Own a Driveway But Park on Road: What's the Law?

Q.

Our neighbours have a perfect driveway but they don't use it and park on the road outside their house. They don't even park in front of their driveway, this causes many problems for the rest of the people in our road as it's a small road with not many parking spaces. We have problems parking and find it very hard to park at night! Is there a law which says that if you have a driveway that you can use that you should use it?

A.

Parking is a common source of tension between neighbours, especially when these days many households have more than one car to park and limited parking spaces in which to do so. It can be irritating when a neighbour seemingly uses up more than their entitlement of parking spaces, and it’s clearly inconsiderate of your neighbour to choose to park on the road when they have a perfectly adequate parking space on their driveway.

There is no legal entitlement for a resident to be able to park outside their home – even though most of us expect to be able to do so. Difficulties with parking close to your own property sometimes lead to disputes between neighbours.

What the Law Says About Parking on a Public Highway

The law doesn’t set down any rules about where you can park if the road in question is a public highway. If your neighbours vehicle is taxed and he is abiding by the Highway Code, he can effectively park his car anywhere that he chooses on a public highway (although not on footpaths/pavements) as long as it is legal to park there.

Paragraph 207 of the Highway Code does say that people should not park anywhere that their vehicle might cause an obstruction to pedestrians or road users and does also give an example of not parking in front of another person’s driveway – but it doesn’t actually say that you can’t park in front of another person’s driveway or property.

The Law Versus Etiquette

So, your neighbour probably isn’t actually breaking any laws by choosing to park in front of your property, however inconvenient it may be. Etiquette suggests that most people will choose to use their own driveway or park in front of their own property, but nobody has the automatic right to park right in front of their own hoouse. All your neighbour appears to be breaching in this case is neighbourly etiquette. If the problem persists, a friendly request to your neighbour to consider parking on their driveway could be the way forward, but there is nothing that can legally be done to force them to do so.