Parking.

[TGS]

Hello everybody,

I am literally taking you through every step of my daily life. Sorry.

Met with a very experienced, serious, humourless solicitor today who managed to put a massive fly in my ointment and generally take the sparkle off of my mindset. He was very thorough though which is obviously reassuring.

He got his knickers in a massive twist over parking. Bloody parking!

The current owners rent 8 parking spaces for the 7 holiday lets at approx £2k a year. We are happy to continue with this arrangement as they are at the back of the property. The solicitor is of the opinion that should we be unable to continue to rent them (unlikely) or can only rent them ad hoc with no long term guarantee then this could be a deal breaker.

Which shocked me. There are numerous carparks within the vicinity. The cheapest is a 10 minute pretty walk away and you can buy a weeks ticket for £14.

Admittedly, at 1pm on a summer Saturday it can be tricky to find a parking space. But after 6pm the place tends to empty and the free overnight parking in the short stay spaces (literally opposite) become available.

It's a no brainer that offering parking is preferable. But in a busy seaside town is it a non negotiable (worse case scenario permitting).

I know that this query won't necessarily apply to some of you (drives etc..) but you've all been guests somewhere. Seafront is a stones throw away.

Would you be happy for complicated parking if the location is right?
(This is a rhetorical conversation because I'm going to nail down whoever owns the damn parking and persuade them that we can continue with the arrangement forever).

Oh and happy bank holiday weekend everyone. Hope you're all full to bursting

[Essar]

I assume the parking spaces rented are not on the apartments' property estate and therefore rented from a third-party?
If so, then there is the possibility (remote) that at some point in the future the owner of the land could change it's use; this of course does depend on whether there is other access to the land in question and planning permission - in any event there would be plenty of notice for you to find alternatives.
I would take a long hard look at the rental agreement for the parking; I would certainly try to have it tied up for as longer period as you think is appropriate.
Sometimes accountants will concentrate on issues that are probably not a great risk (a risk nevertheless); purely to show that they are clever and picked it up.
If you think it's a reasonable risk then don't let it get in the way of your plans - perhaps the present owner can give you insight as to the relationship with the parking land owners.
From a guest's perspective; on-site parking is an essential, even having to use on-street parking for a second vehicle can be an issue with some. No parking at all on-site would be many a booking breaker.

[TGS]

Thank you Essar for your honest reply and pertinent questions.

Even though all my most recent posts have been problems/queries I have to admit I'm enjoying every second of it!

Like a dog with a bone...

[French Cricket]

From a guest's perspective; on-site parking is an essential, even having to use on-street parking for a second vehicle can be an issue with some. No parking at all on-site would be many a booking breaker.

I'd say it's preferable though not always essential - though that obviously depends on the target market. If the location is exceptional, and the owner gives clear information about parking - and perhaps is willing to include weekly season tickets in the rental if there's no on-street parking - then it probably wouldn't be a deal breaker. I stay regularly in a 4th floor apartment overlooking a harbour in Catalonia, where the nearest parking is about 6 minutes walk, and while loading and unloading are a bit of a pain it's absolutely worth it for the location.

[tavi]

I think the answer lies in your location and the type/age/origin of guest you will attract

Where I am, off-street parking is most definitely not an essential to my bookings. The possibility of losing the availability of those parking spaces would only be potentially damaging if your guests are really going to need their cars every day.

No idea if my experience is useful but a very large number of my guests (from outside Portugal) don't bother to hire a car, because once here they don't need one. It's a USP. Literally everything is within walking distance. groceries, restaurants, cafes, boat trips, seaside, beach, birdwatching, cycling tracks, public transport. They get a taxi (or sometimes a bus!) from the airport. A car not being essential is a plus point...they love it - they spend their lives in cars at home...they relish the slower pace of life without one! I have a great local licensed taxi driver who picks them up from the airport and takes them back again. They feel like VIps.

Even my Portuguese guests park up, unload the car and then don't use it again for a week or two.

So, yes, those with cars will want somewhere safe to leave it, and they will want to be able to drive up to load and unload. Your solicitor is certainly doing her/his job by pointing out pitfalls but it may not be a deal-breaker?

[Bunny]

Just my opinion, but a property without parking would be at the bottom of my list of choices. When I go on holiday I want to relax and wouldn't want the stress of trying to find a parking space. I may book if there was nothing else available but a 10 minute walk to the nearest car park would probably finish it for me (free or otherwise). Good luck; I hope you can successfully obtain a long term rental commitment from the owner of the land.

[kg1]

Just my opinion, but a property without parking would be at the bottom of my list of choices. When I go on holiday I want to relax and wouldn't want the stress of trying to find a parking space. I may book if there was nothing else available but a 10 minute walk to the nearest car park would probably finish it for me (free or otherwise). Good luck; I hope you can successfully obtain a long term rental commitment from the owner of the land.

+1 Sorry. It would be a deal breaker for me. Lugging siutcases for a 10 minute walk is not my idea of a holiday, but then I am not a spring chicken any more!

In the UK most guests will use their car at some stage. We often get questions about our parking arrangements because our house overlooks a central green & is therefore not actually on the road. I have to explain that there is a parking bay directly opposite the house in full view about 20 steps away. Men in particucular I have found do not like leaving their car where they can't keep an eye on it. Never the less I know we have lost bookings over this.

[Guest]

[Mouse]

I too would be one of those people who wouldn't want a 10min walk with luggage. So I wouldn't book unless it was exceptional.
If my family are anything to go by, when travelling in the uk by car they load everything in to it; because they can.
Walking gear, wet weather gear, hot weather gear, big food shop etc. It would probably take them 2/3 trips.

I would also ask if this parking area was also where the cleaners and maintenance people woukd park? If so then cleaners really wouldn't want to be lugging laundry etc for 10 minutes.

Also, would it effect the resale value if this provision wasn't in place?

Mousie
x

[ianh100]

Personally I would think twice about booking a property without parking in Lyme, it a long walk up Cobb hill! The issue is so many places don't have parking so it is a very common issue.

Are you quite sure they still sell weekly tickets? I know that they used to (a single ticket also covered you moving the car to other West Dorset car parks). When we stayed last year despite all of the property details stating this was an option the council no longer offered weekly tickets. The place we rent doesn't have parking but provides a space in the undercliff car park, we had 2 cars so managed to rent a second space.

I can see that access to parking would have a significant impact on the value of the property as it is such a premium.

[Fraise]

We wouldn't rent anywhere without parking either. We are looking now to rent a place in Suffolk but I always put parking and WIFI in the search criteria.

[Nemo]

A property without parking is not ideal, but dependent on the town and available solutions it might be doable. In St Ives for example, we were able to unload right outside and then I booked a car park space from a private company about 10/15 minutes walk away. We only used the car once in our short break stay as we were exploring the town.

If I recall Lyme correctly, I seem to remember it being very stressful trying to get a parking space in the council car parks. In Margate, the lovely seafront hotel we stayed in had reserved parking spaces in the nearby council car park.

So whilst I would stay without on site parking, a week in a self catering place means a lot of gear to load/unload. I therefore wouldn't stay unless there was a guaranteed workable solution.

[TGS]

Hi folks,

We're not in Lyme, which has mega parking probs. Guests could pull up and empty their cars with no problem. Then go off to find a space, or we go and find them a space.

After a lengthy chat last night and some wine we concluded that the solicitor might have been testing my mettle.

I'm going to speak to the sellers tomorrow to get to the bottom of it all.

Thanks for your replies 😃

[Fraise]

Good luck however the dice roll but just bear in mind that

" I'm going to speak to the sellers tomorrow to get to the bottom of it all." ....they might not be totally impartial

[TGS]

You're right.

They've been doing it for 25 years and I think a lot of their 'deals' are verbal, obviously from a solicitors point of view thats blasphemous

I've woken up this morning with a bit of a sore head, but far less concerned than I was.

Thank you all for your honest replies.