Overgrown next door

biscuit1_2

Hi all am after some advice, we have a some young lads living next door in a rented property, who to be fair are a good bunch of lads no hassle, polite not overly noisy, but, their back garden hedges/bushes are pretty overgrown ( elderberry and hawthorn over 12 ft high) and in fairness they were when they moved in. My question is as a rented property who's responsibility would these hedges be, the young lads who to be fair see a garden as a party area and do keep the lawns ok. Or the owners and do they have any legal obligation to keep them under control, not that i have any intention of going down that route but would be handy to know.

glasgowdan

It could be either
..just mention it to them

biscuit1_2

I have every intention of doing so, just want to get my facts right first

Dan-Dan

Well going just on what you have posted, if said foliage encroaches on your land you have the right to trim it to the boundary and then you must offer the cuttings to the owner

Kiran

It will depend what is in there tenancy agreement. However as you have said they had the hedges etc at that height then they will as a maximum have a clause that they are to maintain the garden which would mean keeping it at that height. If it was me personally I'd have chat with them and offer them a hand. usually pays to be a good neighbor, you never know you could get a bbq invite :-)

biscuit1_2

It doesn't encroach it's just so blummin high now, and is casting a shadow.

J_B

How about
"excuse me lads, that hedge is rather high, it's casting a shadow over my garden. Could we get together to chop it back a bit?"

If that doesn't work, maybe suggest there is a young lady who wants to sunbathe ... see if that helps!!

getmore4less

If you have the kit to do the job offering a hand will have it done in no time if there are a few of them.

I find my shredder invaluable for making waste removal/composting so much easier/quicker when cutting back bushes.

biscuit1_2

No problem with that at all that's my intention, but these lads haven't been there that long, and i think it's possibly got past that stage and needs professional hands at a cost. And i did do that with the guys who were in there before but it never happened we both worked weekends at the time and then they moved out. What i am after is, from a rental perspective is it the lads responsibility or the owners as they did inherit the problem.

Mojisola

biscuit1 wrote: »

What i am after is, from a rental perspective is it the lads responsibility or the owners as they did inherit the problem.

Their tenancy agreement should set out what they are meant to do regarding maintaining the garden.

Davesnave

biscuit1 wrote: »

What i am after is, from a rental perspective is it the lads responsibility or the owners as they did inherit the problem.

None of us has sight of their tenancy agreement so certainty is impossible, but many standard agreements forbid the tenant from "cutting, pruning or otherwise injuring, trees and shrubs."

This is probably because a tenant might otherwise take it upon themselves to denude the garden for some reason. It's not meant to prevent everyday maintenance, but it could be open to misinterpretation.

So, some upkeep is generally expected, but you yourself say this may have gone beyond the reach of ordinary garden tools, so maybe a letter to their landlord would be in order if you have no joy.

Assuming the property is registered, if there is no other way, a £3 address enquiry at the Land Registry (do use the Gov. UK site, not the scam expensive ones) may show who owns the title deed and their address.