Breaking the Law.

[pensioner]

Can anyone please tell me, urgently, am I breaking the law by parking my caravan in my driveway and plugging it into the mains to trickle charge the leisure battery

My aggresive neighbour says I am and is going to get the law onto me.

 

[Craigyoung]

Of course not, it's not as if you are wired into the lamp post , you pay for your electricity so tell him to get knotted and mind his own business , mine's on my drive now no one says anything to me when mine is plugged in!

 

[Gabsgrandad]

There's always a clown somewhere, mine's been on (& off) the drive for 40 years..
With different lots of neighbours. (no -- none have left because of my caravan!)

 

[Gagakev]

Before you hurl a custard pie at him check your deeds.
If you are in a fairly new property there may well be a covenant on the whole estate that you are not aware of.
Best to get the facts before taking action.
Good Luck

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Good point Kev I'd forgotten about such covenants, one on our property prevents us running a business from the property, but folks do, think covenants can fall into disuse if no one pursues them.

 

[crazyguider]

I agree, check the deeds. We had to remind our neighbour that the fence he wanted us to replace was actually his!!

 

[otherclive]

As others have said you are not breaking the law having it connected to your electricity supply. Mines currently connected up.
Regarding covenants it's my understanding that it's a civil matter so the police will not be interested. The covenant is generally between the developer and the first purchaser. It can transfer to subsequent owners but by then the development is complete and the developer has minimal interest there on. Also with a covenant if someone complains it's their responsibility to pursue it in law at their cost. Should (perish the thought) it get to a legal position there's no fine, compensation etc and courts rarely if ever award costs. So you might have to move your van into storage but that's a real low probability. I live in the Cotswold AONB and there were covenants galore on our development. Could not put low walls around your open plan plot, no caravans, motor homes etc. Garage doors white etc. Well my next door neighbour but one was town mayor and even he gave up trying when some started to put up wall and park vans. Now we have one neighbour up the road with chickens and a veg plot in his front garden.
So in reality I don't think you have anything to worry about other than trying to explain to your neighbour and try and smooth things over.

 

[pensioner]

Many thanks all of you for your prompt and reassuring replies,,,

We have an appointment tomoro with a police officer to chat about the whole situation as fences are involved as well.
The most amusing point this guy made was that my van was blocking the sunlight into his kitchen,,,total crap as the van is north of his kitchen and any sunlight is reflected into his kitchen, making it brighter.
We are sure it's the green eyed jealously monster popping up.

 

[otherclive]

Would have thought that the police have better things to do, especially as fences and covenants are both civil matters. As said above your deeds should show exactly who is responsible regarding fences and boundaries and any shared drives/access.

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

I know that this is going to hurt.....................but try and get him / her "on side". There is not much worse than an on-going neighbour dispute. Over the years we have had similar issues, but just bit tongue and worked on them. Much better than legal / court / civil / police action etc. These things can spiral out of control very easily if not sorted early!.
Good luck and keep us in the picture.

 

[Dustydog]

I too am surprised the Police are involved.Did you ask for the meeting or perhaps the Mr Nasty has alleged a breach of the peace??
May I suggest you check your home and caravan insurance policies and establish if you have any Legal Expenses cover.A lot of Legal Expense Insurers have first contact help lines where you can discuss your problem.
Good luck Pensioner. BTW my caravan is often at home for two or three weeks at a time. I work on it and plug in the mains electricity.

 

[pensioner]

I actually called the police for advice as the son in the family was getting abusive and threatening.

Thank you again all for your help and advice.

 

[Gagakev]

I actually called the police for advice as the son in the family was getting abusive and threatening.

Thank you again all for your help and advice.

So sorry to hear this part Pensioner, I do hope you get it sorted, good luck

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

Me to.

 

[DaveA1]

Me To. I get the feeling he would not be so mouthy if you were younger.

 

[thosoneill]

The situation with Pensioner and his neighbour is not ideal - these matters can quickly develop into unlawfulness with negative consequences - not wishing you any misfortune however I personally would be looking to store the caravan away from home

 

[Anseo]

The situation with Pensioner and his neighbour is not ideal - these matters can quickly develop into unlawfulness with negative consequences - not wishing you any misfortune however I personally would be looking to store the caravan away from home

I would keep the police and social services involvedinformed of every adverse turn of events, scummy neighbours are being dealt with more effectively these days, Pensioner should not need to be bullied or pestered by anti social riff-raff.

Hope it all settles down quickly Pensioner.

 

[chrisn7]

As caravanners most posters are on the side of the OP here. Notwithstanding the attitude of the neighbour, we do have to respect that others may not be as favourably disposed towards caravans as we are, and I can see why people don't like large white boxes being parked up. I guess feeling depends on how much or little space is available before a van seems intrusive.
We have perhaps 4 caravanners in our development, but none is stored at the property, just temporarily to load and unload, and to me that is how it should be

 

[camel]

Pensioner,
Before this completely out of hand with your neighbour I would be installing CCTV to cover the caravan, if like you say he has a crazy son anything could happen,

 

[GD485]

As I understand it a covenant is quite often a condition placed upon freeholders by the house builders. Some restrict the storage of commercial vehicle, trailers ,boats and caravans. (like the covenant on our house). Most are put in place so that the estate looks good while the rest of the estate is being sold.
In our case the builder no longer exists so I think enforcement maybe a bit of a problem.

However, ex local authority or housing association homes may have covenants that are enforced by the local council.

Fence disputes and driveways are civil matters so the Police aren't interested but disturbance and threatening behaviour do attract their attention.

It is illegal to place a mains cable across a public right of way but I can't see this applying to a private driveway.

There is nothing worse than falling out with the neighbours I hope you can get the matter sorted without any ill feeling.

 

[Raywood]

The idea of him using a covenant is almost certainly a non starter. A covenant is only enforceable by the party in whose favour it is drawn. This is almost always going to be the developer and not the neighbours. Once a development is complete and sold off the developer could not care less about you and what you leave on your property and has no reason to spend money on enforcing it.
If you rent the property or it is leasehold then the landlord or freeholder may have rights preventing you parking the caravan there and you need to check the conditions.
There may also be planning restrictions although this is very unlikely but if so the council might want to enforce them but unless the caravan is used to live in then this is very unlikely.
There is absolutely no reason though why you should not connect the caravan to the mains provided the connection is safe, and there is nothing your neighbour can do legally on that one.
I do agree though that it is better to try and come to some agreement with him. If he will not back down though do ask him on what basis he believes it is illegal and get him to check his allegations on the internet. As said in the previous replies though this can only be a civil matter and the Police will not want to become involved..

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

There may also be planning restrictions although this is very unlikely but if so the council might want to enforce them but unless the caravan is used to live in then this is very unlikely.

I always thought that a caravan or a garden shed could be used as an extra bedroom for visitors, as both are not permanent structures.

This old link discusses caravans.

 

[GD485]

I think you are right. I seem to remember that a caravan is regarded as a temporary building if it's used as an extension to the main residence.

There is a bit of info on the following website:-
http://www.selfbuildtimberframe.com/planning

 

[DrZhivago]

A covenant is only enforceable by the party in whose favour it is drawn. This is almost always going to be the developer and not the neighbours. Once a development is complete and sold off the developer could not care less

That is a bit sweeping. Where I lived in North West Bristol, large areas used to belong to Quakers and in these areas there are covenants against caravans and pubs - that's why the NW Bristol suburbs are relatively "dry". WRT the pubs, I understand it was for lasting moral reasons and nothing to do with making the area attractive just when houses were being originally sold.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

yeah it one of those buyer beware issues. when buying a house new or old it always worth looking at the deeds and the legal pack. all the information is in there, ours was owned by the NCB it held all the freeholds in the area. and issued leaseholds on the houses it once owned. when the NCB ceased to exist. the new owners were allowed to buy the freeholds for 1% of the value. so all the old restrictions and covenants lapsed. turned out to be good deal owning the freehold. and have the boundaries set in stone as it were.
there is nothing worse than having shared areas. access rights. or covenants on a property. it's a time bomb waiting to go off if not today then in the future. buyers beware.