DogGate

marc3

Hi ,
posting here as landlord .

Rent a property with shared access path .
Our tenant has a small dog (nice landlord allows ).

There WAS a small gate seperating /dividing the path -gate been there about 5 years,but it is NOT on the deeds that there is a separation gate.

Our tenant and other tenant have had a falling out over something .
Other tenant has removed the gate !
(cannot say for deffo but allegedly out of spite !!)
hence our tenants dog can now 'escape'.

Our tenant willing to replace gate (but not as easy as that since not on deeds and other tenant now says does not want one !!)
Unfortunately as landlords-we are getting dragged into it .

Our tenant now putting responsibility on us as landlords, since saying that when she moved in/saw property-the gate was there ,so our responsibility to give her the same facilities as when she first took occupation.

Other tenant who removed gate is not our tenant as the other property is owned by another landlord (who we get on with fine-but he has to 'work' for his tenants wishes )

-situation is a bit of a mess.

am i missing something obvious here ?
Any constructive thoughts on how others would handle, and the legal position.(i suspect as no gate on deeds -their is no legal position to have a gate (but then our tenant says there was always a gate/precedent

You want to knock peoples heads together and say 'sort it yourselves', but tenant puts onus on us

Any constructive thoughts /ideas welcome

PasturesNew

Did the other person remove the gate because they didn't want/ask for a dog on the loose every time they walked out the door?

Only by fixing what the other one's problem is can you start to resolve it.

So what's going on, this isn't about a gate, is it about how your tenant expected to use the gated area, which is in contention with how the other person wishes to use the area?

It's probably not a dog exercise yard... and many people would be miffed if there were a dog on the loose in an area they might want to, say, pop out and sit in the sun, or whatever.... say put a pram outside.

You need to look at what is/is not allowed/implied in the deeds for the use of that space... and find out what the other person's problem is....

I'd not want to have to keep my door closed in case next door's dog, say, wandered in and widdled, where I saw the gate as providing a little bit of security from idle wanderers just wandering into the zone.

ka7e

The deeds may show an opening and right of way, the gate is probably not mandatory. Unless the other landlord is willing to compel his tenant to allow a replacement gate, mediation is the only way to go. Even if you re-instate the gate, the other tenant will probably just leave it open at every opportunity.

Comms69

Someone owns the gate. It's not the tenant. That is theft / criminal damage.

rach_k

Is the gate just to stop the dog escaping when she opens the front door? Could you fit a baby gate inside the front door (assuming the dog is small enough). She shouldn't be allowing her dog out of the door into public or shared spaces anyway so keeping it inside would be better (sell it as safer for the dog!).

Comms69

rach_k wrote: »

Is the gate just to stop the dog escaping when she opens the front door? Could you fit a baby gate inside the front door (assuming the dog is small enough). She shouldn't be allowing her dog out of the door into public or shared spaces anyway so keeping it inside would be better (sell it as safer for the dog!).

Shouldn't because the law, or shouldn't because you think so?


Because there's no law on this matter

[Deleted User]

Childish behaviour from the tenants who removed the gate. What reason do they have to do this exactly other than to make things difficult for the ones who own the dog?

As the owners of the properties it really is up to you landlords.

Worst they can do is throw their toys out the pram and give notice to move out.

AylesburyDuck

Other tenant removed the gate, her landlord should ask her to replace it, as frankly it's part of his property, should she not be forthcoming then sec 21 due to theft/damage of property, does he really need tenants like this causing damage and trouble.
Other landlord needs to find his backbone.

steampowered

Was the gate part of your property, or part of the other landlord's property?

If it was part of your property, I would replace the gate. I would also file a "small claim" against the other tenant for the costs incurred through the "moneyclaimonline" service - this is very easy to do.

If it was part of the other landlord's property, then it is up to the other landlord what he wants to do about his tenant, as the damage was to the other landlord's property.

I would be tempted to put my own gate in. Of course it would be criminal damage if that was then to be removed without consent.

rach_k

Comms69 wrote: »

Shouldn't because the law, or shouldn't because you think so?


Because there's no law on this matter

Shouldn't as somebody who, presumably, cares about her dog.

thelem

Can you clarify what you mean by shared access and a separation gate. I'd have thought you'd need a fence to separate a path down the middle? Does the gate separate the two tenants from each other, or separate both tenants from something else such as the road?



What agreement governs the shared access? Is it a leasehold flat?