Landlord won't clear garden...

supermassive

I've been in my home for around 6 months and during this time, I've been the perfect tenant.

The house was bought by my landlord, she did minor renovation, and was then sent to Crete with the RAF, so couldn't do any more.

We were looking for a place to live with a decent garden for the dog - and thus, when we looked at the property, we were told that the work (including the garden work) got cut short due to being sent overseas at short notice, but it's all "on the list" to be done.

This was not a small job. There were sacks and sacks of sand, broken glass, roof slate, etc etc etc. You can't imagine. The actual garden itself was overgrown, two ponds (it's a small terrace!!), reinforced concrete slabs all over the place... it was ridiculous.

When we looked at the house, we said we'd like to remove the ponds, and she said the only reason the garden hasn't been completely gutted is because she's being sent away. (obviously she intended to do it)

So skip forward six months and I've done most of the garden myself. I've paid over £100 of my own money to get rid of all the crap that was left there by the previous home owners (which she clearly bought with the property, in some sense).

So whilst letting her know, during a 6 month check when she's back in the country, about some minor problems (plumbing repairs that were left due to being sent overseas) I let her know about the garden, and that there's been alot done, but I can't do the rest as I'm not prepared to spend my money on 1: lifting the value of HER property and B: something that should've been done before.

She has now messaged me saying that the plumbing is being taken care of, but the garden is my own responsibility to sort out as I 'decided' to do it.

Where do I stand with this? It's her stuff that she left, the only reason we moved in was because she implied she was going to sort the garden out, and I've already paid over £100 towards shifting the mountains of crap which are actually hers and not mine.

I feel absolutely conned, honestly. If I were a scummier person, I'd take all the copper piping out of the house and run.

Edit: Oh, in the tenancy it mentions 'maintenance' and 'keep it free of weeds' etc, but how can you 'keep' something in a state that it wasn't when you got there? Maintaining doesn't mean having to take on a massive full garden clearance from scratch with my own money, surely.

lstar337

Unless it is written down and signed that she would sort the garden, I doubt you are going to get very far.

My experience is that some landlords will say anything to get you in and sign an agreement. I come from experience, I was told that broken sash windows would be replaced with double glazing right away when I moved into a flat, after 2 years they were never done in spite of constant reassurances!

Not what you wanted to hear no doubt, sorry.

supermassive

I've been advised about something called an 'implied agreement' within a tenancy, which is basically a verbal part of the contract that's legally binding. That was advice from citizen's advice, but I don't know at all.

phill99

OP:You seem to have some anger issues.

DoctorFoster

supermassive wrote: »

I've been advised about something called an 'implied agreement' within a tenancy, which is basically a verbal part of the contract that's legally binding. That was advice from citizen's advice, but I don't know at all.

Can you prove what was said?

JustinR1979

phill99 wrote: »

OP:You seem to have some anger issues.

These tend to be brought on by being lied to and fcuked over.

Norman_Castle

You could pile the "crap" in the ponds and cover it with soil. Call it a feature.

lstar337

supermassive wrote: »

I've been advised about something called an 'implied agreement' within a tenancy, which is basically a verbal part of the contract that's legally binding. That was advice from citizen's advice, but I don't know at all.

DoctorFoster wrote: »

Can you prove what was said?

Yeah, you need to be able to prove it. That is the trouble with a verbal agreement.

In future, get them to put it in writing.

supermassive

Norman_Castle wrote: »

You could pile the "crap" in the ponds and cover it with soil. Call it a feature.

I've already filled in the ponds. This is all the stuff left over.

Seeing as it's her rubbish, a solicitor has advised me to write a complaint letter to her advising that if she doesn't have it removed, I can get a court order to force her to remove it.

Proving a verbal agreement isn't going to be hard at all, as I have messages from her saying such things.

And yes, I do have some level of anger. It's due to moving home to get a garden that was the whole point of moving - and being stuck in the same situation as before, but paying a higher rate of rent! Tends to lead to stress, would you believe?

warmhands.coldheart

supermassive wrote: »

Seeing as it's her rubbish, a solicitor has advised me to write a complaint letter to her advising that if she doesn't have it removed, I can get a court order to force her to remove it...

And then by the end of the week she'll be sending you your marching orders !! Are you happy to move in the near future.... got somewhere else lined up?

If you like the house/area and want to stay there, bite the bullet and sort it yourself....... if not, move !!

The joys of absent landlords

macman

You weren't 'conned'. She never offered to pay for the work if you arranged it, and you went ahead anyway.
What you should have done is inserted a clause into the AST saying that your agreement was subject to the garden rubbish being cleared within x days of the tenancy commencing.
Yes, a 'reasonable' LL would pay a 'reasonable' amount to compensate you for having improved the property of your own volition, but she clearly is not, and you can't make her.
Your solicitor is ill informed-she is under no obligation to clear the garden unless it is a heath hazard, or unless the AST states that it would be cleared.
I would be tempted to 'restore' the rubbish you have removed back again before you leave...