Working on a car outside your house.......

Scott Stephen · Post by **Scott Stephen** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:58 pm

Hi all

Is it illegal to work on a car outside on the street like so many of us have to do?? - My neighbours are complaining (again!!) - They dont like the sitght of the car sitting on axle stands outside the house!!!!! - (Me and my dad removed the engine today LOL)

Post by **Punx0r** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:05 pm

Unfortunately so mate! You're allowed to do essential roadside repairs in the event of a breakdown, but what a lot of us do is technically taking the tripe n onions...

I'd try and keep your neighbours sweet because if they complain to the council you are likely to get in trouble. The council can even stop you working on your car on your own property if they really want to...

If possible don't leave the car up on stands - slap the wheels back on and drop it onto the ground so it just looks parked up.

Try being sociable with people as they stroll past when you're working. You can even make the point that by being out in the street all day tinkering you can keep an eye on the street and deter trouble with your presence.

216si · Post by **216si** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:02 pm

Punx0r wrote: The council can even stop you working on your car on
your own property if they really want to...

tell me about it, i am now sporting a asbo for said offence, private driveway and a private house but still qualify for a asbo

now i have a lockup it's fantastic, i can do what i want when i want but now average of £250 a month worse off

cas_uk · Post by **cas_uk** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:35 pm

216si wrote:
Punx0r wrote: The council can even stop you working on your car on
your own property if they really want to...
tell me about it, i am now sporting a asbo for said offence, private driveway and a private house but still qualify for a asbo

now i have a lockup it's fantastic, i can do what i want when i want but now average of £250 a month worse off

whats the next step after an asbo tho si?

216si · Post by **216si** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:38 pm

legal process, prosocution i beleive

Post by **agw_01** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:53 pm

Si, that is unbelievable.

Some people are just utter f*ckwits. Our unit is at the end of a cul-de-sac. Wonder how long it takes for the busy-bodies around to complain

Mr_James · Post by **Mr_James** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:22 am

I've never had anyone complain about me working on the car on the drive, in fact when I was under the MR2 for a good hour the other day changing the clutch again(Funny story there) one of the polish that lives opposite came over to check I was ok thought that was rather nice of him

Post by **Punx0r** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:12 pm

Yeah, many people are live and let live, as long as you're not using a grinder when they're trying to sleep or throwing oil all over the road they don't mind. It's just the odd self-righteous teacup with too much time that just has to stick their nose in simply because they can.

Si, I can't believe you got an ASBO! What a complete joke! I recall you saying the council were following up a noise complaint about your compressor, but how did that turn into a court order?!

216si · Post by **216si** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:06 pm

because i was a idiot and ignored them, they discovered i was using the garage for painting.....

shellis · Post by **shellis** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:12 pm

i fell out with people down my road cause of my old exhaust should see the looks i get now when im tinkering with the car, seems a shame people can't apreciate people's hobbies, i don't particularly like many things other than working on my car or tinkering with it, just a shame to think if one of my neighbours took the hump over it i could get an asbo

Post by **Punx0r** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:23 pm

216si wrote:because i was a idiot and ignored them, they discovered i was using the garage for painting.....

I still don't see the problem with that - it sounds like occasional hobby use to me.

Didn't cableguy have a court noise abatement order against one of his cars?

Apolgies if I'm thinking of someone else

Semproxion · Post by **Semproxion** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:37 pm

A mate of mine had a visit from the council after a curtain-twitcher told them he was fixing cars from his council owned garage. He'd only ever fixed one other car that wasn't his own, being mine and mine was an 'emergency' repair as I'd broke the rear tie-bar on my XR2, meaning that the only thing holding the rear axle on the car was the shock absorbers (Rally suspension & Std tie bar x double hump-back =

)

syzsounds · Post by **syzsounds** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:24 am

Unfortunately for some of you the locals are complete arse's.
Mine are fine, I have 4 cars here at the mo , One in bits
( The Tickford) which will be going soon to the great breaker ...

Both neighbours are deaf ( and slightly senile !) and really don't mind what i do aslong as i don't make lots of noise late at night.
There more interested in what im doing and why TBH.

Although i did once take the Pi$$ one night staying up until 3 grinding out a lower suspension bolt to be ready for pod the next day.
Didnt even run either ...

Post by **Cableguy** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:48 am

Punx0r wrote:
216si wrote:because i was a idiot and ignored them, they discovered i was using the garage for painting.....
I still don't see the problem with that - it sounds like occasional hobby use to me.

Didn't cableguy have a court noise abatement order against one of his cars? Apolgies if I'm thinking of someone else

Yeah i had the abatement order against me , but that was for noise from an exhaust i had fitted coupled with my doggy barking a little during the day ( neighbours on nights so surely when you enter in to a job like that you expect it to be noisier in the day ? )

However the rigmorole with the council i had was seperate to this and was merely for working on cars on my driveway. I had some strong words with the guy who complained about me one night and since then the complaints to the council have become more mild , to the point where they have accepted that im not doing anything they can object to.

Unfortunately you just need to be very very careful and grin and bare it as the neighbours will win if they want to.

Best practices are ( in terms of actually being on your driveway , public highway is a big no no after a puncutre repair )

1. Keep everything out of the way , no visible items from the front view ( i.e keep all your tools at the back of your drive if need be )

2. Dont let your car hang on to the public highway or any of your equipment

3. Keep the nose of the car pointing away fromt he highway ( or the end your working on )

4. Dont make any noise after 9pm

5. Make sure its only your car and your friends cars you work on ( you will be asked to prove via log books )

Stick to those and they wont really do much about it to be honest.

Also it will only take one day of you leaving crap all over the drive for them to nab you as they WILL come and take pics while your out ( technically tresspassing , ar5eholes) Im talking about the council btw.

Null_Byte · Post by **Null_Byte** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:51 am

I have no neighbours. Win

Post by **Cableguy** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:53 am

Null_Byte wrote:I have no neighbours. Win

Nor me anymore , but my pation is now bigger than my driveway

Null_Byte · Post by **Null_Byte** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:57 am

One of the few benifits of living in the fens is that

1) your nearest neighbour is about half a mile away

2) they fix tractors in their driveway.

There is always machinery on the go, tractors on the fields until 11pm, nobody really cares and just gets on with what needs to be done.

I used to spend till 3 or 4am grinding and hammering away, nobody worries.

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:28 am

tbh, i think most people dont have a problem with working on cars.

i lived in a cul de sac, neighbours eitherside, and never had any complaints, and id always be tinkering at the weekend...

the main thing i think is not to be making any noise too early on a sunday, or after dark, or leave all your sh1t lying about the place, or leave the car looking like a state. Some people dont even talk to their neighbours, so a nice hello hows your father never goes a miss... Shouting and swearing is never a good combination either...

plus, if your neighbour has a rover thats broken, that always helps lol...

they had there 416bubble on the drive with a broken earth to slam panel for like 2 months, and never asked, there son, a mechanic, was just about to put on a new alternator, and had already done a new battery. Fixed it in about 5 seconds lol...

Null_Byte · Post by **Null_Byte** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:37 pm

Scott wrote:a nice hows your father never goes a miss.

say no more, say no more.

420gazza · Post by **420gazza** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:39 pm

i'm going through the same thing with the council as i work on my cars at the side of the tyburn road, i've had them come out a fewe times now as my neighbours but one keep complaining

the thing that gets me though is it dosen't affect them in any way as they live 2 fooking doors away, but because they're old and have nothing better to do with their time other than wait to die they think it's a good idea to make my life hell. the councils been round a couple of times now and asked to see the log books for the cars outside my pad, but as they're all mine i showed them all relevant paperwork and they left me alone for a while.

now the neighbours have complained again they've wrote to me telling me to apply for planning permission to work on my cars, even though they know they're gonna tell me no as it's a very busy road. that said i'm still gonna apply just to see what the outcome is

Post by **Punx0r** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:25 pm

Planning permission?

Null_Byte · Post by **Null_Byte** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:33 pm

You don't need planning permission to work on your own car.

The only time you would need planning permision is if your adding or removing a structure, adding additional driveways, or change of use.

HTH

southside · Post by **southside** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:57 pm

Null_Byte wrote:You don't need planning permission to work on your own car.

The only time you would need planning permision is if your adding or removing a structure, adding additional driveways, or change of use.

HTH

They'll probably change the use of his house to a garage.lol

Post by **Cableguy** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:14 pm

Yeah it wont be planning permission , it was be a planning contravention , and i suggest you DONT send that back Gaz, been there. they will end up changing the use of the building to business and you will get taxed accordingly.

David-Ti · Post by **David-Ti** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:17 pm

Scott wrote:Shouting and swearing is never a good combination either...

Hold on a minute. This is rovers were talking about.

420gazza · Post by **420gazza** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:18 am

yeah it was planning permission, they said it's being used for business so i should apply for it.

i was under the impression planning permission was for adding buildings etc too but apparently not according to the letter i've got from them.

Null_Byte · Post by **Null_Byte** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:58 pm

420gazza wrote:yeah it was planning permission, they said it's being used for business so i should apply for it.

i was under the impression planning permission was for adding buildings etc too but apparently not according to the letter i've got from them.

Are you a business?

Because if you file for a change of use then you will be taxed accordingly, and trust me business rates are not cheap

stefaclese · Post by **stefaclese** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:01 pm

I've never had any trouble working on mine and my parents cars outside my home, but I just stick it in the parking area round the corner when I do rather than on the street, last time I was stunned when a neighbour actually came over as he was curious as to what I was doing, but being in the middle of trying to attach a gearbox on my own I was a little reluctant to be chatty.

Only time I've ever had any trouble was whilst working on my car at my uni halls, but thats because the place is run by knobcheese's.

I'm looking at renting a house in Erdington next year, which has a driveway big enough to park 10 cars

So never gonna have the same trouble at uni again me thinks!

David-Ti · Post by **David-Ti** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:21 pm

I use to work on my cars on the driveway. Never had any problems from the neighbours. Sometimes they might joke and say, your not working on that car again are you..

Now I have a garage I do any work in there. Keep the noise levels down and be as considerate as I possibly can. I've kept it friendly with all the neighbours and I even help them with things if they need it.

Most of them are oap's and just think I'm mad working on cars in the middle of winter.. Their probably right. lol

420gazza · Post by **420gazza** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:05 pm

Null_Byte wrote:
420gazza wrote:yeah it was planning permission, they said it's being used for business so i should apply for it.

i was under the impression planning permission was for adding buildings etc too but apparently not according to the letter i've got from them.
Are you a business?

Because if you file for a change of use then you will be taxed accordingly, and trust me business rates are not cheap

in that case no i'm not a business

munky · Post by **munky** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:57 am

I had a removal notice slapped on my bmw. It has tax, is insured and is still mot'd.

Its in a residents car park (council owned) but not on the 'public highway'.

The front of the car was resting on the front wheels cos it had no front struts, it had no interior or dashboard but was otherwise intact and safe.

I called the Abandoned Vehicles Officer to have the notice lifted because it wasnt abandoned and had full documents.

She informed me that as the front wheels werent attached it was 'dangerous', and with no interior it wasnt a complete car, so even with tax etc they could (and would) remove it, at my cost.

I bolted the front struts back on, attached the front wheels, bolted a seat in the drivers position and balanced a set of dials on the steering column... asked her to come and re-assess it....

She did, the notice was lifted and its fine to stay there.

I was also told that ONLY essential repairs are allowed on the public highway, and ANY council owned property.

dunno if it helps but thats my experience.

Go onto your local council's website and read the small print for the highways/vehicles/etc regulations.

Even small things like 'a build up of vegetation or rubbish around a vehicles wheels' can be enough for them to decide its abandoned, a nuisance, etc, and have it removed!

Post by **Cableguy** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:27 am

munky wrote:
Its in a residents car park (council owned) but not on the 'public highway'.

The public highway is anywhere that a civilian can gain access to legally, so if someone can walk by your car, its on the public highway.

calibrax · Post by **calibrax** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:03 am

munky wrote:I was also told that ONLY essential repairs are allowed on the public highway, and ANY council owned property.

Just tell them all the repairs you do are essential... otherwise why would you bother?

Post by **Cableguy** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:51 am

calibrax wrote:
munky wrote:I was also told that ONLY essential repairs are allowed on the public highway, and ANY council owned property.
Just tell them all the repairs you do are essential... otherwise why would you bother?

This essential repairs thing is a myth im afraid , you cant even change a battery by the road side and be all above board.

Sheaf · Post by **Sheaf** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 12:39 pm

Cableguy wrote:
calibrax wrote:
munky wrote:I was also told that ONLY essential repairs are allowed on the public highway, and ANY council owned property.
Just tell them all the repairs you do are essential... otherwise why would you bother?
This essential repairs thing is a myth im afraid , you cant even change a battery by the road side and be all above board.

What about the AA/RAC? Surely they do it all the time...