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#Post#: 104055--------------------------------------------------
Car park of flats
DIR By: SarahK
Date: December 30, 2025, 6:07 am
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Hi there
I live in a block of flats and a recent guest who parked in my
car park got a parking ticket. I would be most grateful for any
advice or guidance on how to appeal/challenge this (especially
as there is no where nearby for guests to park).
There are signs (about 4) up on various walls and there are
marked bays, in which she was parked accurately.
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Best wishes
Sarah
#Post#: 104126--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: b789
Date: December 30, 2025, 5:04 pm
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Before we can deal properly with the parking charge issued to
your guest, we must first establish your legal position as a
tenant. In residential parking cases, everything turns on what
your Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) does and does not say. The
parking company’s signs are secondary and cannot override
tenancy rights.
Private parking firms like the bottom-dwelling One Parking
Solution do not automatically have authority over tenants or
their visitors. They can only operate within whatever rights the
landlord or managing agent lawfully has, and those rights are
constrained by the tenancy agreement. If your AST grants you
parking rights, rights to use common parts, or is silent on
parking restrictions, then a later permit scheme imposed by a
managing agent or contractor is unenforceable against both you
and your invited guests.
Equally important is what the AST does not say about parking.
Many tenancies contain no requirement to display third-party
permits, no obligation to comply with parking signage, no
restriction on visitors parking, and no clause allowing the
landlord or agent to introduce a charging or enforcement regime
during the tenancy. Where those things are absent, a parking
contractor has no contractual basis to issue charges to
residents or their visitors.
For that reason, the first and most important step is to review
the tenancy documentation for what it specifically says about
parking and visitors.
What we need from you is the AST section, including any
schedules, appendices, and plans that are referenced to parking.
We also need to see any parking-related documents you were given
at the start of the tenancy, such as welcome packs, estate
rules, parking instructions, or emails or letters about permits.
If you were later told that a parking enforcement scheme was
being introduced or changed, please provide any correspondence
about that as well.
Once we have the detail from the documents, we will check the
tenancy for the following points. Whether the tenancy grants a
right to park or a right to use the communal car park. Whether
any parking right is conditional, and if so, exactly how it is
conditioned. Whether the landlord or managing agent has any
power under the tenancy to introduce new parking restrictions or
permit schemes. Whether visitors are restricted or mentioned at
all. And crucially, whether the tenancy allows third parties to
issue charges or penalties.
Based on that analysis, the matter will usually be dealt with in
one of two ways. If the tenancy supports your position, the
primary route is to require the managing agent or freeholder to
instruct their contractor to cancel the charge, on the basis
that your guest was authorised by you and the contractor is
interfering with your tenancy rights. If necessary, a formal
challenge strategy will then be applied to the operator,
grounded in the tenancy position rather than signage alone.
As for the PCN which was issued as a windscreen Notice to Driver
(NtD), tell your visitor not to do anything for now. On day 27
after the issue of the NtD, they can appeal, ONLY as the Keeper.
They MUST NOT identify the driver. Only the driver can be liable
and the only way OPS could identify the driver is if the Keeper
blabs hit to them. There is no legal obligation on the Keeper to
identify the driver.
So, as the NtD was issued on 22 December, the appeal by the
Keeper should be submitted on Friday 16 January. On that date,
this is the sum total of the appeal that should be submitted as
the Keeper:
--- Quote ---
> I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. This is an appeal
from the keeper only. The driver will not be identified.
>
> My name and address for service are:
>
> [KEEPER FULL NAME]
> [KEEPER FULL POSTAL ADDRESS]
>
> I deny any liability for this charge. The operator is put to
strict proof of its standing and authority on this land, and
strict proof that it can override the tenant’s primacy of
contract and the tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment.
>
> As you now hold the keeper’s full name and a current address
for service, any application to the DVLA for keeper data would
be unnecessary and disproportionate. If you nevertheless obtain
or further process DVLA keeper data in these circumstances, I
will treat that as unlawful processing contrary to UK GDPR
Article 5(1)(c) (data minimisation) and the requirement for
lawful processing under UK GDPR Article 6(1). I will report the
matter to the DVLA and the Information Commissioner, and I
reserve the right to pursue compensation for any damage or
distress under sections 168 and 169 of the Data Protection Act
2018.
>
> Cancel the charge or issue your rejection.
--- End Quote ---
#Post#: 104171--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: SarahK
Date: December 31, 2025, 7:53 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for taking the time to reply to me at this busy time
of year.
I have checked the AST and welcome pack which do not mention
parking at all. However, I do have an email from the managing
agent before I moved in stating that only two vehicles can be
registered to park and any other vehicles may receive parking
tickets from the private company.
Thank you also for the template appeal letter. Out of curiosity,
what would be the disadvantage of sending this before the 14 day
deadline (as opposed to 28 days)?
#Post#: 104189--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: b789
Date: December 31, 2025, 11:11 am
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The 14 day deadline you are referring to is the "mugs discount"
period. You will only consider that if you are low-hanging fruit
on the gullible tree and are likely to pay it out of ignorance
and fear.
This is not a "fine". It is a speculative invoice from an
unregulated private parking firm for an alleged breach of
contract by the driver. Just because someone gives you an
invoice, do you simply pay it because it has a fantastic 40%
discount offer? If so, you must never go to a market as you are
likely to be fleeced.
The reason for the day 27 delay is to get the operator to reject
the appeal without issuing a Notice to Keeper (NtK). If they
fail to issue an NtK, then there is no Keeper liability under
PoFA. Only the unknown (to them) driver can be liable.
They cannot apply for DVLA Keeper data until after day 28. By
appealing on day 27 or close to it, they are forced to respond
to the Keeper appeal and, as they always do, reject the appeal.
The appeal also warns them of the operators liability under the
Data Protection Act (DPA) that they would become liable to a
claim for breach of the data minimisation principles, because
you have already given them the Keeper details in the appeal.
Therefore no lawful reason exists for them to apply to the DVLA
for data they already hold.
These firms run on automatic and normally, they apply to the
DVLA for the Keeper data and send the NtK once they have that
data. If they simply go to appeal rejection without sending the
NtK, there can be no Keeper liability whatsoever.
As there is no legal obligation on the Keeper to identify the
driver, you must decline to do so. the ONLY way that the
operator can know the identity of the driver is if the Keeper
blabs it to them, inadvertently or otherwise. You, the Keeper,
only ever refer to the driver in the third party. No "I did this
or that", only "the driver did this or that". Don't tell 'em
your name Pike!
As for your AST and parking rights, you confirm that your
tenancy agreement and welcome pack do not mention parking at
all. That means there is no contractual term requiring you to
comply with a third-party parking scheme, to display permits, or
restricting how your own parking bay may be used. Even though a
parking regime existed on the estate before you moved in, it
only binds a tenant if it is incorporated into the tenancy
agreement or later agreed as a variation. In residential cases,
the tenancy agreement takes precedence over signage or
contractor arrangements that have not been made a term of the
tenancy.
The fact that your guest parked in your own numbered bay is
critical. You are entitled to use that bay as part of your
occupation of the property, and that includes permitting a guest
to park there with your authority. A parking contractor has no
independent right to interfere with that use unless the tenancy
expressly allows it.
The managing agent’s email does not override this. An email sent
before you moved in is not part of the tenancy unless it was
expressly incorporated into the AST or later agreed as a
variation. Even taken at face value, it merely refers to
registering two vehicles. It does not say that your own bay may
not be used by an authorised visitor, does not impose a permit
requirement, and does not authorise the issuing of parking
charges to guests using your bay.
Importantly, there is no visitor parking scheme, no temporary
permits, and no registration process for guests. Penalising an
authorised visitor who parked correctly in your own allocated
bay is therefore unreasonable and unsupported by your tenancy.
This places responsibility squarely on the managing agent. Their
contractor can only act within whatever authority the agent
lawfully has, and where the tenancy is silent on parking, there
is no basis for a third party to impose charges or restrict use
of your bay.
The next step will be to require the managing agent to instruct
their contractor to cancel the notice on the basis that it was
issued to an authorised visitor parked in your own numbered bay,
and that the contractor is interfering with your tenancy rights
and your right to quiet enjoyment.
Please show us the full managing agent email (including date and
any attachments) and confirm whether you ever agreed to any
parking terms. Once that is done, we can take this forward.
#Post#: 104224--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: SarahK
Date: January 1, 2026, 9:52 am
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That’s really helpful and all noted. I have included below all
the initial emails between the managing agent and myself
regarding the parking restrictions.
If the managing agents refuses to contact that contractor for
any reason, is there a way to progress without him?
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#Post#: 104246--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: b789
Date: January 1, 2026, 3:17 pm
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Thank you for the email exchange. Although the managing agent
stated prior to move-in that up to two vehicles could be
registered and that there was ‘no visitor parking’, the tenancy
itself contains no parking terms at all.
The pre-tenancy emails are inconsistent and internally
contradictory: visitors are variously described as permitted
provided the vehicle is not left unattended, subject to random
in-person checks, and also as liable to ticketing because the
agent has ‘little or no control’ over the parking contractor.
Those emails do not impose any clear, certain or enforceable
restriction on the use of the tenant’s own numbered bay, nor do
they evidence any agreed contractual variation of the tenancy.
In particular, they do not prohibit an authorised guest from
parking in the tenant’s allocated bay, and instead demonstrate
an unmanaged, arbitrary enforcement regime operated by a third
party without proper oversight.
Letting/Property Management agents in England must belong to a
government-approved redress scheme. The two common ones are:
[indent]• The Property Ombudsman (TPO)
• The Property Redress Scheme (PRS)[/indent]
If they’re a letting/managing agent, you can threaten escalation
to whichever scheme they are a member of (you can ask them which
scheme, or it may be in their email footer/website).
If it’s a block managing agent (not your letting agent), they
may also be a member of:
[indent]• ARMA/ARMA-Q (trade body with a complaints/standards
process)[/indent]
Separate to “ombudsman” style redress, you can also credibly
mention escalation to:
[indent]• the landlord/freeholder (who can instruct
cancellation), and/or
• the relevant local authority private rented sector/housing
team (more weight where conduct is unreasonable or harassing),
depending on facts.[/indent]
You should send the following email to the managing agent and CC
yourself with any correspondence:
--- Quote ---
> Subject: Formal Complaint: Parking Charge Notice [PCN NUMBER]
Issued to Authorised Visitor in Allocated Bay
>
> Dear [Managing Agent Name],
>
> I am writing to formally notify you that a Parking Charge
Notice [PCN NUMBER] has been issued by your parking contractor
to an authorised visitor of mine, whose vehicle [VEHICLE
REGISTRATION MARK] was parked correctly in my own numbered bay.
>
> As you are aware, my tenancy agreement and welcome pack
contain no terms whatsoever relating to parking, permits,
visitor restrictions, or third-party enforcement. There is no
contractual requirement within my tenancy to display permits, to
comply with contractor signage, or to restrict the use of my
allocated bay, including by an authorised visitor.
>
> Prior to moving in, I raised parking queries with you and
received conflicting and unclear information. Visitors were
variously described as permitted provided vehicles were not left
unattended, subject to “random” in-person checks, and also as
potentially ticketed because you have “little or no control”
over the external contractor. At no point was it stated that an
authorised visitor could not park in my own numbered bay, nor
was any visitor permit or registration mechanism offered.
>
> The issuing of a parking charge to my authorised visitor while
parked correctly in my own bay is therefore wholly unreasonable
and unsupported by my tenancy. Although the charge has been
issued to my visitor, the interference is with my tenancy
rights, including my right to quiet enjoyment and my ability to
make lawful use of my allocated parking space. Your contractor
has no lawful basis to penalise an authorised guest using my
bay.
>
> As the party who appointed the contractor, responsibility for
their actions rests with you. I require you to immediately
instruct your agent to cancel this Parking Charge Notice. If
this charge is not cancelled and your contractor continues to
pursue my visitor (including by debt recovery or litigation), I
will treat that as a matter for which you are jointly
responsible as principal, and I will consider taking action
against you directly and/or seeking to join you to any
proceedings, together with a claim for any resulting loss and
distress.
>
> If you do not resolve this matter, I will escalate a formal
complaint through your complaints procedure and then to your
redress scheme (TPO or PRS as applicable), as well as to the
landlord/freeholder.
>
> Please confirm by return that cancellation has been
instructed.
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> [Tenant Name]
--- End Quote ---
#Post#: 104309--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: SarahK
Date: January 2, 2026, 8:13 am
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This is so interesting! I have spoken to the agents today and
they are not keen to get involved (unclear why) so I will need
to press ahead with formal complaint in writing. So just to
have the strategy clear, will I need to escalate and resolve the
issue with the managing agent first to get a resolution of the
parking charge or can I still proceed with the original letter
of appeal ?
#Post#: 104311--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: jfollows
Date: January 2, 2026, 8:18 am
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The management agent doesn’t normally want to get involved
because they’re trying to implement an illegal scam in which
they make out you have to do something (display a “permit”, for
example) without following the necessary steps to require this.
So anyone who argues with them is an annoying inconvenience.
#Post#: 104365--------------------------------------------------
Re: Car park of flats
DIR By: b789
Date: January 2, 2026, 5:59 pm
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You should not wait for the managing agent. Submit the keeper
appeal to the operator within the deadline (without naming the
driver) and run the managing agent complaint for cancellation at
the same time.
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