Post grad housing practice and 15 years experience at a housing association.
Dean has hit the nail on the head - there is no obligation for the HA to create additional parking and, in my experience, it wouldn’t be a priority for a HA. There is a major lack of social housing in the UK, so any spare funding is usually put back into creating or acquiring new social or affordable housing stock and investing in existing stock to improve properties to the decent homes standard. Parking provision isn’t included in the decent homes standard and presumably you all signed for your properties knowing there wasn’t any allocated parking included.
You could follow Dean’s advice, pull together with your neighbours and put an application in to the HA to carry out the work yourselves at your own cost. Ask the HA for a copy of their tenant alterations / improvements policy to see what you would need to apply. Any planning permission or costs to the council to drop the kerb would be your responsibility to cover, as well as any remedial works for the surrounding land if they approve your request.
I would also add that the HA would have to consult with all residents affected by your proposal, so unless everyone is on board this may present a barrier. Also, there will be no way of policing the car parking, even if the bays are numbered.. in my experience it doesn’t always stop people from abusing the parking spaces, unless the HA introduces some sort of permit parking system if they have this available to them but this is usually service charge payable and everyone would have to be in agreement to have this service introduced and to pay the charges in addition to your rent and any other service charges payable.
Derek Garton
9th April 2022