My house is more or less on the end of our street. There is a man whos house is in the middle of the street. For about 4 months now for some reason hes been parking his works van directly outside my house making this the only view outside my living room window. Every morning he wakes me up at 6.30-7am when he starts his engine up, not only that, he parks right on the edge of my drive and when my neighbours relatives come to visit, i have to park 3 houses away from my own house!!! I am absolutely sick of it and dont know what to do, i darent confront him because im quite a quiet person and dont wanna start arguments. Why, when he lives about 20 houses up does he feel the need to park outside my house? Anybody got any ideas about what i should do?

Can't you park there for a while?

Well overnight i have to park on the drive because if i leave it on the street im scared of it getting scratched or broken into because my last car got broken into on the street. He always seems to get there before i do, like when i go to work at 8.45 i go straight off the drive, by which time hes already left, then i come home at 2pm, and hes already parked there before ive got home!

tricky one.  Don't know, sorry.  I always take the opinion that if the vehicle is taxed and roadworthy they can park where they like.  Having said that I live in a cul-de-sac where parking is a nightmare as there are 9 houses and only space to park 5 cars.  It doesn't affect us too much as we park in front of our garages but about 18 mnths ago a lad (lived in a  different street) kept parking his car outside my house because he upset some people and was trying to keep his car out of harms way.  It caused a lot of bad feeling because parking is tight anyway.  I had a friendly word with him and pointed out the situation in the Close and he was fine about it and parked elsewhere.  If he had carried on parking in the Close there really wasn't anything we could have done.

Unless there are specific restrictions in your street eg permit holders, time constraints etc, anyone has the right to park anywhere in the road; householders do not "own" the pavement or road outside their dwelling, neither do they have parking rights (unless you have designated parking areas attached to your home which will be indicated on your house deeds).

Perhaps he parks where he does because, like you, at certain times he cannot find anywhere else to park?

Confronting him would hardly be a wise idea, especially as he has no case to answer.

Personally I think it is wise to let sleeping dogs lie UNLESS someone is doing something specifically against the law etc, after all, if you inform this person of exactly what you don't like, he could be tempted to do it even more just to annoy you.......... ;)

Yes thats what i thought too, but hes annoying me because he wakes me up early every morning, there is plenty of space outside his house, and i have recently put 2 and 2 together and come up with the idea that maybe he is doing it because his wife complains that it wakes "her" up therefore he parks elsewhere, outside my house!! If you saw my house you would understand why it frustrates me, my front garden is tiny and the van is in front of my window, can you imagine how close it is? Looks like im gonna have to put up with it!!

Well I expect if I was in his shoes I know which person I would risk annoying and which I would not........... ;)

Perhaps you could ask him to have the sides of his van painted in an attractive landscape and then you would both be happy! :D

As Tohme says, he is parking outside your house - because you haven't complained to him!  Just tell him, as you have told us, that he is disturbing you, leaving early in the morning, and can he not park outside another house for at least one day per week.

Either that - or arrange for a friend to park outside your house BEFORE he gets home in the afternoon!

Margot

I can understand your frustration. We have fairly good parking in our road, but some homes have several cars and it can be soo frustrating coming home with bags of shopping to find I have to park much further up the road -it incenses me for a few moments, which is silly really, but human nature :P

My late father had a van man parking outside his house, for many months, and he had to put up with it although he did have a good sized front garden and a tree to look at :P
He found the van a problem as it blocked his view of the fast oncoming traffic on the one way system he turned onto.

Hope you manage to get it resolved.

Lindsay
x

hi bruno dog,
this is only a suggestion as i have known people in a similar situation and this is what it turned out to be.

i take it you have a dog or dogs????  could it be that they are making a noise that is annoying him at some point??? instead of coming to you to talk about it or let you know that your dog/s is possibly noisy he has decided to do the van thing instead????

this happened to people i know and it turned out the owners were unaware the dogs were noisy and instead of the neighbours being helpful and saying, your dogs are noisy they did stupid things like you are describing. once the folks knew that the dogs were annoying others they took the measures needed to stop/reduce the noise and everyone was happy.

i dont mean to cause offence to you this is just a suggestion.

it could also be that he is just a selfish git and wakes others up instead of his own family. hope you get it sorted.

Hiya, no, i know its not my dogs or nothing ive done. He lives about 20 houses up the street and my dogs only bark when someone knocks on the door. I havnt done anything to him, id never even seen him before he started parking outside my house, then i watched him go to where he lives and its nowhere near my house. He obivously is just a selfish git. Theres plenty of space outside his house. Btw, im not offended, even though theres no way it could be my dogs. :)

Just a thought, but can't you get a friend or relative to leave their car in front of yours for a while?  If you can break the habit maybe he'll park elsewhere :D

Thats what I would do Dill ;)  I definately wouldn't confront him (and I'm no shrinking violet) because it just wouldn't be worth the trouble...In general I think most people are horrible (especially white van drivers :D) Manners to seem to be a thing of the past - I would discretly beat him to it or just grin and bear it.  As has been mentioned he isn't breaking the law but I appreciate how annoying this is.
Sarah

Awww, you shouldn't think most people are horrible.  I know people tend to take the negative aspects of stereotypes and then apply them to all but it's not logical really.  I am one to blow hot and cold on some things but generally I am a softie and like to see the best in people.

I am not saying OP should but if she did ask the driver why he is parking there and then say she was just wondering because the van wakes her early every morning what is he likely to do?  The worst he will do IMO is continue to park there.  Most people are reasonable if you approach them positively and are friendly.

I think it's a good idea to get someone else to park there for a while to break the habit of him parking there.

Hi Cheryl - I wish I had your positive attitude :)  You see I dont think for a single minute that this person would reply with "I'm very sorry, I will park my van outside my own home with immediate effect...Oh and sorry for waking you every morning" :D :D 
If he does then I will be the first to apologise for pre judgement!  After a day of experiencing rude dog walkers who don't pick up their own crap, a simliar parking problem as the poster, road rage and a food shopping trip to tesco that can only be described as being full with rude and ignorant Vicky Pollards - I'm afraid I aint feeling the love ;)
Sarah

Yes I know what you mean I really do :D  I get peed off some days by the ignorance of people and I have been nicknamed Stroppy of Stevenage by OH at times but it doesn't make me think that everyone is the same.  I tend to take people as I find them and try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and second chances. 

The guy with the van might be really nice, whether or not the OP decides to approach him or not it shouldn't be forgotten that he is probably parking there to please someone else.  There is nothing worse than being woken up at the wrong time though.  I lived next to people who had 4 cats and one used to 'call' every morning about 5am.  I was heavily pregnant at the time and had trouble sleeping as it was.  One morning I got up and marched next door and banged on their door until someone answered and then said very sweetly - your cat keeps calling, I think it wants you to let it in.   I only had to do this twice :D

Maybe the other option would be to contact the Environmental dept at the Coucil...I don't think people are allowed to disturb the peace before 7am???Maybe they can tell you and guide you??:rolleyes:

Could it be the van-man is having a "weight problem"?
In that case, maybe this is his way of getting some exercise every day? In which case it wouldn't matter to him if he parked twenty houses away in the other direction :-)

Would you think it acceptable if i put a note on his windscreen? Honest opinions welcome :) Im not shy, its just that i have a problem when approaching ppl when im mad, nothing comes out right and they always win the argument! Thanks everyone for your advice so far! x

You could try that - say very nicely that although you appreciate that he has to park somewhere, could he try not to park outside your house every night as you have your sleep disturbed every morning as he leaves.   If you lay it on a bit, as if you can only get to bed at 2am or something because of the hours you work it might help.....

Either that, or find his (landline) phone no from someone and phone every morning after he's woken you up.   No need to say anything - just let it ring until its picked up - then break the connection - if you're awake, so should his family be :D.   One word of warning though - dial 142 before ringing his no, so yours can't be traced ;)

Margot

Margot, I think it's 141?????

:rolleyes:Sorry - blonde moment coinciding with senior moment..... of course its 141.   You dial 1471 when you want to know who's called :rolleyes:

I think that is a good idea and in the note tell him that you are willing to compromise and that you are not telling him but inviting him to discuss and solve the problem together amicabley ;)

Hope you sort things out :)

Yes, that sounds reasonable.  Even if he varied where he parked it would be better than parking outside one house every night

Is it a new estate? - as most new estates have rules now about 'work' vans - and they are not aloud to be parked there! Just a thought.....

A note sounds good but it depends how you word it. I go dancing on a street that is sometimes a night mare to park so I parked quite a way away and walked. I made sure that I wasnt blocking any drives etc and when I got back there was a note on my windscreen which said "Do not park infront of my drive". I was no where near the drive in question but apparently that particular house dont like people parking outside their house. The bloke also came out of the house and said "Dont park there" I now park there whenever possible! If they'd have been nice about it I wouldnt but its not owned by them and I pay my road tax so why shouldnt I park there??

I used to live right beside a football stadium and on match days it would be impossible to park within about a mile of our house. Now, it never bothered us that much as it wasn't like there was football matches every day but it used to drive our neighbour crazy. He had a young child so it was a pain for them to have to park at a distance so he would put traffic cones out to reserve his spot which usually worked. Anyone daring to move the cones and park outside his house anyway would return to their car to find the air had been let out of all four tires   

not unless you sign it. having had this done to us i think unsigned notes are incredibly rude and likely to get his back up. he may not even know he is causing you any grief by parking there.  if it is a signed note so he knows who you are then yeah, thats ok, but i really think you should approach him and just ask him. if he continues to be a git about it i would hire a bigger van and put it outside his and start the engines at 5am every morninghe he

no seriously, i hope you get it sorted, i know how upsetting parking problems can be. keep us posted.

So starting your car/van up in the morning if you are on shift work is now "disturbing the peace"? :rolleyes:

I sincerely hope not otherwise there would be a lot of businesses who could not run as they have 6.00 am shift starts!

Not everyone works 9 - 5 you know.

As an ex-white van driver/owner it behooves people to remember that not ALL owners/drivers of vans (white or otherwise) have them for work related purposes.  Sometimes we have them because they are good for canine transport!!!!!

Therefore it would be a tad difficult for new estates to ban these! :rolleyes:

It might be a tad difficult to believe, but there CAN be restrictions on vehicles in new estates. As we lived on a new estate there were covenants within the contract that forbid the parking of Vans or Caravans on the roads!!! Whether or not people work shifts, it is only a matter of curtesy NOT to disturb people if you leave before a resonable hour in the morning surely??? I have a Toyota Hi Ace Van myself, caged out for the dogs, but I would never ever consciously disturb my neighbours early in the morning or late at night! And I hope they would be as considerate as me! All the best, Dawn X

The original poster said

"Every morning he wakes me up at 6.30-7am when he starts his engine up,"

Please tell me how it is reasonable to expect noise NOT to be made when one starts one engine :rolleyes:

It must be terrible for people to look outside and see caravans and vans parked in the road :rolleyes:

>It must be terrible for people to look outside and see caravans and vans parked in the road 

I agree, I would hate it especially day after day, a big incentive to buy on one of these estates where these things are not allowed.

Isabel, I think toheme(sp!?) was being sarcastic!  They have obviously never had to live with 'looking' at a Van out of their window...when that's all you can see it's a very depressing view! Also been lucky enough NOT to be woken early in the morning!! EVERY morning!  I'm certainly glad they're not living next to me!! :rolleyes:

Don't you worry, my sarcasm antennae is fully tuned ;) :D

Luckily our neighbours are human, and understand that, for my husband to be at work for 6am, he has to start the car engine at 4.45am. How the heck can he do that without it making a noise?! :rolleyes: He'd rather not, of course, but as we haven't yet won the lottery he has to go to work. If the neighbours objected, they could always pay his salary and he'd stay at home!

It's understandable if it is at his own home or if not outside a variety of homes, I think everbody appreciates people have to go to work and you would just react with tolerance (you hope :)), but in the above case it does seem inexplicably unfair.

But Jeangenie, that's outside YOUR home isn't it??? Not outside someone elses home! Deliberately parked there!!?? Nor is it a heavy diesel engine? It's a deliberate act to park outside someone elses home, so you don't wake yourown family up!!!

Where in this thread has it been proved that this man is deliberatly parking outside someone else's home so he does not wake his own family up??????????????????????

Noise travels though, doesn't it? A car starting in the street will affect every house within earshot, not just its owner's house. Likewise we get woken by the milkman, even though we don't get milk delivered, because noise travels!

One neighbour drove HGVs for a living, which would be parked in the layby opposite our house. That made a heck of a noise in the early hours, but you need to give-and-take in life.

Unless the van is blocking a drive I doubt if there is anything you can do. Similar thing happens here but we've got used to it. It helps that hubby is in the forces and sometimes has to leave or arrive home at really stupid hours.........he makes sure they hear him !!.

Val

Blimey, glad I live out of the way and not near any of you!! :D

I live in a village with a population of 2,000 - in a back lane with 10 houses! :D

All i can say is (selling these new houses on estates - where vans caravan, and boats are not alloud) i think its a brilliant idea! and due to the number of new estates springing up - "things can only get better".  A lot of companies now store their vans at their work place and employees have to travel by car to collect their work van and drop off in the evening - which i suppose will become more common - Great!!!

Judging by the new estates springing up around here you would never be able to drive down the new roads if there were vans, boats and caravans parked.  They squeeze so many houses on these estates the roads are only just 2 cars wide. 

haha alot of them are now becoming one way - more houses hahaha