Parking at drive (Scotland)

[Cali11]

Hello we have owned our Cali since 2011 has had lots of fun in it. Used to live in a flat with dedicated parking space and just parked our Cali there with no problems. We just bought an end terrace townhouse, the deed has a 'burden' stating no 'caravan, boats, commercial vehicles' etc. (campervan are also considered caravan) are allowed to parked in sight. We can just fit the Cali in the driveway and hope our neighbour will be ok with it.

I have read a lot of in forums and learned that it is a very common cause in title deeds. There are different advices about this, some say you get approval from the developer; some say it will be alright as long as you pay tax; some say their solicitors say it will be fine.

Does anyone have experience on this or better still if you know our legal position. Many thanks.

 

[Martin]

In England this is more for big white motorhomes, caravans, work vans and not small campers, it could be a caravelle for all they know which many big families use.

We have had experience of these restrictive covenants for other reasons ourselves in the past and as you say they are set up by the developer so they are the ones who need to take any legal action as it is a civil matter, of course neighbours can also do this but it is an expensive process with lawyers and courts etc..

If someone is going to do this for a small camper next door, I am not sure I would want them as a neighbour anyway

 

[Cali11]

Thank you.

 

[Freeley]

Yeah like Martin says!
IN THEORY you shouldn't have a van on your drive but in practice they can go to hell lol.
My neighbour complained to me 2 weeks after we bought our house about me parking MY work van on MY drive. This was a small Renault trafic at the time, I told him to sling his hook.
A family member of mine is a planning officer for our local council, she didn't think a complaint would have legs as it were.
So don't worry about it!

 

[teeboy]

I think developers put those clauses in to keep the developments looking "nice" while they are trying to sell the rest of the houses. We have the same clause on our deeds and have no issues, other people near us have white motor homes, boats and work vans. As long as you park them sensibly and don't block people in or out you will be fine.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[andyj007]

Having worked for a number of year for large housing developer i thought id chip in..

generally the covenants are added to the deeds to stop potential issues with the developer selling houses.
scenarior.
you buy your nice new home, the one next door is not sold or forms part of the next phase to be constructed, you move in and park you big white motor home on the drive.
developer builds/completes neighbouring or opposite homes, shows potential purchaser round
that gets put off by your motor home..

from memory we enforced the covenant once, but once the development was finished we didn't give a stuff..
its the same reason no extensions without prior authorisation from the developer.

the covenant and restrictions usually can only be enforced by the party the stipulated them..

now if it was a planning restraint then it would be enforceable by local planning.

your neighbour would have to write to the developer, who would then instruct a solicitor.
my guess is the developer if finished one site would wish to incur the cost or hassle.
with your small van you've no problems at all.. imo

andy

 

[Cali11]

Hi all thank you for your contribution. It has been reassuring. Now just need to hope for nice neighbours!

 

[Skylark2.0]

We have an extreme example with relation to this thread.

We are part of the way through buying a house which is 4 yrs old. It is at the cul de sac end of 9 properties on a narrow private brick access road. The covenant states that "we cannot park any caravan or house on wheels or similar item on the property"

Our solicitor has advised us that as we have a shared drive and have to drive past 7 other properties that we could have problems in the future. This could even lead to us having action brought against us to sell the van. We are on the brink of walking away.

All thoughts appreciated!

 

[BerndRos]

He is a drama queen !

Conveyancing is my business, no court would find against you and who on earth would take action against you in the first place. The point is the Cali does NOT look like a Caravan or House on Wheels.

 

[Skylark2.0]

The private brick road with a 3 tonne vehicle driven over it everyday might be enough to irritate someone though?

 

[westfalia]

We have an extreme example with relation to this thread.

We are part of the way through buying a house which is 4 yrs old. It is at the cul de sac end of 9 properties on a narrow private brick access road. The covenant states that "we cannot park any caravan or house on wheels or similar item on the property"

Our solicitor has advised us that as we have a shared drive and have to drive past 7 other properties that we could have problems in the future. This could even lead to us having action brought against us to sell the van. We are on the brink of walking away.

All thoughts appreciated!

A T5/6 california is not a caravan or house on wheels unless you drive around with the roof up and the awning out.
on the german log book it states that its a PKW = car.
Thats mad....

 

[WelshGas]

The private brick road with a 3 tonne vehicle driven over it everyday might be enough to irritate someone though?

There are a few large SUV's that are as big and weigh as much as a California.

 

[GrannyJen]

I live on a private "garden" estate, ever so pretty until I moved in.

There are both estate rules and individual property covenants that prohibit the parking of vans, caravans, motorhomes. My Cali is probably the most admired vehicle in the street. I can't say on the estate as there are at least three VW conversions, a very nice auto sleeper and a couple of big white boxes also scattered around.

@Skylark2.0 one of those conversions is owned by someone in a similar position to you, shared access road, block surface (not brick) with 5T weight limit. They had one very troublesome neighbour and legal advice was "try not to run over their cat but otherwise ignore them".

PS. I forgot to mention the bloke with a boat "moored" on his drive. It's about the size of the Queen Mary. Clearly he has read too many dire warnings of rising sea levels.

 

[Geezso]

In short a California is not a van, commercial vehicle or motorhome. Its a car, in theory.
Some jeeps are bigger and heavier.
I would not worry.

If it were a conversion from a panel van, then it may be an issue.

 

[Meoncoast]

Get a rusty falling apart car and leave on the drive to rot, neighbours would love it when you change for a Cali.
What next no people carries.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Thanks for these replies.
We were thinking that it's just like a people carrier and much smaller than a
range rover!

 

[pjm-84]

Also have the same "copied" covenants on my property and a few more.

For example all the front doors on the estate have to be finished in oxford blue and we are not allowed to park on the estate road. (Currently looking at LWB VW crafter opposite parked on the estate road)

 

[Dottie]

All very interesting....I keep van on farm nearby and do swaps with my car....I have had issues with neighbours in the past and am trying to be considerate....just the dog to teach not to bark at everyone who passes!

I hate hassle..I get plenty of that at work, so my home is my escape...not worth upsetting the neighbours!