#7 Re: Received PCN for parking in our own flat's car park
on 13 Dec, 2024 15:13 in Private parking tickets
I have written the following for POPLA. Not been submitted yet, so happy to take any comments:QuoteI am appealing a parking charge issued in my building’s car park.On the day in question, I had my car professionally washed, which inadvertently dislodged my resident’s parking permit, making it difficult to see. However, this does not change the fact that I am a leaseholder in this building, and my lease grants me the unequivocal right to park my vehicle in the car park without any mention of a permit requirement.Relevant Lease Terms (copy pasted verbatim, and also see the attachment):A right for the Tenant to park a private motor car or a motor cycle or motor cycles in a parking space within areas designated from time to time by the Landlord within the Car Park provided that:-8.1 The Landlord gives no warranty that the parking spaces in the Car Park shall be suitable for the parking of any particular type of motor car nor that there will always be a parking space immediately available to the Tenant.8.2 The Tenant shall not have the right to park in any particular parking space within the Car Park.8.3 The Landlord may temporarily suspend the right to park for limited periods of time (as short as reasonably practicable) during the Term where necessary for the purposes of repair, maintenance, decoration, replacement, or renewal of the Car Park or any plant and equipment therein or any other works to the Estate or adjoining land.8.4 The motor car or motorcycle must be taxed and in roadworthy condition.The above is the entirety of the conditions relating to my right to park. It is clear that:* My vehicle is taxed and in a roadworthy condition (a fact easily verifiable via the DVLA, screenshot attached).* The landlord has not suspended my right to park (confirmed by the presence of vehicles, including mine, on site).* There is no mention of a requirement to display any permit or comply with any additional parking terms introduced by a third party.My lease is a legal contract granting me rights that cannot be unilaterally overridden by signage or terms imposed by a parking management company. The principle of “primacy of contract” is well-established in English law. Unless the lease is lawfully varied in accordance with the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (which it has not been), these third-party terms do not bind me.I am happy to display my permit as a matter of courtesy in order to help enable efficient enforcement of parking rules, but as there is no requirement to display it under the terms of my lease, I believe the parking company should have voided the ticket the moment they became aware that I am a leaseholder with a right to park there.Overall summary box:QuoteIn short, I have a prior right to park in this car park as a part of my lease agreement with the landlord. The parking company has been informed of this during the appeal process.