned a shed too close to it to get into their shed. Or needed the space on your side to access something of theirs?
If whowever owned the house put a fence up on their property then it would also affect the neighbours geting into or out of their car.
If you need to encroach onto your neighbours property to get in or out of your car then thats their problem really.
That was if the OP was the owner. As the propert is rented then as mentioned i would be looking to keep the landlord happy and if they are friendly with the neighbours your lease wont be renewed. Then you will be looking for a new property with space for a caravan.
That wont be easy. You should have asked the landlord first.
You cant have a caravan on your own side of the drive as your neighbour needs to open their car door onto your property in order to access their car, but you could park you car/van/jumbo jet there and that's ok?
A covenant can be enforced if someone complains, and in this instance it looks like someone might. Usually it's the original builders who put the covenant in and frequently they'll have gone out of business by the time there's a problem. The landlord is the one who would be able to stop you now, even if there's nothing in your Lease. You really should have checked first, simply because it's not your property and it would have been polite to ask. Doesn't matter how much you've paid for your caravan, why should the neighbours be inconvenienced?
What I don't understand is the two days notice thing. If they can't get in or out of the car how does two days notice help? Don't they use the car regularly? Maybe I've missed something but I've read it twice.
Hi Billy,
When I moved into my house twenty years ago ,you were not allowed to park, commercial vehicles,caravans,motorboats or motorhomes on the drive and it was enforced by the council.
I could be wrong but I believe this stayed in place for the first ten years of the estates life.
If you are on a new estate I think you will be in trouble.
Hindsight being a wonderful thing ,I would have sounded out the neighbour beforehand, he could be being awkward because you didn't consult him in the first place.
Have you a relative in the area where you can store it for the time being?.
Hope you get it sorted.
Regards,
Greg
Gosh I'm shocked by your question and the fact you don't seem to consider the position of others - if I'm reading this correctly your only concern is whether you can be made to move it.
Why would you want to upset your neighbour and your landlord, particularly when the van shouldn't be there and you didn't check beforehand? And particularly when you accept that it does make things difficult as they can't open their car door.
You justify this with -I don't want to move it, won't put it in storage and why should I pay when it can fit on my drive. Wow me me me. Except it's not your drive, you rent it and didn't check the rules. You've made the mistake and want other people to live with it.
You want advice; look at it from someone else's position. I'm sure that's not what you will accept or want to hear though if I have understood your post correctly.
CatieB the fact they cannot open their car car is no concern of the OP.
Read my comment above, where a neighbour takes down your fence because they put a shed in a position where they cannot open the shed door. But removing your fence allows them it to open fully. If their car is so close to the boundary line then that is their problem. Move the car over further onto their own property.
The property owner could want a fence there which would give the neighbour even less room, or plant something there and the neighbour would trample them getting into and out of the car?
The neighbour should not encroach onto your property.
If it was a shared driveway and the OP was blocking it then thats a different matter.
Could be one of those neighbours that collect leaves and say they came from your tree and can you stop your tree dropping leaves into their garden.
100% though the OP should have asked permission before putting the van there, and they risk trying to find a new home and caravan storage sooner than they expected when the landlord doesnt renew their contract.
The landlord may have given the neighbour permission to use some of his land to access their car.
Hi. Simple answer is to use a caravan storage site. I have mine in storage even though I could if I wanted have it on my drive (no active covenants). Costs me 400 pa and is worth it imho. You can't park the caravan on a shared driveway irrespective of a covenant or not surely. Mike.
Glad you're not my neighbour.
At the end of the day a covenant is a covenant, and you appear to be breaking it. If so you have to move the caravan - period.
If you look around these threads you'll see that caravans are the cause of much neighbourly dispute, and why wouldn't they be? We might like them but parked on the road or drive they're big ugly white boxes.
Because I appreciate this, and for security reasons, I keep my caravan in a local storage compound for around £1 per day.
You're onto a loser, and you need to ask yourself whether being a good neighbour is important and whether being evicted and losing your deposit would be inconvenient.As a private tenant your landlord doesn't have to mess about with legal eagles or put himself to any bother - he just has to demand his house back at the end of the 6-month contract period with no reason required.
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Look here mate, caravans are great on a site but parked on your drive at home is a big no, no, it makes the street look like a travellers camp.
Find proper storage and give the poor sod next door a break.
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Topic: Neighbour dispute
