Selling a House With a Dropped Kerb Problem: 2026 UK Guide

By Lisa Hayes · 9 October 2026

Yes, you can sell a house with a dropped kerb problem, but you cannot ignore it. If the kerb outside your drive was never properly licensed as a vehicle crossover, or the crossover was built without the council's say-so, your buyer's solicitor will find out and ask you to put it right, insure against it, or drop the price. The cleanest fix is a retrospective application to your council before you list; the fastest fix is an indemnity policy or a cash buyer who prices the risk in.

Most sellers I speak to have never thought about this. The drive has been there for twenty years, the car goes on and off it every day, and nobody has ever knocked on the door. Then a conveyancer in Leeds or Luton writes "please confirm the highway authority consented to the vehicular access" and the whole sale stops while everyone works out who is meant to answer. This guide is the answer.

What is the difference between a dropped kerb and a vehicle crossover?

This is where most of the confusion starts, so let us be precise.

A dropped kerb in the everyday sense is any place where the kerb is lowered so the pavement meets the road more gently. Councils build them at pedestrian crossing points for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and buggies. They are designed for light loads.

A vehicle crossover (some councils say vehicle crossing, vehicular access or dropped crossing) is a lowered kerb plus a strengthened section of footway behind it, with a reinforced sub-base and surfacing designed to cope with the weight of a car turning across it. Your council licenses it, or authorises you to build it, for your property.

Here is the catch. A pedestrian dip that happens to line up with your driveway does not turn into permission to drive across it. One firm of solicitors makes this point plainly: a council's pedestrian crossing point aligned with a driveway does not automatically authorise vehicle access. I think that is the single most useful sentence in this whole subject, because it explains why perfectly ordinary-looking driveways get flagged.

• 1980Highways Act, the main law on footways and crossings
• 2.75mminimum crossing width at one large council (Birmingham)
• 4.75mminimum driveway depth under the same policy
• 5 sq mlimit for non-permeable front garden paving without planning

Is it illegal to drive over a dropped kerb that is not a vehicle crossover?

Broadly, yes. The Highways Act 1980 treats driving a vehicle over a footway or verge as something you need authority for, and the council can build, authorise or refuse a vehicle crossing under section 184 of that Act. Without that authority, you are driving over a pavement that was never built to take a car. Conveyancing solicitors who write about this cite sections 72 and 184 of the Act, and they agree on the practical point: a kerb cannot lawfully be altered or driven over without consent.

What happens in real life? Councils differ. One large authority, Birmingham, states in its dropped crossing policy that crossings installed without permission are considered illegal and may be subject to removal, enforcement and reimbursement of the council's costs. The same policy says enforcement can be taken against the property owner and the contractor who built it, and that vehicle damage to the footway or verge can also lead to enforcement against the owner. Other councils are far more relaxed, and many simply never chase old crossings.

I would not build a selling strategy on "nobody has ever complained". The buyer's solicitor is not the council, but they are paid to be pessimistic, and their lender cares about legal access to the property.

How does a dropped kerb problem show up during a sale?

It shows up in three places, usually in this order.

The listing and material information. Agents are expected to gather material information about a property before marketing it, and parking is part of that conversation. If you say "off-road parking for two cars", you have made a statement the buyer will rely on. Our guide to material information when selling a house explains what agents now have to ask you.

The seller's forms. The TA6 Property Information Form asks about parking arrangements, including whether the property is in a controlled parking zone and whether any permits are needed. Answer it honestly. If you are unsure whether the crossover is licensed, say you are unsure, rather than guessing. Our TA6 walkthrough goes through the awkward questions line by line.

The local authority search. The buyer's search pack includes highways information, but it will not tell you whether your particular crossover was authorised. Often it reveals nothing at all, and the solicitor falls back on asking you. That is when you get the enquiry.

The typical enquiry, in plain English

It usually reads something like: "Please supply evidence that the dropped kerb/vehicle crossover was constructed with the consent of the highway authority, or confirm there is a licence or section 184 agreement." If you have lived there fifteen years and bought it with the drive in place, you will have nothing. Do not panic. This is the moment to decide which route below fits your house.

What are my options if my crossover has no paperwork?

Which route works depends on what you actually have outside the house. This table is how I would triage it.

That last row catches people out more than any other. A grass verge is sometimes part of the public highway and sometimes privately owned, and the paperwork needed is different. Birmingham's policy, for instance, asks for written landowner permission where a crossing involves a grass verge that is not public highway.

Do you need planning permission for a dropped kerb?

Sometimes yes, and it is a separate application to the highway consent. Think of them as two keys for the same door.

Planning permission is generally required where:

• your property fronts a classified road, meaning an A, B or C road (councils worry about visibility, speed and turning movements);
• it is a listed building or sits in a conservation area;
• it is a flat, maisonette or a larger HMO rather than a single dwellinghouse;
• the access crosses land outside your property boundary, or the property is not a private dwelling; or
• you are laying a front-garden drive bigger than 5 square metres in non-permeable material that does not drain onto a permeable area within the property.

If you are in a conservation area, read our guide to selling a house in a conservation area first, because the rules on materials and front boundaries bite harder there. And if the front garden was paved over without permission, our piece on selling a house without planning permission covers how breaches of planning control are treated at sale, including the time limits that can make them immune from enforcement.

One practical rule from the council side: if planning permission is required, many councils will put your highways application on hold until it is granted. So find out which applies before you pay an application fee.

What will the council actually check?

Each council has its own policy, so check yours. But the checks are strikingly similar. As an example of the kind of thing a council looks at, here is a summary of Birmingham City Council's published dropped crossing policy. Treat the figures as one authority's rules, not a national standard.

Other councils are stricter on some points and looser on others. Trees, lamp-posts, drain covers and junctions are the usual reasons for refusal. If your drive sits on a bend, close to a junction, or has a street tree in the way, you may be refused even when the neighbour two doors down has a crossing. A neighbour's dropped kerb does not guarantee yours.

Leaseholders and tenants need the landlord's written permission, and you should check the title deeds and lease to make sure parking on the front is allowed at all. Deeds occasionally forbid vehicles on the front garden.

What does a dropped kerb cost and who pays?

I am not going to quote you a single number, because I have not seen two councils charge the same way and an invented average would be useless to you. What I can tell you is how the bill is made up, so you can ask the right questions:

• an application or inspection fee, usually non-refundable even if you are refused;
• planning fees, where planning permission is needed, charged separately;
• the construction cost itself, normally the contractor's quote passed through to you;
• any tree work, including removal, replacement planting and early maintenance of the new tree;
• moving or lowering utility equipment, which the utility company may charge for;
• changes to drainage or levels on your own land; and
• any street furniture that has to move.

The work itself must usually be done by a contractor accredited or approved by the council, in line with the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. Do not hire a driveway firm who says "we do the kerb as well, no problem". Councils treat unapproved contractors as a breach in their own right, and Birmingham lists crossings built by unapproved contractors among its examples of unauthorised works.

Some councils also offer a reduced construction cost for Blue Badge holders at their registered address. Ask.

Should I fix the dropped kerb before I sell?

My view: if you have time and the house is in a normal condition, yes, and do it first. If you are in a hurry, no, and you should price it in.

A licensed conveyancer who writes about this suggests completing the works before marketing the property, because the application process, costs and the possibility of fines for pavement damage may put buyers off. I agree. The reason is not complicated. A buyer who finds a problem in week five has every incentive to renegotiate. A buyer who sees a licence in the pack has nothing to haggle with.

The risk of asking is real, though. If the council refuses, you now have a written refusal that will sit in the file. That is why you should talk to the highways team informally first, ask whether your crossing is on their records, and only apply when you know the answer is likely to be yes.

Will indemnity insurance solve a dropped kerb problem?

Sometimes. A one-off policy can cover the financial risk of the council taking action over a lack of consent, usually for a modest single premium paid by the seller, and the buyer's lender will often accept it. It is the same product I describe in our indemnity insurance guide.

But there are rules, and they matter more than the policy itself:

1. Do not contact the council first. Insurers generally refuse cover if the issue has been raised with the authority, because it is no longer an unknown risk. That means your "informal chat" and your insurance plan can be in conflict. Decide which route you are taking before you pick up the phone.
2. It does not make the crossover lawful. It pays out if something goes wrong. It does not put a licence on the file.
3. Some lenders still want a licence. It depends on the lender and on how important the parking is to the property's value.
4. It rarely works for a clearly unauthorised alteration you carried out yourself. Insurers are happy with a drive that was there when you bought; they are less happy with a kerb you chopped last year.

My honest rule: indemnity insurance is a decent answer to "the crossover was there before we arrived and nobody can find paperwork". It is a poor answer to "we did it ourselves without asking".

What should I do, step by step?

1. Look at the kerb. Is it a proper vehicle crossover with a wide, gently ramped dip and a reinforced footway, or a narrow pedestrian dip, or a hump of tarmac somebody added? Photograph it from both directions.
2. Dig out your own paperwork. Look through your purchase file for a licence, a section 184 agreement, a planning decision notice or an indemnity policy. Check whether the seller you bought from left anything behind.
3. Check the road class. If it is an A, B or C road, assume planning is needed until the council says otherwise.
4. Check the title and lease. Look for covenants about parking or hard standing, and for any rights of way over the drive. If somebody else has a right of way across it, our guide on selling a house with a right of way will help.
5. Decide your route before contacting the council: regularise, insure, or sell as is.
6. Tell your agent and solicitor early. The worst version of this is the one they learn about from the buyer's side.
7. Answer the TA6 truthfully. Say what you know, say what you do not, and attach any paperwork.

What if my road is unadopted?

This is a different problem, and it gets confused with dropped kerbs constantly. If your road is not adopted by the council, there is no highway authority to give you a crossing in the first place. Access depends on rights of way over the private road, and often on a share of the maintenance bill. We cover this in detail in our guide to selling a house on an unadopted road. The dropped kerb question simply does not arise in the same way, so do not let anyone sell you a "kerb licence" for a private road.

What if a neighbour has complained or the council has written to me?

That changes the advice. If you have already had a letter, you can no longer rely on "unknown risk" insurance and you must disclose it. A neighbour dispute or a notice of enforcement is exactly the sort of thing the TA6 asks you to declare. Not telling the buyer is a misrepresentation risk, and it comes back at you after completion, which is when it is most expensive. See our short guide on declaring a neighbour dispute for the rules.

In that situation, the sensible order is: get the letter in front of your solicitor, ask the council in writing what they want done, and decide whether regularising is achievable. If they simply want the crossing removed and the kerb reinstated, that is a cost you can quote to a buyer and price in.

What does a dropped kerb do to your sale price?

It depends on the street, and I will not insult you with an invented percentage. What I can say from the way the market behaves: on a road where everyone competes for parking, a lawful off-road space is a headline feature. Buyers will pay for it, estate agents will lead with it, and surveyors tend to reflect it in the valuation. A question mark over the legality of that space can wipe out some or all of the premium.

If you are not sure what your house is worth with and without a lawful drive, our valuation guide is a sensible starting point. Ask two local agents to value it with and without the parking, and see the gap. That gap is what the problem is really costing you, and it is the number to hold against the cost of fixing it.

Can I sell fast if I cannot be bothered to fix it?

You can, and for some sellers it is the right decision. If you are dealing with probate, a separation or a chain that has collapsed, spending three months waiting for a council to respond may cost you more than the problem does.

Cash buyers and house-buying companies do not usually need a mortgage valuation, which removes the lender's checks from the process. They take the property as it stands and price the risk. Our guide to cash house buyers explains who they are and what to watch for, and if you want to see a few offers on a house with awkward access, selling your house fast covers the routes. For the rarer cases where lenders will not touch the property at all, see selling an unsellable house.

The honest trade-off: you will normally receive less than the open-market price. A dropped kerb problem on its own is rarely severe enough to justify a deep discount, so when you compare offers, ask each buyer exactly how much of the reduction they attribute to the access issue. If it is more than the cost of fixing it, you may be better off regularising first.

What are the common mistakes sellers make?

• Assuming a lowered kerb equals permission. It does not. Check whether your kerb is licensed as a crossover.
• Ringing the council before buying insurance. That can rule out cover.
• Hiring the driveway firm to do the kerb. If they are not council-approved, you have created a new problem.
• Using DIY ramps or wedges on the kerb. They are unauthorised alterations to the highway, and they look awful in photographs. Take them away before viewings.
• Advertising "off-road parking for two" without checking. If your drive cannot take two cars under the council's own tests, do not say it can.
• Paving the front garden in non-permeable material without planning. Past the 5 square metre limit, that is a separate breach.
• Telling the agent but not the solicitor. Both need the same story.
• Treating it as a deal-breaker. It almost never is, if it is handled early.

How long does it take to sort out?

Longer than you would like. Simple highways-only applications can still take weeks, and works are normally scheduled after approval. If a tree officer needs to assess a street tree, Birmingham's policy allows six weeks or more for that step alone. If planning permission is needed first, add the planning timetable, because many councils will park the highways application until it is granted.

That is why I say decide early. A seller who starts the process at the same time as instructing an agent has options. A seller who starts it after the buyer's solicitor raises it is working to someone else's deadline.

Where to go next

If you want to understand the jargon in a survey or a solicitor's letter (highway authority, section 184, curtilage, permeable surfacing), our property jargon explained page is a decent glossary. If you have found a buyer already and the access question has appeared, the find a buyer page shows how to widen the pool.

And if you would rather see what the market will actually pay for the house as it stands, with the kerb sorted or not, you can compare offers through Ready Steady Sell. It is free, it is independent, and there is no obligation to accept anything.