‘My selfish neighbours park their van outside our house’

tial developments, such as purpose-built flats where a management company oversees the “common parts” of the development. In these examples, it would be possible for the landowner to ban camper vans.

From what you say, your situation is none of the above, in that you appear to live on a residential street that abuts the public highway.

Your house is Victorian, so it is unlikely there will be a so- called covenant on the land to restrict parking of large vehicles outside your house. Almost certainly, parking outside your house will be as per the usual rules on a public highway, which is permitted for anyone unless it is restricted in some way – such as by double yellow lines or some other stated reason.

On your street what I surmise has happened is that the local authority (hopefully after consultation with residents) has introduced a Traffic Regulation Order under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 to define who can and cannot park on the public highway in your neighbourhood. It is like having double yellow lines that you and your neighbours are allowed to ignore, but which apply to everyone else.

I say all this because it is important to understand the legal status of the road outside your house and how that status impacts on who can park there and on what basis. A residents’ permit scheme means any resident with a permit can treat the road just like the public highway and park where they like, including in front of your house. Yes, your neighbours are being selfish by not parking their massive camper van outside their own house, but it might be difficult to say they are acting unlawfully.

Except that the residents’ only parking is a scheme managed by the local authority, and that does give you potential leverage in that you have a body with direct oversight they are actively managing. The key here is the rules of the scheme itself and the wider duties of the local authority.

Each local authority will have slightly different rules, and I suggest you study yours carefully. There might be a restriction on not using the visitor permits for the same vehicle for more than a defined period, or for the scheme not to be used for a vehicle over a certain height or weight. You can go online and check the height and weight of the make and model of the offending camper van and see if it is in breach or not.

What’s more, while your neighbours may be operating within the rules of the scheme, it seems they are not behaving morally – and that may be where getting your local elected councillor on side could help. Complaining that you feel the residents’ parking is being “exploited” and asking for a review of the scheme, including use of visitor permits, may help your cause. At the very least, your local councillor may speak to your neighbours and try to broker a deal.

I would also throw in the issue of “nuisance”, and how you might have a legal claim against your neighbour for the persistent parking in front of your house leading to loss of light. Again, report this concern to the local authority. It will be a hard case to prove, but if you feel neighbourly relations are low anyway, sending a stiff letter to the camper van owners alleging nuisance and asking them to inform their own insurers about it in case you bring a claim later (aka putting them “on notice”), may panic them into being more thoughtful and moving their beast of a van in front of their own house, or better still paying for bespoke storage.

However, always remember that any correspondence of that kind is disclosable if you move house.

I hope you now understand the legal basis of your situation and that you have some ideas as to how to find a remedy.