If you have the space, can you park a classic double-deck on your drive or garden? Obviously, parking in a way not to obscure neighbour's view or vision. That is a vehicle that is being used in a fully private manner as a car, without any commercial use whatsoever, and even driven on a car license. In other words, it is your private car, and it still has all the seats as well, so cannot be classed as a HGV. I have seen no rules that specify how big your private car can be, with my council any way. A car apparently is 'a vehicle used in connection with use and enjoyment of your dwelling'. I have challenged them on this to much mumbling and head scratching in response.[/quote]

The above I queried on another thread, but being off topic I have moved it here.

A man that lived in our area used to have two fire engines in his garden - they were his hobby. However, it was not long before neighbours complained about the 'eyesore' as they thought it. However, they were not blocking anyone's light or view, or even in view of anyone's house, and causing no inconvenience, so the council did not have the power to enforce removal. Unfortunately, the owner later mentioned that he sometimes used them for charity work. This said the council meant that they were being used for commercial and business use, and they were able to get a court order for their removal. What happens if a bus is converted to a caravan? Caravans can be parked in you garden, or would the bus be classed a motorhome..?

http://www.inbrief.co.uk/land-law/planning-permission-caravan/

I suggest you look at the contruction and use regulations for the definition of a caravan. Rigtons are unlikely to insure a classic bus that has been converted to a caravan on their classic bus scheme.

There shouldn't be a problem parking your bus on your drive providing it doesn't interfere with the neighbours "lawful use and enjoyment" of their premises. We have 7 buses parked in the garden, but then we live in the country with the nearest house some 300m away!

My bus number (if any): RML2532

Thanks Roy. I've no intention of ruining the RT by doing a conversion of any sort. Just putting forward possible ways around planning hastle if the council kicked-off. The side of my house which has no neighbour alongside is where I would be able to park it. I'd want to build a shelter there - a kind of bus port (large size car port type structure) to park the RT under. Car ports do not require planing consent, so I am hoping that the larger version would be okay too - not having any walls/sides, just support posts and roof. I wondered if anyone here has ever done something similar and been okay.

I'd like the bus at home so I can get into working with it more, getting more familiar with it, improving it mechanically and bodywise.

Yes, Geoff Heels, a GS owner, had such a bus port alongside his former house. Plenty of people on here have no doubt parked buses in their gardens and drives at various times. Many years ago mine used to be parked in the street.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

Was the bus you kept parked in your street a double-deck Roy? The GS is a nice bus, and I've often condidered one as it's a proper London bus body design, yet fairly small and unobtrusive in its green LT livery. Great to keep at home, and less likely to attract moans from neighbours.

I've had a quote from a builder to get a double deck bus port up next to my house by the winter. I'm tempted to go for it, but wonder if I'll get grief from the council later. I'm sure if I go to them first they'll say no you can't do that (even if they can't enforce it). And even if they agreed I can, that'll be weeks and winter will be here. An RT covered in frost and snow is not a good thing of course.

Car ports are exempt from planning regs as far as I know. yours happens to be a bit higher! get on and do it, if the council come round, apply for retrospective planning permission. We did for our 2 40x40x25 sheds, no problems.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

Slightly Different as my front garden isn’t big enough and I don’t have a garden on the side of the house. I very often park mine on the residential road by my house before events, often a few days before for convenience; unfortunately I couldn't do that this weekend due to a brake issue and the bus was taken straight to the venue on a truck but that’s another story.

The first time I did this was after RM60, it arrived the Friday at 8pm and disappeared 6am Saturday morning before appearing back Sunday 9pm. 9am Monday morning a local council enforcement officer knocked on the door to say they had a complaint about it and it was left there all weekend, (which was a lie and I provided newspaper proof it was at Finsbury park for the weekend to the officer). Once I told the guy it was privately owned and not for business he changed his tone instantly he was like in that case if its taxes (i said tax free) and insured, i was free to park it where i like as long i followed the parking restrictions signed, to which he confirmed there were none for my street.

The officer said he was unable to tell me who made the quote but made no effort to hide what house he then walked to tell the complainant there was no case to answer. He then came back to me and spent the next 30 mins talking to me about the bus casually.

I then looked up the local parking restriction and found out there is one restriction in my area as sign posted when you entre and leave the area, no signed on every road in the area. This restriction is no commercial vehicles are to be parked overnight in the area with time restrictions at which time they can entre and leave. Looking into this further because the symbols used on the sign only depict a truck not a truck and bus/coach, this can only be enforced for trucks not buses/coaches with out a change in signs. If they changed the signs they can't enforce any backdated actions/complaints.
These signs are also the responsibility of the county council not local and it would have to be the county council that enforce them too.

My bus number (if any): RMF2771

Mr Trap seems to be missing the advice given above about keeping RTs in the open, they were at some garages in the county area but had the luxury of a 4 year overhaul.

Whether you can park it in your garden is irrelevant, parking it outside isn't going to improve its condition under the panels or underfloor, nor do any good to the running units if left unused for a long time. Temperature variations will cause moisture build up in air pipes and brakes seizing on if not released and the wheels chocked.
So put the cost of a car port towards finding somewhere like Roy Gould has, a large secure dry storage area, unless he has lost that since I last saw him !!

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs

The large storage area is now new houses! I've moved on since then and my new lady has kindly built 2 sheds in the garden!

My bus number (if any): RML2532

Quite a bit depends on how near your neighbours are. If for instance you live on a typical street with the bus on a driveway, then SORN it while you undertake months of restoration, I can see a visit from the council's environmental health department being prompted by others along the road. While Mr nosey neighbour may see no harm in noisy weekend house and garden work he will probably take exception to noisy work on a vehicle of this size.

As Brian says the bus needs to be under cover, but not just for the avoidance of deterioration, deliberate vandalism or theft of parts are factors which should not be ignored. Many historic vehicles have been lost in this way.

Mr Trap seems to be missing the advice given above about keeping RTs in the open, they were at some garages in the county area but had the luxury of a 4 year overhaul.

Whether you can park it in your garden is irrelevant, parking it outside isn't going to improve its condition under the panels or underfloor, nor do any good to the running units if left unused for a long time. Temperature variations will cause moisture build up in air pipes and brakes seizing on if not released and the wheels chocked.[/quote]

Not at all, Brian. I have found this to be the most helpful and professional classic vehicle site I have used, and have certainly taken note of all the excellent advice you guys have gone to the trouble of posting for me.

I really wanted the bus at hand so I could, if nothing else tidy the body work and do light mechanical, not so noisey jobs. My plan was to have the 'bus' port on a concrete base with wooden support posts 6ft apart. I would then have slotted in 2 rows of 6ft wooden fence panels and a final row of 3ft (total height 15ft) so as to enclose the bus. There would have been a wood ashphault covered roof. Inside a wooden structure is a good place to keep elderly vehicles in my experience.

I am saying the above in the past tense, because I have found out from the council that planning is required for a car port structure over 8ft. However, apparently if the bus is for non-commercial use, they cannot stop me parking it on my property if no light blocking or other nuisance is caused to neighbours. People who just happen to think it shouldn't be there have to accept it. The same way that I have to accept the visual clutter of neighbours having four or even more cars parked all over, incuding their gardens of concrete.

The pitfalls of leaving a bus idle for long periods have been mentioned here. Is it practical to have the RT on blocks with the wheels off the ground, then running the engine through the gears applying brakes in an effort to keep all the various valves, pipes etc clear from corrosion and working? I am confident of lifting the front of the bus safely, but wary about which points at the rear I can load the weight to.

Quite a bit depends on how near your neighbours are. If for instance you live on a typical street with the bus on a driveway, then SORN it while you undertake months of restoration...

As Brian says the bus needs to be under cover, but not just for the avoidance of deterioration, deliberate vandalism or theft of parts are factors which should not be ignored. Many historic vehicles have been lost in this way.[/quote]

There is a precedence to this, RT 261 ! It sits on the drive of a guy in Kent, rotting away, despite numerous offers to buy it, he is adamant he is going to keep it.

You could jack the bus to avoid tyre wear, but wheels need to be turned to avoid shoes seizing on, engine needs to be run weekly and anti-freeze kept topped up! Mind you, if you are going to start up and run an old RT engine in your drive, I'd hope you have tolerant neighbours and can insulate your house from the smoke that will come from the exhaust !

There are numerous jacking points on an RT, most parts of the chassis, someone may have the LT book or AEC manual, but as you know RMs, similar places can be used for jacking and using the same heavy duty jacks

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs

There is a precedence to this, RT 261 ! It sits on the drive of a guy in Kent, rotting away, despite numerous offers to buy it, he is adamant he is going to keep it.[/quote]
Some people dream of one day owning a classic London bus, this guy sounds like one of them, and so he doesn't want to let the bus go. Of course, his dream (the bus) is slowly disintergrating in his drive, but if it lasts him out I guess he's happy, he still has the bus. The bus is even left on grass, doubt much would function now. I found this link:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=RT261

You could jack the bus to avoid tyre wear, but wheels need to be turned to avoid shoes seizing on, engine needs to be run weekly and anti-freeze kept topped up! Mind you, if you are going to start up and run an old RT engine in your drive, I'd hope you have tolerant neighbours and can insulate your house from the smoke that will come from the exhaust ![/quote]
I'm next door to a commercial yard - a classic old London bus certainly won't spoil the view! I'd have to make sure the bus was parked with the exhaust facing the right way - there's no one there Sundays.

This one has been there since roughly the mid '80s. I have been past it many times.If I haven't got a weighbridge certificate for a bus then I generally use the same company. This entails a trip upstairs to the office to pay. What then follows is the fairly typical tales from some staff about when they went to school by bus.Except for one of the ladies, whose father owns this very bus.

Whether under a canopy or not, the RT is very likely going to be exposed to temperature changes this winter, getting very cold at night and warmer in the day and so on, building up moisture under the exterior panels.

I would plan on having mains electricity available for the bus, and so I wonder if placing heaters inside the bus would help protect it. I anticipate 'dry' heating such as oil filled postable electric radiators.

Would this help, has any one done this?

Most of the interior of an RT is wood, not metal like on RMs, keeping the door sealed would avoid a lot of problems, not sure a heater would do old plywood much good....

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs

Yes, I thought that would be the case. I used to keep my last RM out in the open, and infact the bus didn't seem to suffer at all, though it had a high quality exterior paint which helped. I used to have to wipe down the upper deck ceiling almost every day during winter, and usually filled a bucket to about a quarter from wringing out the chamois. If not done the water would build up and drip down onto the seats and floor. Nothing stopped the paint flaking away around the lower ceiling rivets though, due to the reaction between the different metals as I understand.