This article discusses what to do if neighbour parks over driveway VIC strata, explaining owners’ rights, how to assess common property obstruction, and the formal complaint process through the owners corporation and VCAT.
Question: What are my rights if my neighbour’s extra-long car makes it hard for me to access my driveway?
I live in the corner unit of a 12-unit block. My neighbour’s car is extra long and, in my view, it sticks out far enough that I can’t safely reverse into or out of my driveway. They insist they are not obstructing my access.
I’ve shown them several photos of how much their car overhangs into the area I need to manoeuvre, but they refuse to change how or where they park. What are my rights in this situation? Can I make an official complaint through the owners corporation, the Council, or another authority?
Answer: Your options will be determined by whether your neighbour is parking within their own title or on common property.
The way you handle this depends, first and foremost, on one determination: is your neighbour parking within their own title (including the section of the car that is ‘sticking out’), or are they parking on, or crossing onto, the common property?
If they are wholly within their own title, I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do. They’re parking their car on their property, and you will need to navigate around it, even if it requires extra care. Your owners corporation (OC) manager can verify this by comparing a photo of where they park with the Plan of Subdivision. The plan is the title document that shows all ownership boundaries and defines the ownership of private title and shared common property.
For this purpose, let’s assume that the OC manager has confirmed that the resident parks their car wholly or partly on common property.
Given the size of your property, let’s also assume that the OC is operating under the Model Rules – which are effectively the default rules that all OCs have in place if they don’t have specialised, custom Registered Rules. All owners and occupiers need to comply with the rules of an OC, regardless of whether they are Model, or Registered.
Model Rule 4.2: Vehicles and parking on common property
An owner or occupier of a lot must not, unless in the case of an emergency, park or leave a motor vehicle or other vehicle or permit a motor vehicle or other vehicle—
- to be parked or left in parking spaces situated on common property and allocated for other lots; or
- on the common property so as to obstruct a driveway, pathway, entrance or exit to a lot; or
- in any place other than a parking area situated on common property specified for that purpose by the owners corporation.
You seem to have a fairly straightforward right of complaint for an alleged breach under model rule 4.2 (b).
If you proceed down this path, you should contact the manager to obtain the OC complaint form (a standard form prescribed by Consumer Affairs Victoria and available on their website), complete it, and lodge it. The OC committee will then be passed the form and needs to follow the Dispute Resolution process outlined in the Act. Keeping it simple – there will be a Grievance Meeting, the committee will either escalate the matter to VCAT on their own account, do nothing and facilitate you doing the same, or issue a breach notice. If the breach notice isn’t followed, it ultimately ends up with the committee deciding whether to go to VCAT or not. They may leave that to you, and not want to set the precedent of the OC assuming the burden of ‘complainant’ on behalf of individuals.
All of this process can add up to 3, 6 or 9 months by the time you actually step foot into VCAT. However, making it a formal complaint may prompt the OC committee to take your initial good-faith efforts more seriously and act accordingly.
Good luck!
Alex McCormick SOCM alex@socm.com.au P: 03 9495 0005
This post appears in Strata News #775.
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