Who should maintain the garden?

Posted on: March 21st, 2016 Category: Garden Maintenance, Tenant News, Landlord News

When looking to rent a new home, a well-kept garden or outside space can have a certain appeal.

Most council and housing association landlords specify that tenants must keep gardens to a ‘satisfactory standard’ as part of their tenancy agreement. What constitutes ‘satisfactory’ can vary from one opinion to another. Furthermore, a list of things that a tenant must do to maintain a garden to a ‘satisfactory standard’ rarely exists.

If tenants have a garden to themselves, it is reasonable to expect them to maintain it. At the very least, tenants should get someone else to take care of the garden if they are not willing or able to do so.

The minimum that is expected of any tenant is that it should be kept free of litter, tidy and not overgrown. If there are hedges, they should be kept trimmed, especially if they are likely to encroach onto neighbouring properties or public areas. Lawns should also be cut regularly.

If a tenant allows rubbish to build up in the garden, it can become a health and safety risk. Litter, waste and rubbish can also attract vermin, resulting in the added expense of pest control.

Most landlords find that gardens are not kept as tidy as they would like. Tenants seem to avoid gardening where possible, meaning that even a neat and tidy garden can turn into an unloved weed-fest very quickly.

Some landlords choose to employ a gardener to prevent this from happening, carrying out regular hedge cutting, lawn mowing and general tidying to keep on top of the situation.

Having a ‘maintained’ garden can also be a selling point, with the cost of the gardening added to the amount charged for rent.

Other landlords take a stricter view, stipulating what the tenant’s gardening responsibilities are and what penalties they’ll incur if they don’t fulfill them. If there is a clause in the tenancy agreement that forces the tenant to look after the garden, landlords can also introduce penalties for not doing so. For example, a landlord could withhold part of the deposit to pay for the garden maintenance when the tenants move out.

Longer term lets tend to be a better option for garden upkeep, as a short term tenant is more likely to turn a blind eye to the state of the garden compared with someone who is there for a year or more.

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