Converting Section of Front Garden to additional driveway/ parking.

[Charlotte22]

Hi all,

Excuse the very poor drawings, but do we think this is possible?

Our house is end of terrance, just off the road somewhat on a corner plot. We have a driveway/ single garage to the side (technically back garden) of the house and we were wondering if it would be possible to take a portion of the bush out the front, and about a 2sqm chunk out of our back garden to create additional parking (material tbc) and mark it off with a 1 metre fence (as permitted in front gardens)? The left drawing is current vs. proposed. We have a drop curb (yellow) which would remain in use for the additional parking.

Since moving, we've realised parking is somewhat an issue and we're at a loss!

 

See photos for reference!

The house is 30+ years old, and the bush was planted as a 'boundary line'. Has anyone done anything similar before, or know if something like this is a straight NO in the eyes of the councils.

[Redbeard]

4 hours ago, Charlotte22 said:

the bush was planted as a 'boundary line'

 

Does the fact that you have put 'boundary line' in inverted commas suggest that you have doubt about the boundary? The existence of a 'hard' 'boundary' in the form of the fence makes me wonder if the land under the hedge is classified as 'amenity land' - owned by you but with restrictions on use. Is that your driveway in the front of the picture?

[Charlotte22]

Sorry, no that definitely is the boundary line, anything within the bush they class as our front garden as shown within the deeds - not sure why I put in commas.

Yes, that is our driveway next to the grey fence.

[Charlotte22]

A better picture for reference, we'd like for the extra parking to go where the yellow box is.

[dpmiller]

does it really need a fence even? Hedge out, bit of surfacing, done.

[torre]

I agree with @Redbeard this is likely to be amenity land you own but it's use is restricted, so clearing a large area and parking a car there may not be allowed. 

 

Could you remove a much smaller part of the hedge and park parallel with your existing drive& garage? They way you only pass over rather than park on that land. It does lose more garden but it's less likely anyone will kick up a fuss

[Charlotte22]

Ohh OK! How do I go about finding out if it's amenity land? On the title deeds it's referred to as open land - I have seen some neighbours take bushes out and pave some of the garden to create additional space. Our neighbour opposite paved their entire front garden (which is also open land on deeds) and uses that as a driveway with only the small existing drop curb. Oh this is very confusing! Thanks for all your replies so far, definitely some food for thought!

[ProDave]

I would just do it, take out as much of the hedge as you need and cover the area with gravel and park your car there.  If you do ever got an official complaint it would be easy to re plant the hedge or other shrubs.

 

I feel trying to get official permission would be a big hassle.

[Charlotte22]

11 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I would just do it, take out as much of the hedge as you need and cover the area with gravel and park your car there.  If you do ever got an official complaint it would be easy to re plant the hedge or other shrubs.

 

I feel trying to get official permission would be a big hassle.

Thanks, yeah we were thinking that to be fair. I don't think we'd get huge objection as it would ease the parking pressure on surrounding neighbours, and we wouldn't be taking all the bushes out, just about 2-3 metres maximum, and go from there. 

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

just do it

It doesn't seem that neighbours would complain, as others have done this already.. so the council wouldn't be aware or interested. 

Nearly always worth a chat to the immediate neighbour.

If you make the new surface permeable then you aren't affecting drainage either and it is 'a good thing'.

Membrane, sub base, grids with gravel.

[Charlotte22]

This is our boundary line for reference. 

[ProDave]

I hate builders that do that, give you a lot of land, then fence off just a tiny bit of land for your own private use.  NOBODY benefits from the bit of land you have with a hedge and some dead space behind it.

 

I have a relative in a similar situation. He planted a Beech hedge all around his boundary and when it reached 2 metres tall he let all his fences fall down, and now has a private and much larger garden.

[Charlotte22]

34 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I hate builders that do that, give you a lot of land, then fence off just a tiny bit of land for your own private use.  NOBODY benefits from the bit of land you have with a hedge and some dead space behind it.

 

I have a relative in a similar situation. He planted a Beech hedge all around his boundary and when it reached 2 metres tall he let all his fences fall down, and now has a private and much larger garden.

It's frustrating!

[Charlotte22]

I believe then, our first steps is to look whether we can change a portion of the 'open space' to 'private garden space' and go from there... mind blowing.