What to do if someone parks in front of your driveway and what the Highway Code says
A homeowner was told in no uncertain terms what to do after they asked if they should sell their driveway, which is shared, to the neighbour. The discussion arose in a forum where people can ask for legal advice on Reddit.
In this case, the person said they’d recently bought their house, and very quickly the neighbours offered £5,000 to buy the drive, which is also their access point. And they told the person they’d like to take over the upkeep and ‘make it nice’.
The UK homeowner said: “We bought a house last year with another house at the bottom of the driveway, which is the only access point to their house and ours. We currently own the driveway, which is perfectly functional but could probably be prettier. Neighbour has asked to purchase this from us for £5000 and take over upkeep and make it nice (which we can’t afford to do right now and tbh is low down on our priority list)
“Is it a bad idea? What’s a reasonable sum per sq ft? How would we go about this if we could agree a sum and what are the important points to consider? In England. Thank you in advance.”
The first response was to the point: “Never in a million years. Will massively downgrade your homes value and could make you dependant on the neighbours good will for yourselves and for future residents.”
READ MORE: 'Cruel trolls called us stupid over 40-year mortgage - now we plan to retire in our 50s'
READ MORE: 'Our neighbours just moved in and already they want me to cut our front hedge down'
Another added: “Losing the driveway will cost you SIGNIFICANTLY more than 5k in resale value. I personally would never even consider buying a house without somewhere to park my car on the property. You might not need it, but the next guy who buys your house probably will.
“Your approach of “reasonable sum per sq.ft” is massively flawed. Would you sell me all the toilets in your property? How about just the area immediately surrounding your front door, would you sell that? Consider the implications, you’re not just selling part of the land, you’re selling off a functional feature of your home.”
One said: “Are you prepared to see the value of your property massively downgraded as a result of this?” The homeowner replied: “Would prefer that not to happen! Thanks”
The homeowner in the end had come to a final decision. They said: “Clearly a terrible idea. WILL NOT SELL DRIVEWAY. Thanks for sounding it out.”