[me-and-my-girls]

This is part WDYT and part vent.

I moved into a new rental property almost 6 months ago. It is a house but has a kind of small unit attached at the back (not a granny flat but it looks like they just attached it to the rear of the house - I hope I am explaining it clearly). When we moved it the little unit was vacant and we were told that the owners son was going to be moving in there. On the day we moved in, said son came over and welcomed us (son is an adult, prob in his 30's, so not a teenager or anything). He was lovely. Said that he will be moving in shortly but works long hours so will barely be home anyway. He said that the backyard, carport, BBQ, clothesline, everything is ours to use and he wants us to make ourselves at home and feel comfortable.

Anyway, a few months later the real estate agent knocked on our door one morning. He said there has been a change of plans and owners son is not moving in anymore. He said that they have a tenant but he wanted it to be someone that we would be comfortable with. He said that they have rented it to a lovely lady in her 70's and he thinks that we will get on well with her. Later that day the older lady came over and introduced herself, no problems, she seems nice enough.

Fast forward about a month and I have not seen the older lady since. Now maybe she just doesn't leave the house much or maybe she is not living there at all. There is another female that lives there though. Now my problem is that this person is always parking in "my" driveway. I feel like I can't come and go from my house as I need to. She very often parks me in and I need to go and find her and ask her to move her car so I can get out. Also, if she has visitors they will all park behind me. On friday night I had 2 or 3 cars parked behind mine in my driveway - I have 2 children, what if I had an emergency and needed to get out. When she has not parked me in she has gone in first and parked in the carport, so I then need to park behind her. This has resulted in her banging on my door at all hours of the day and night asking me to move my car. If I want to have a sleep in on a Saturday there is no chance as she will be banging on my door early in the morning.

Now I know I could park on the street but I really don't want to. It's a narrow street and the house is close to a corner, and I would not feel comfortable leaving my car on the street at night in the dark. Secondly, I leased this house knowing that the driveway was mine. I mean, if it were a double driveway there would be no problem but how can 2 seperate households share a single driveway? It's really starting to get to me. I feel like I can't come and go from my own house as I please and I feel like I can't live in peace without worrying that I am going to hear a bang on my door asking me to move my car all the time.

Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Please give me some perspective.

Thanks

[HollyOllyOxenfre...]

I'd talk to the real estate agent and get clarification on whether the driveway is included on both leases. To be honest it sounds like some sort of dodgy sublet is going on, but my opinion could be coloured by my dodgy neighbours doing dodgy sublets

[imamumto3]

can you ask the rea if they are entitled to use the driveway or not? they might have leased the property and were told not to park in the driveway. if so get the rea to talk to her.

[FiveAus]

Can you park at the start of the driveway so that no one can get in after you and park you in?

[noi'mnot]

Why don't you have a chat to your rea and find out exactly who has what rights, and then talk to your neighbour? I'm sure she's just as annoyed as you are and would like to find a workable solution as much as you do.

[JKTMum]

I'm assuming the driveway is only one car width wide, so not possible for you to park your cars side by side.

If so then I'd be going back to the REA, asking for clarification as to who is entitled to use the driveway and carport (I know the owners son said you could but that was a verbal agreement when he was intending to live there). If it's both, then you need to work out an amicable arrangement, either taking it in turns as to who can park in the driveway (maybe alternate days although this would be a pain) or maybe you can come to some other arrangement. Also if you do have to share, then I'd be getting the REA or owner to put up a sign on the fence telling visitors that they are not allowed to use the drive and must park on the street (that would apply to your visitors as well as hers). Let the REA know that a younger female is living there, the grandmother may have taken out the lease if her grand-daughter had issues getting a rental, so the REA might not be aware of the fact that the older lady isnt living there.

[qak]

Where does the driveway go to - just the car port? Can you park them in and go our for the day

I would talk to the agent about your problems. What does it say on your lease - how is the house described (usually it is just the address, so you are entitled to use the whole of the property)?

It sounds dodgy - does the unit have it's own water and electricity meters - are you paying for their usage? Apparently the water board LOVES to hear about these type of properties.

[emlis22]

It likely depends on whether the back lot is subdivided, or whether its two dwelling on the one lot. If they are on seperate titles, the drive way is more than likely "common property", meaning it benefits you both.

Given that you share back yard amenities, I'm thinking its more like a granny flat out the back type situation and therefore I would have a chat to the real estate about your rights, OR explain to this girl that she can't park you in.

[spottyladybug]

We have been dealing with this issue for 2.5 yrs. We live in a back flat (block of four) that has its own driveway right down the side so we can park next to our flat. The other three flats have driveways and carports out the front on the other side. Most of the new tennants believe it is more than okay to constantly park us in. We usually approach them first and ask if they can check if we need to go out, and if it continues have on occasion just asked the police to move a car on (not very nice approachable neighbours) or raised voice tell them to move (especially if we are in the car when they park us in). I honestly don't think our REA could care less. Most people have responded well to us asking nicely - some people just do not think or have it occur to them driveway sharing is an bit of a issue.

So try the nice approach with your neighbour - highlight the emergency part and the inconvenience. If that fails talk to the REA about it. There is every possibility it has just not occurred to her that it is an issue

Good Luck and I share your frustration!

[Sharlie2878]

My brother and his partner have a place like this, it is a house that has been converted into a duplex (3 br 'house' and 1 br unit), but has a single driveway and a 2 car single width carport.

THey needed somewhere for his partners Mum to live and the unit was perfect for her. She still drove at the time though so would have had the exact situation you have. So he created a driveway around the back of the building so she could park in the back end of the carport. It wasn't perfect as the 'house' gets the yard but the best solution for everyone really. I believe in order to meet the local regs (in the NT) they had to do it that way to have it classed as 2 separate residences.