‘Bully’ neighbour locked in 10-YEAR parking war over shared driveway hit with £160,000 bill after ‘boxing’ in cars
A ‘BULLY’ who has been locked in a 10-year parking war with his neighbours has been told to admit defeat after a judge refused to re-open his case.
Ivan Soares, 55, and Manish Kothari, 43, who are both accountants, have been rowing over their shared driveway at their West London cul-de-sac since 2015.
Mr Soares was ordered to pay £60,000 to Manish Kothari for his “oppressive” behaviour over their shared driveway in 2023.
But, as he was unable to attend the trial due to medical reasons, he has pushed for the case to be re-opened.
Mr Soares claims his toothache meant he was unable to speak at the time and he needed to leave the country for emergency dental work.
Judge Graham Wood KC told Mr Soares he would not be prepared to continue the case after hearing that the row had racked up a whopping £100,000 in legal fees since 2015.
“If he was unable to speak he could have written to his solicitors and given them instructions in relation to the trial,” he told the hearing.
“Accordingly I find that he didn’t have a good reason for not attending the trial.”
Mr Kothari claimed Mr Soares’ actions had shaved £750,000 from the value of their home.
He bought the three-bedroom property in Harefield for £375,000 in 2006.
It came with a single parking space sandwiched between Mr Soares’s two parking spaces.
Bindu Kothari, her husband Sandip and brother-in-law Manish claimed their neighbour had frequently boxed them in by parking inches from their car, and had obstructed their garage.
Mr and Mrs Soares meanwhile accused their neighbours of trespassing on their own parking space, with tensions running so high during the row that police have been involved.
Shared driveways: what are your rights?
Shared driving spaces can sometimes be a point of contention for neighbours. Here's all you need to know about your rights.
There are two types of shared driveway in the UK. The first is an access way – where both owners have right of way. It is split on both homeowners’ land.
The second is where one neighbour owns the land outside another neighbour’s house.
According to The Highways Act 1980, people shouldn’t obstruct highways – this includes shared driveways.
This means you are breaking the law if you block a driveway – even if it belongs to you.
For more information on shared driveways, visit Checkatrade.
Historically, Mr and Mrs Soares had allowed a “swap” arrangement, whereby they parked their vehicles in the two adjacent spaces on the left, closest to their house, with the Kotharis using the space on the right.
The couple said that was a “sensible” thing to do as it allowed them to park their cars together in front of their house, with their neighbours parking closest to their own house and garage.
But the neighbours fell out over the parking arrangements – after allegations of inconsiderate parking – and, in September 2018, Mr and Mrs Soares “revoked” the swap agreement.
The parking feud ended up before a judge in 2021, when it was ruled that Mr and Mrs Soares had validly revoked the swap agreement and that the space on the right is rightly theirs.
But the case returned to court last week as Mr and Mrs Soares claimed compensation for the Kotharis having “trespassed” on their land by continuing to park in the space for nearly two years after the swap deal came to an end.
However, the Kotharis countersued, seeking compensation over their neighbours’ bad parking, which they said had harmed the value of their property.
Mrs Kothari told the judge how her neighbour had routinely reversed his car towards her vehicle’s space, “getting closer and closer to her car until they are all but touching”.
And she said she had not used the middle space, which belongs to her family, since July 2022 “for fear of being boxed in” by their neighbour.
Mr Soares had also at times left the couple’s car parked at the main road end of the cul-de-sac, “causing an obstruction”, as well as blocking access to the Kotharis’ garage.
The Kotharis claimed the value of their £750,000 home has been slashed due to the impact of their neighbours’ oppressive parking, with an estate agent telling them the problems would have to be disclosed to potential purchasers and could reduce the sale value by up to 10 percent.
Judge Evans-Gordon said a police officer who had attended the road over the dispute had described Mr Soares’ parking as “selfish and unnecessary.”
Having reversed until his vehicle was very close to Mrs Kothari’s, he had turned his wheels towards her car before leaving, said the judge.
Branding Mr Soares’ parking “high handed, insulting and oppressive,” the judge added: “this is exemplified by the evidence given by Mrs Kothari, who told me that when she couldn’t access her car she asked Mr Soares to move his car because she couldn’t get to work, but he said ‘that’s not my problem’ – and refused to move his car.
“There is no better example of high-handed and insulting behaviour.”
She awarded the Kotharis £60,090 to compensate them for their neighbours’ trespassing on their space, damage done to their parking area and for the reduction in value of their house caused by the dispute.
She said: “Given the claimant’s behaviour – which amounts to bullying – a potential purchaser might be fearful of repeat incidents. Hence the reduction in value.”