council owned grass

EachPenny

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

With that - it's an EX Council house - so expecting to be able to buy one of our houses out of our public sector housing and then expecting us to still pay to cut the lawn after that sounds a bit ******** (words fail me - let's just say = cheeky).

In that position - I'd say we (ie taxpayers) don't have the responsibility to maintain our lawn any longer - considering that we no longer own our (ie taxpayers) house that it comes with.

Time to consider oneself fortunate to have been able to get to own one of our houses and take it on the chin and mow the lawn oneself or pay the charge (which is only £25 per year).

To be fair to the OP, they have sought to buy the lawn as well, but the Council have refused to sell.

This is a problem I've seen quite a lot where Councils have cut back on grounds maintenance spending and the contractors have offered 'savings' by reducing cutting frequency. The result is that communal gardens and green space becomes unusable due to long grass and all manner of things lurking in it.

This isn't just about making the area 'look nice'. Long grass is a haven for ticks which pose a risk for dogs and even humans, so keeping communal grass areas cut can be a health issue as well.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of council housing being sold, the council in the OP's case has decided to sell the house, but not sell the garden. That is their prerogative, but if they want to keep the lawns then they have a responsibility to maintain them to a reasonable standard.

As for the £25 fee, it is a separate issue to whether or not the council should cut the grass. But I'm with the OP on this point - as I pointed out earlier in the thread, if the residents cut the council's grass then it is (technically) unlawful for the clippings to be placed in the domestic green waste bin. The council can turn a blind-eye to people doing this, but to expect them to cut the grass and put it in their green waste bin would be wrong.

steampowered

t0rt0ise wrote: »

I would talk to the local councillor and ask if you can be exempted from the charge for collection. I agree with you that they have a cheek to ask you to pay for it.

Next thing you know people will be complaining about administration overheads. Councils just can't win.

It would probably cost the council more than the £25 to have someone sit in an office checking and administering the Op's claim for an exemption.

Norman_Castle

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

In that position - I'd say we (ie taxpayers) don't have the responsibility to maintain our lawn any longer - considering that we no longer own our (ie taxpayers) house that it comes with.

Council housing is self financing funded by loans repaid through rental income. We (ie taxpayers) have never owned the house or lawn.