Your Lease or Tenancy Gives You the Right to Park — Operator's Signs Cannot Override It
Residents (and their visitors, where the lease so provides) ticketed on their own development often have a complete answer: 'primacy of contract'. If the customer's lease or tenancy agreement grants a right to park (an allocated space, an easement, or a right of way 'with or without vehicles'), a parking operator engaged later by the freeholder or managing agent cannot unilaterally cut that right down with signs demanding permits or imposing charges — the earlier property contract prevails, and a landlord cannot derogate from its grant. The Court of Appeal held in Saeed v Plustrade Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 2011 that a lessor could not withdraw or diminish parking rights it had granted — that would be a derogation from grant. In Pace Recovery and Storage v Mr N (C6GF14F0, 2016, county court) the judge held a tenancy agreement giving an unfettered right to park could not be varied by a parking company's signage, and in Jopson v Homeguard Services Ltd (B9GF0A9E, 2016, county court appeal, HHJ Harris QC) the operator's scheme could not be applied incompatibly with rights under the lease. This ground only applies where the lease/tenancy actually grants the right unconditionally — if it makes parking subject to estate regulations or a permit scheme, the operator may validly enforce those, so the customer must confirm the wording.
Legal basis
Non-derogation from grant — Saeed v Plustrade Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 2011 (CA: lessor could not diminish granted parking rights); Pace Recovery and Storage v Mr N, C6GF14F0 (2016, county court — tenancy agreement cannot be varied by operator signage; persuasive); Jopson v Homeguard Services Ltd, B9GF0A9E (2016, county court appeal — operator scheme incompatible with lease rights; persuasive); privity/priority of the earlier property contract over any later alleged contract by signage.
How to identify this in your case
Only run this ground if the customer confirms ALL of: (1) the ticket was issued at their own residential development (or one where they hold a lease/tenancy); (2) their lease or tenancy agreement grants a right to park or a right of way with vehicles (allocated bay, designated space, or general parking right); and (3) that right is not expressly made subject to a permit scheme or estate regulations that they failed to follow. Ask the customer to check the parking clause in their lease/tenancy and, ideally, quote it. Typical scenario: resident ticketed in their own allocated bay for not displaying a permit.
Sample appeal wording
formal
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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