Unauthorised Parking – Your Questions Answered

Unauthorised parking is one of the more frustrating issues for residents of blocks or other larger properties with car parks.

For London properties in particular, parking spaces are typically very limited, often with fewer spaces than there are flats. It’s therefore not surprising that residents take their parking allocation very seriously and don’t take kindly to having their spaces used by non-residents or by unauthorised vehicles.  Here we answer some of the questions that relate to unauthorised parking, how it is policed and how the problem is dealt with.


Our block is near the High Street and shoppers are using parking spaces for their shopping visits, what can we do?

If a shopper is caught in the act of parking where they shouldn’t, then often a polite word from a resident will deter the shopper in future. However, in some cases the shopper (or commuter) will come and go without being seen by a resident. In these cases, we can place a notice on the vehicle to state that it is parked on private property and for the driver to contact us to confirm if they are in fact a resident. In almost all cases, this fixes the problem. If in the unlikely event that the driver persists in parking, then we can write to all residents to establish if the driver is known to anyone, or even request the driver’s postal address from the DVLA to insist that the unauthorised parking ceases.

A resident has two vehicles and is using two spaces, is this allowed?

In most cases, the lease will stipulate how many vehicles each property is allowed. If the lease allows only one vehicle per flat, it may be that the resident with two vehicles has informally agreed to use another resident’s parking space if their flat doesn’t have a vehicle. If however the block has an ongoing issue with a lack of parking spaces and a resident is using more spaces than their lease allows, it’s likely the resident will need to be reminded that, for the good of all residents and to comply with their lease, they can only park one vehicle.

Is a resident allowed to park their large van in their space?

In some cases, the lease will stipulate that the parking is for non-commercial vehicles only.  If there is no such stipulation, then it is likely that the van can be parked. It’s worth noting however, if the vehicle is particularly large and as a result is using more than one space, or is a long vehicle and so causes access issues (e.g. emergency vehicles can’t get past it) then it will need to be moved.

Can we use an external company to police and prevent unauthorised parking?

Yes. We work with leading parking control companies that can monitor your car park – either by using wardens or automatic number plate recognition – and issue tickets to drivers that are not authorised to use the spaces. Often these types of services are free of charge to the block and the parking control company will gain its revenue from the ticketing.  It’s worth noting however that any flexibility in parking that some residents may have previously enjoyed (e.g. occasionally parking an extra car when the car park is not full) may well be lost if a parking control service is used.

An unauthorised car has been parked in a space and it appears to be abandoned, how can it be removed?

If we have established that the vehicle is not associated with any of the residents and is showing obvious signs of being abandoned, we can then attach a TORT notice to it. The TORT notice would give the owner 28 days to remove their vehicle. If they failed to do so and the vehicle has remained in abandoned condition, we can complete an order to have the vehicle removed.

A resident has parked their car in their space, but they don’t use it and it looks rusted and abandoned, can it be removed?

In most cases, if the resident has parked their vehicle in a space that they are allowed to use, the vehicle cannot be removed without their consent. If the resident refuses to remove the vehicle, then the situation might rely on the diplomacy of the property manager to persuade the owner to see the situation from the other residents’ perspectives. The resulting compromise might be that the resident agrees to keep the vehicle relatively clean if they insist it cannot be removed.


If your building has challenges regarding its parking and you have concerns about your property management company’s ability to offer the skills and professionalism you require, get in touch with us today.

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