@sassy72 said:
Hi everyone, I am not sure if this has been asked and answered in previous forum topics.I bought a flat in July, there is a driveway on the property at the side of the building, but no car spaces, there is always a car parked in the driveway belonging to a tenant in the downstairs flat. The car doesn’t block anything as the driveway doesn’t go anywhere.
On Sunday night I noticed the car wasn’t there so I parked in the driveway and went into my flat. About an hour later the tenant knocked on my door asking if I could move my car as he needed to park there. I apologised and said I thought it was common property. He said no that he paid extra rent to park in the driveway.
I didn’t think that sounded right, so I spoke to the strata manager yesterday who confirmed that the driveway is common property.
What can we do? I am wondering if we can force the landlord to pay all the extra rent they have received to the strata fund?
I feel badly for the tenant, but the landlord is in the wrong here.
Can anyone advise?
Thank you
Sassy
In my experience, often these sort of arrangements just grow over time and become a defacto agreement. Some common property can’t be used by anyone but the occupier/owner/tenant and its use has no impact on other owners use of common property. In our complex there are a couple of units where parking directly outside the occupiers garage on common property doesn’t impact anyone else and is tolerated, however, from time to time we get objections from other occupiers who can’t park outside their garage on the basis that “if I can’t do it no one can”.
“Force the Landlord to pay all the extra rent … to the strata fund” Do you know the EC? Could they have made an ‘informal’ agreement with the owner/landlord? Is the owner/landlord on the EC?
If there isn’t an formal agreement the owner is just spinning the tenant lies (or outlining a practice that has grown up over the years) to get more rent.
In my view, of course whether or not their is an agreement the occupier/tenant/owner can’t claim this as ‘their’ spot. So you are within your rights to say ‘everyone or no one’ has a right to park there.
I know this doesn’t advance your issue but perhaps the issue has a background to it take doesn’t make the issue so clear cut.