New neighbour asked to "use" my drive.

Any neighbour who called here wouldn't be asked to make an appointment before I would see them, maybe that's the difference between city and town/village living.

Fantastic response to an impudent neighbour.

My uncle let's someone park a classic car on his drive, FOC. It can cause difficulties, as it is quite wide and you have to shuffle round it to get in or out. My uncle is anything for a quiet life sadly.

She's allowed to ask. You could have said no is a less complicated way!

But then I live somewhere where we happily lend the neighbours hedge-clippers, flexes, chain-saws or standing room for vehicles for a couple of days. Anything longer would probably require a more formal agreement, so I am not criticising OP for mentioning this aspect - just surprised it was her initial reacton.

So do we, grandtante, thank goodness. I might have said "can I think about this" then a few days later say I'd made further enquiries and explained the legalities involved.

I still don't know the implications of allowing a neighbour to park short-term on a drive? Would we be liable if a branch fell on their car? We do have insurance.
Eg up to three months?

A no from me too. Would you really want to look out of your windows on to someone else car or van? How rude to ask and definitely getting off on the wrong foot with your neighbours!!And you use it!

Well done! Some people are very entitled aren't they?

I am glad I am not a neighbour. I fully understand the principle behind the response but not the tone. Maybe a 'No' would had sufficed with an 'I'm not really happy with such an arrangement as there would be insurance issues'. More neighbourly?

Well done you!

Perhaps you had not read the part where I explained that new neighbour rang the bell while I was in bed, and I told her that she had just woken me up! The appropriate response is to apologise and leave. Instead she began babbling on about her bloody cars which is why I was short with her and told her that I see people by appointment only and to come back next day.

It was good of me to allocate time out of running my business to see her. I am not a charity.

Had the situations been reversed I would have felt embarassed at disturbing someone at an inconvenient time and left at once without mentioning the drive. I would put a note through the door with my number asking when it would be convenient for me to call and discuss something.

There is such an air of entitlement in behaving as though someone's drive or garden is part of the community resources and there for other people to use.

When you approach someone you do not know for a favour an air of humility is a better tactic. My grandmother used to say that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

With you on this. I'd agree to one offs - eg relative visiting and need extra space, but not to just ceding rights to your space. Someone's taking the Michael!

It does sound as if your neighbour got off on the wrong foot and understandably you were short with her, especially after a lack of apology.
However, I do not think it unreasonable to ask someone if you can park in their drive. We always let our neighbours park in ours, especially when we are away. The response can always be a polite no and you rightly point out their can be repercussions if things go wrong.

Sorry 'there can be repercussions'

You don’t need a reason why you refused. The answer is ‘no’ and that’s the end of it.

Also the problem is - if you change your mind afterwards - how hard will it be to get them to move it. What happens if oil etc gets spilled on it?

Proud of you, you did the right thing.

Well my kind neighbour offered me a space on is drive as the parking difficulties we have here are legendary! It makes life so much easier now as my dh is still working and I am in and out with my different responsibilities.
I suppose we all have different views on things and how to go about living also I guess whether you live in a decent community or not.

I can understand her asking if parking is short and it can lower her insurance if the car is off the road overnight. It could be a legal minefield plus wear and tear on the surface of the drive, who would pay for that?

A friend once did this and then the car owners really started taking the p, parking 2 cars on the drive. It caused her trouble she didn’t need - all because she was being kind and helpful.

I have used a commercial firm when visiting a city to park on private land - a good impersonal service, cheap for me and the landowners made a bit of cash.

Would your car insurance or the landowner’s insurance have covered an accident to your car whilst parking on private land Madashell? Sometimes one only finds out after the event that something wasn’t quite the bargain it seemed at the time. Always best to check the cover if you intend going slightly off piste.

When we were newly married as neighbour with four cars asked us not to park in our own driveway. The reason was that he was having to leave a space for us to get our car out of the drive! We refused and he said no more about it!

It would be a NO from me too, but please be aware it’s my understanding that your neighbour wouldn’t be breaking any laws if they parked across your empty drive. At least that’s what I’ve been told when a cheeky b****r parked across mine.

Well done you!! What a cheek!!

Callistemon21 I was advised by a solicitor not to give permission for people to use our drive as it could make you liable for any accidents eg if they hit our car or a tree or something hit their car. I wouldn't fancy having to chase neighbours for payments to get our drive cleaned either if they spilled oil. Our neighbours are lovely and I am fairly certain they wouldn't cause problems but I would rather not risk it. Our neighbours know that if there is a parking problem (which there sometimes is when there are lots of visitors) if we wake up one morning to find one of their cars on the drive we won't be bothered by it so long as we can get in and out.

We let our neighbours use ours occasionally and vice versa, we get on well with each other, but it’s not all the time.

AreWeThereYet

Callistemon21 I was advised by a solicitor not to give permission for people to use our drive as it could make you liable for any accidents eg if they hit our car or a tree or something hit their car. I wouldn't fancy having to chase neighbours for payments to get our drive cleaned either if they spilled oil. Our neighbours are lovely and I am fairly certain they wouldn't cause problems but I would rather not risk it. Our neighbours know that if there is a parking problem (which there sometimes is when there are lots of visitors) if we wake up one morning to find one of their cars on the drive we won't be bothered by it so long as we can get in and out.

I think we've set a precedent now, AreWeThereYet as we've allowed more than one set of neighbours to use the drive more than once.
This thread made me wonder if we'd done the right thing being neighbourly. I don't think they'd cause problems and they have given us small gifts in gratitude.