Updating post from Reddit.
I live in London and have an off-street parking spot. Because I have this spot, I park my car there and do not have a parking permit to park on the road. Repeatedly, when we need to have builders out to sort issues, the landlord has not sorted parking. I asked him to please book in a trader permit for the day, but he refuses, saying it's too expensive (£50 I believe) and instead wants me to use one of my guest permits and he will reimburse. The problem is that we only have a set number of these per year and, while I've not ever run out of them in the past, I don't feel I should have to waste my permits on his building works. He is the landlord after all.
It's becoming a real point of contention as the builder has been here frequently lately and again today he's turned up with no parking sorted. The landlord had not spoken to me ahead of time, so I assumed something had been sorted, but then the builder arrives and asks me where he is supposed to park.
Am I somehow in the wrong here?
'Im sorry Mr Landlord but i have used them all for this year'
Yeah maybe I'll try to go with that from now on...
Hey, guy who runs a maintenance business for landlords here.
So I used to work a lot in Manchester City Centre. First port of call for me - I’ll always ask the tenant. I don’t want your space or for you to use up guest passes - but nobody knows local parking options as well as the tenant.
Falling that, it’s on street parking and it just gets added to the invoice as a line item. It’s just a cost of doing business. Anything over 2 hours gets billed at £25 (the cost of a parking ticket paid in 14 days here). I’ve had one or two landlords ask what the charge is for, but non be difficult about it.
As I see it, the tenant has some responsibility to accommodate my visit (basics - be in if you say you’ll be in, advise on parking if you’re able to). I have the responsibility to turn up and do the work, landlord is responsible for the costs. Seems like a fair and efficient division of responsibilities. Maybe talk to the builder if it’s the same guy, and ask if he can pay for parking and add it to his invoice, or factor it into future quotes.
Use your parking space, and do not hand over any permits. The builder will add any parking costs/fines to your landlord, and he will soon start sorting something out.
> he will soon start sorting something out.
Like finding a more cooperative tenant, or a tenant that he won't give parking rights to. Depending on the tenancy, that may already be the case; now the landlord decides who gets guest passes.
Don't play games with your landlord, open frank communication is key.
What's not open or frank about "Not my problem, parking is for you to pay for"?
It’s kinda depressing how many tenants post here and see the tenant/landlord dynamic as some sort of war. I get that it’s probably based on their own bad experiences but I think it’s a lose/lose for everyone involved
I think because for a lot of people (geographical location pending) it absolutely is. And unfortunately I think a big leading factor in all of it, is you never hear the stories about good LLs or the good things they do/have done. (Least of all on Reddit) So it's bound to paint a very specific picture (spoiler it's not a good look for the LLs)
I've only had one interaction with a private landlord and he was absolutely perfect, all the way up until he wasn't and I'd be lying if I said it didn't paint my view of landlords a specific way. Is that right or fair? Absolutely not but it's how we as humans work 99% of the time. Unfortunately anecdotal evidence leads to a lot of emotionally charged opinions a lot of the time.
Yep good point, and sorry to hear about your experience
It happens, such is life. Doing a lot better now though, reading back my reply I probably came on a little headstrong so I apologise, I'm aware not every landlord is some money grubbing trust fund baby, I know many of them are genuinely just trying to stay afloat and in their case renting out is no different than a locally owned store selling their product. The issue arises when it involves people's livelihoods on both sides.
The government needed to something but their current approach has honestly just made it worse for both sides of the business table.
Thank you but definitely no need to apologise! Glad you’re doing a lot better and yeah agreed. More protection etc still needed for tenants imo but I appreciate it’s a fine line to tread
It’s not his parking it’s resident parking he can declare himself resident if he likes …
Just tell the trader you can't make parking available for him, it's on the landlord to organise and he'll have to take it up with him.
Landlord will lose a few tradesmen over it, like I would absolutely have not worked for someone again if I was told there would be parking and then there wasn't. I'd just have a day off and work for someone else tomorrow.
Yeah, I feel the situation today where the builder turned up with nothing sorted was just very unprofessional and unfair to the builder as well.
Deffo, make sure they know it's landlords fault and he's been told about it before.
LL sounds like a cheapskate.
Parking ticket would be £65 in London
What's that got to do with the price of fish?
Probably that the £50 cost of the trade parking landlord refuses to pay for is cheaper than paying the parking ticket.
I just can't see hanging around long enough to get one.
"The parking we told you about was a lie"
"Byebye"
Bane of my existence is the parking situation for traders in London. We have such issues because the visitors spots are always taken (we have, like 2 for 50 homes) and we don't own the spot in front of our house.
do you find the visitors parking is taking up by residents using them as an extra space
Used to be. In the visitors spot nearest my house (which is at the other end of our road) for a couple years there was a car with flat tyres that had clearly been parked and abandoned. It's been moved now, and it seems like it's a variety of cars there now, but the space is almost never empty, especially during the day.
In our cul-de-sac on the estate people park all over the place, on double yellows where they shouldn't especially. The council is trying to do something about it (they've redesignated spaces and such) but it still doesn't look like they're enforcing it. It doesn't affect us that much, we don't drive and aren't visited by anyone who does. When my father visits as he does a couple times a year, he comes on the motorbike if not by train and he can easily find somewhere to put it.
When the builders turn up, tell them there is nowhere for them to park and to contact the landlord. If you keep giving in they will keep taking advantage.
Yep, that's exactly what I did today.
Depends on the kind of landlord you have, I would say.
If you refuse to hand over your visitor permits, are they the sort of person who will look to recover the extra parking costs through future rent increases?
Or on the other side of the coin -- if you work with them on this, are they the sort of person who will think easy tenant, I want to keep them, minimal rent increases this year?
To be fair the £50 per day parking should be part of the jobs cost for the Landlord. If he finds matinace is too expensive as a result yeah tge rent might need to go up to cover that matinace.
Making the matinace easier and cheaper should never be on the tennent yet at tge end of the day you'll be most effected.
Yeah, that was the point I was making, regardless of the rights or wrongs of the situation it's the tenant who ends up covering all the costs in the end.
Although this is the London market, so maybe the tenant's rent just goes up hand over fist whatever they do.
I’ve never come across a limit on visitor parking that would run out unless you are using them a few times a week. So just feels to me that you don’t get on with your landlord and want to stick it to them. £50 parking is insane as you know. Personally if someone was reimbursing me (which you said they will) I’d help someone out rather than reward the council for being a-holes. So in a world where you never expect any favors then I guess you might be right. But when the shoe is on the other foot you’ve no grounds to moan that someone could easily have helped you.
We do have a limit -- I'm not making that up. I believe it's 10 per year. We rarely use them, but if we used them each time we had a tradesperson here we'd already be out, so I'd rather not start the precedent.
Never heard of this low amount before .
Fair enough. You really should complain about it being so few. It seems ridiculously low. And do you not then have the option of street visitor parking permits? Probably be good for you to know for yourself anyway.
Your council thinks you should only have 10 visitors per year? That's ridiculous. Which council is it? For mine we just use our street permit (which actually I don't even have anymore) through the Pay By Phone app and you pay £2 per day for visitor parking but it's unlimited days and unlimited cars. I could park 20 cars out there for a month as long as they're paying £2 a day lol.
Hold on, there's a business opportunity here. This time next year, Rodney...
We're in Camden. We get 10 day passes per year, which is anything beyond 4 hours. We have quite a few 4 hour or less passes, but it's the day ones that are a problem and those are the ones that the tradespeople usually need.
I get that they don't want people driving, but not even one a month is nuts.
My parking zone has a limit of 20 or 25? Guest passes in city center where I live per year, the surrounding zones on edges of town don’t have limits (I’m not in London) so it’s up to local councils how they do their allocations. When you buy guest passes there’s also some blurb on the t&c along the lines only residents/tenants can buy these and not owners/landlords who live outside the city… in other words it’s almost but not quite linked to who is named on the council tax bill.
Having said that I’ve bought permits for my landlord for traders to use, and they’ve reimbursed me quickly for them, but I rarely need the guest parking and nowhere near the annual limit.
Plenty of tradesmen just park and pay the fine (or pass the fine on to the customer).
Plenty of london streets only get a warden once a month anyway, so the fines actually don't really cost more than the parking permits on average.
As previously mentioned it depends on if you want to keep a friendly relationship going with your landlord . If you want to antagonise him /her you’re going about it the right way .
If he’s doing the work in a timely manner and your rent is reasonable , it would be appropriate (if it doesn’t put you out too much) to maybe use a few of your passes , it would work in your favour eventually .
This may not be what you want to hear but Landlords currently have so many people applying for tenancies , I’m sure he/she would rather just have someone who will would work with him /her rather than against . There again , perhaps you’d be better off moving somewhere where you don’t have this problem .
It’s swings and roundabouts .
This is a common situation. As a landlord you often don't have any right to guy guest parking for yourself or tradesmen at any price. I don't know why Councils don't allow this for a high price. They could make money.
The landlord cannot buy a regular visitor permit because he does not live here, but he can buy a tradesman spot for £50/day.
Sorry, yes, now I read you post again I see you refer to that. While this seems a little overpriced to me, at least there is an option.
My frustration as a landlord was with a Council who just told me only bona fide residents can buy permits.
The only exception was something really expensive to block off specific parking outside the property for a removal or whatever.
Tell the landlord you have no more guest permits. Tell the builder to talk to his employer, the landlord.
"Where do i park ?"
"I dont know you need to speak to whoever instructed the job"
No way should you be sorting their parking for them its solidly their reponsibility to sort with the landlord, im a contractor and we sort our own parking
You don't think acting in a "tenant-like manner" (a legal term) includes access for maintenance of the rental property? It's solidly both parties' responsibility.
Access for maintenance means making the property available at an appropriate time, which isn't an issue here. The landlord has access to trade parking permits for specifically this use, so they should use them.
not a tenants responsibility to sort contractor parking , land lords paying the bills so they need to sort, another derranged landlord
You can take that view if you wish, but £55 premium added to every maintenance request will eventually show up in increased rents to maintain profit margins.
Don't buy a house in a borough with those rules then. The tenant isn't asking the landlord to pay for their guest permits.
I wouldn't but it's just common sense. If margins get tight, landlords look to increase them.
Reimburse you how? Didn't you tell them it'll cost them £50 for each use of one of your guest permits?
What is the building work?
I think you're being difficult here. Ultimately, the builder is here to repair your flat, and you can make it all easier if you just give them a permit.
I doubt your "limit" will affect you if you give a couple to the builder. Most councils allow a minimum of 120 permits, with some allowing much more.
You can obviously charge him for your permit, though
We only get 10 day permits (> 4 hours) per year.
You can refuse all you want but the cost of all works, including permits, simply drive future rents for the property you rent. Use a free visitor permit or spread £50 over next years rent. You decide 😉
I am so glad i abandoned London 30 years ago and bought a house for half the price. Before the lunacy fully set in. The traitor Khan started his cash cow to cover the financial loses of TFL. All in the name of the environment. The most unhealthy place in London is the underground. Get your own house in order .......... I know plenty of tradesmen who will not entertain working in London now.
As you live there can’t you sign up with the council for visitor permits? Typically an online portal and you add their reg in and do it daily? Takes minutes
Yes, but as I stated, I have a limited number per year. I'd rather not waste them on never-ending maintenance.
Sell them to him for £55 a permit.
Good shout!
To be honest, it doesn’t sound like your problem so if you want to be nice and sort it then charge the landlord back but make it clear not your issue. You’re there to give access. If the builder gets a ticket he won’t be sending you a bill, he’ll add it to the landlord invoice. Just be clear about it.
Have you joined this subreddit to moan about builders?
No, I've joined to moan about my landlord.
But in all seriousness, I feel like I'm completely correct in requiring the landlord to sort the parking. However, I felt this was a good sub to check with to see if I was wrong and dealing with parking actually does largely fall upon the tenant.
Did you read their post?
reading comprehension of a 'builder' hihi