Rental property gardens

restless6

How much is too much work for a tenant in a rented house ?

My gardens are both surrounded by hedges and contain lots of bushes and plants - quite high maintenance

I’ve just removed my pond and am planning on taking out lots of the bushes and plants and baskets and containers As I am going to rent this house out .

But I don’t know what the standard is for tenants ? Should they be expected to maintain a garden or just mow the grass and cut the hedges ?

Davesnave

The tenant is supposed to hand back the garden in the general condition it was in when the rental began.



It's reasonable to suppose grass will be mown, weeds pulled out and bushes trimmed , but tasks like dealing with very high hedges might be deemed more than routine garden maintenance, as they'd require special tools, ladders etc. If the required jobs are listed in the contract and agreed, then both sides will know what to expect.


Some garden plants aren't long lived, so it would be unreasonable to expect everything to be exactly the same at the end of a tenancy. I wouldn't remove too many long-lived shrubs if these are helping to fill the beds. Remermber, bare earth is high maintenance, as it encourages weeds.

Red-Squirrel_2

I!!!8217;d get the garden to as low maintenance as possible and only expect mowing. Anymore than that and you would be as well to pay a gardener.

jackomdj

It depends who lives in the house. If they enjoy gardening and plan on being there for a long time then they may want to garden.

restless6

Thanks for the replies
I can!!!8217;t remove any of the hedges unfortunately but they are all a reasonable height, not too tall.
I think I will take out the plants and put shrubs in the borders instead as they are easier to look after.
I currently have planters filled with lavender around the outside of the conservatory - they need watering - should I take them all out or leave them?

G_M

Depends on yur target market!


Students, young professionals witth busy lives - expect the minimum and make the garden as maintenancfree as possible.


Family planning to stay long-term may well be into gardening and prefer a nice garden with plenty of plants.....

[Deleted User]

I suspect its like a loan of money, unless you are prepared to never see it again (have it destroyed).., don't leave it behind.

Even someone who reassures you enthusiastically that they will look after your plants/hedges/plants generally, it is often a differnt matter once they move in.

franklee

restless6 wrote: »

I can't remove any of the hedges unfortunately but they are all a reasonable height, not too tall.
I think I will take out the plants and put shrubs in the borders instead as they are easier to look after.
I currently have planters filled with lavender around the outside of the conservatory - they need watering - should I take them all out or leave them?

Up to you but I would say if they are in any way portable then take them. Not that lavenders are hard to replace but why have the hassle. With the best will in the world plants die so I wouldn't leave anything portable that needs any more TLC than the occasional trim. The planters are probably the more valuable.

Regarding the hedges I suggest you write out some notes on how to care for them, e.g. when to trim, how much etc. It would also help to leave a plant list so the tenant has a chance of looking up how to care for things should they wish.

Check what the tenancy agreement says about the garden. When I was a tenant mine said not to cut or remove anything but then contracted itself by saying we had to weed and trim. We were given no hints so had to identify things as best we could and figure out what to do for ourselves but I doubt many tenants would bother doing much research.

In our case the garden was totally missed off the inventory which many letting agents forget to include. It should be there noting the height of the hedges, the state of the garden and include photos. The tenant is not obliged to keep he garden neat during their stay (any more than they are obliged to hoover the carpets) however at the end of the tenancy the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start of the tenancy allowing for fair wear and tear plus for the garden allowing for seasonal variations. This is assessed against the inventory so if you miss the garden off the inventory you will not have baseline to assess against.

tori.k

Depending if you have repeating hedging so its all pruned at the same time would it not be worth factoring a annual maintenance cut into the rent and getting someone in to do it.

restless6

Thanks for the replies
It!!!8217;s a family home so guessing my target would be families.

Most houses on this road have hedges so mine isn!!!8217;t Unusual but I do know it can be a pain to look afte them.

I will carry on removing pots and hanging baskets and as many plants as possible so it is easier maintenance.

Davesnave

tori.k wrote: »

Depending if you have repeating hedging so its all pruned at the same time would it not be worth factoring a annual maintenance cut into the rent and getting someone in to do it.

This is what the landlord of the property next to me does, so I slip the guy some cash and he does my side too. Works for all.