Hate thy neighbour: Who’s parking in your space?

2 minute read  |  September 26, 2017

For those of us who don’t live in a house with a driveway, the anxiety of losing your parking space for a simple trip to the shops is enough to make us all agoraphobic. But fear not, ‘You are not aloan’ – sorry wrong advert!

GoCompare

When not creating TV ads that North Korean torture specialists would be proud of, GoCompare Insurance are busy commissioning studies into the parking issues of the British public.

According to the study, almost a third of respondents (29%) have trouble finding a parking space outside their home and nearly half (49%) believe the problem has deteriorated over the last 10 years. Surprisingly, only 15% admitted to falling out with a neighbour, although a quick search through Facebook and YouTube would put that figure closer to 80%.

Bumper to bumper parking

Perhaps it’s the number of cars on the road, a figure that has increased by 42% over the last 20 years, or maybe it’s the families with more than one car who try to cram them all outside their two up two down mid terrace house – a moment of silence for the household without a car owner, who gets to witness the merry ‘speed parking’ dance, never able to cut in.

Some may cry out for parking permits, but the numbers aren’t reassuring. Only 36% felt they helped the situation, while 12% believe they made the situation worse (nothing helps alleviate an issue faster than someone who has evidence they’re right…).

18% didn’t feel that enough was done to enforce parking restrictions in their street. We weren’t able to get a quote from the police about this as they were out fighting real crime.

Must have features

What do you look for in a house? A decent sized kitchen? Big back garden for the children? Ample storage for the hopes and dreams set aside for said children? Unsurprisingly, the study revealed that 54% of respondents marked a driveway or dedicated parking space as a ‘must have’ feature.

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