Neighbour selling cars..

[LUCYLOU80]

Can anyone please advise me on what I can do about the following:

Live in a small cul de sac, with is in a U shape. All houses and flats have bays outside of them, there are in total ten houses/flats and ten bays. A neighbour sells cars from his home and takes up 4-5 of these bays leaving 5 or six for the other nine houses. Now I always have a car and van in front of my window that are not mine so I parked in another bay the other night. I was told by local council bays are first come first served, but after parking in this bay I was left a note from someone telling me not to park there as it was their bay. I have told the council someone in the street is selling cars but they are just not interested!! it seems unfair for him to take all the bays while all of us are fighting for the remaining ones!! and I have actually had two notes left on my car and also been told "you cant park there" can anyone advise me how to get the council to take action?

Thanks

[LadyofOgma]

Which bit of the council did you tell? They can't take any action over who parks where (and neither can the misinformed note leaver) but the Planning Enforcement Department will be interested that someone is running a car sales business from home. Try them.

[bobthefisherman]

If they are causing a nuisance to yourself and other neighbours, Enviromental Health could probably help......

oh.... and HMRC if they are running a business from their home.

bob.

[LUCYLOU80]

Im not sure which bit of the council it was, they have a abandoned vehicles section on their website so I have rang the number and sent two emails. Nothing has happened! I know they cant do anything about the who parks where because I have rang them to be told its first come first served which suits me, (obviously the person who the left the note does not see it as first come first served!) I will now try and contact the planning enforcement dept! thank you

[LUCYLOU80]

thanks for your answear too Bob. I work for HMRC and didnt want to go down that route at first but now Im thinking I will report him at work tommorow!

[EDDIE51]

if he is running a business fom home then he should be paying business rates on the part of the house he uses for business. If he is only paying council tax then he owes a lot of money to the council. Of course he may be doing it all legitimately and paying tax, business rates ,vat etc . If so there is nothing more you can do. As has been said they are not designated bays so it's first come first served, the people leaving notes are just trying it on.
Again if he is saying he is a private seller but it is a business then it is trading standards that you need to report him to as well as the Vat and HMRC. Business sellers have to comply with far more regulation than private sales so a lot of business sellers try to say it is just private sales they are doing.

[joko]

i would suggest putting a polite note up somewhere visible to all, stating that the bays are first come first served, and direct them to a web address that states this

that way you are not breeding seething resentment with all neighbours feeling outraged, indignant and wronged.
once they see legally they have no rights, they should hopefully just get on with it

many people do believe they own the bit of road outside their property and believe they have the right to order others not to park there

[LUCYLOU80]

He has his adverts on the autotrader website as a trade seller from our postcode and street!! so I dont really know, I have just emailed the planning dept I usually live by the rule of live and let live but this story is so much bigger than this!! My next door neighbour does not talk to me because I sometimes get the bay which is outside of my window, (because as he says he has parked there for eight years!!) and I get the notes left on my car. I actually find it all very intimidating as I live on my own and I think they just see me as young female who they can tell where to aprk and not to park. Lets see what the outcome of the email will be, thanks for your reply!

[LUCYLOU80]

joko excellent idea! Like I said in my previous answer I have two bays directly outside my sitting room window and I do not class them as "mine". I have a very large in height and width van facing in to my living room window every night, but if he gets there first so be it! dont understand why the others cannot think the same . thanks for your answer, very helpful

[buildersmate]

To clarify, there are three issues that he is possibility contravening that involve the local council - Eddie mentions two of them.
The first is trading motor vehicles as a private individual when he is not - this is Trading Standards part of the council.
The second is business rates on part of his domestic property - this is the Finance and Revenues part of the council.
Thirdly (the one Eddie doesn't mention) is that he requires planning consent to operate a business of this type from his domestic dwelling. This is the Planning Department of the local council.
Using any or all of the three above should assist you to get the activity stopped and your parking spaces back.

[EDDIE51]

Thanks buildersmate I didn't realise that planning consent was needed as well.
That may be what puts a stop to it as the parking issue would be grounds for refusal of consent.
As he advertises in Autotrader there can be no dought about it being a business so he probably has the VAT and Tax covered.

[cathfromsaron]

if someone is disabled or has young kids, i would say, yes, the nearest bay is yours! but 'trading' is not a residential use, surely!

PS. trading standards and the tax man MAY be interested in the car seller, even if the council aren't ...

[joko]

cath - only in the decency of others, not legally, and regardless you'd have no rights to demand others move.

i think i remember reading somewhere that even disabled road markings have no legal standing - they are just to warn others that someone needs the space more ... you can actually park in them if you want ... i think i read that on here...?

[joko]

perhaps, in order to so save further neighbour problems - remember you have to live near this guy - why not send a letter explaining the situation to him - and that you will report him if he doesnt stop taking all the bays up?

be polite and explain the problem - give him chance to sort it.. he may just move them and problem solved.

you never know what kind of repercussions there could be if he knows you have reported him

[EDDIE51]

Buildesmate has the answer here , to use his home as a business this person needs planning consent . He will be trading without it as I can never see consent being given to trade from a place where there is no room to store his stock (cars) . lucylou needs to report the trading to the council's planning dept . As we have established that he is a registered trader with adverts in Autotrader he probably has the tax and vat aspects covered but I can not see any way he has planning consent.

[jd_here]

If it is a public highway then you do not own the parking space outside your house and anyone has a right to park there. You could check to see if the vehicles are taxed, if they are not then report to the police. It is illegal to have an untaxed vehicle on a public highway.

Good luck, I know how annoying this problem can be.

[buildersmate]

Yes, we know that - and the thread has got far further in establishing much better means to get this stopped than merely relying on whether the cars are taxed or not.

[LUCYLOU80]

thank you for all your replys, builders mate ur info has been very helpful!! currently awaiting council to telephone me back so hope I can get this sorted and make more parking spaces for myself and my neighbours!