Irish Times Property Clinic12th day of May 2016.

 

 

Publishing Date; Thursday the 12th day of May 2016.

 

Q I own a house in a modern residential development and have a parking driveway with space for one car. We have two cars and used to park the second on the road outside my house, until our neighbours moved and the new occupants next door constantly park their second car in my spot. What can I do about this? Is the Local Authority responsible if the estate is in charge?

 

A Where no parking systems are in place, public on-street parking is not reserved and as such anyone may avail of a space to park their car, familiarity of habit does not equate to entitlement.It is possible that the road outside your home is not with the Local Authority and remains in the development company as private land or as common area land with the owners' management company (OMC). You say you live in a modern residential development of which most are a multi-unit development in private ownership and falls under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011. The question of who is responsible can be investigated by contacting your Local Authority to clarify the matter. Many public roads now offer pay and display parking schemes to provide for parking for residents of the area with permits to mitigate abuses by local business or commuter parking.

 

As your issue is with your neighbour having a second car, similar to you, it would not be of assistance to your cause to seek permit parking under control of either an OMC or Local Authority. Under such controls each household would be provided with an additional parking permit. On-street parking may not be suitable on your road if such activity would adversely affect refuse collection and the emergency services' access. Parking schemes are not recommended for roads that are less than 4.6 meters in width for the aforementioned reasons.Parking facilities in residential areas are a product of planning. Frustrations with parking facilities are shared throughout high density residential areas. The planning system, for some time, viewed cars as a nonessential means of dated transit which could be replaced with public services.

 

You could raise the matter with your local TD and discuss the provision of reliable and affordable public transport for your community for not just getting from A to B but to also allow you transport shopping, make meetings on time and remove the need for a second car or even any car at all. I say that in jest of course because such a utopian concept is that of fantasy.Your neighbour is equally entitled to own two cars and as such two litres of milk will not fit into a pint glass no matter how you pour it. Alas the best you can do is to discuss the matter with your neighbour objectively which could yield a compromise you may have overlooked.

 

 

Paul Huberman is a chartered property and facilities management surveyor and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI)

 

Author: Paul Huberman of H&H Property Management Consultants Ltd

Publish Date: 12/05/2016