Advice on rental miselling - "private garden" shared with neighbours

atdavidson

Hi MSE Forum,

About 6 weeks ago I entered an agreement to rent a property with a "private enclosed garden". I was a little shocked when the neighbours came in and started gardening. Apparently they own a section of the garden and enjoy using it. Could anyone please offer me some advice on my rights here? I'm contacting the landlord to complain about the miselling today, but is there a regulatory body I can compain to as well, or do I need to contact a lawyer for legal advice?

Thank you!

user1977

What remedy are you seeking?

tonygold

user1977 said:

What remedy are you seeking?

well surely the rental being paid reflects the fact it had a private garden. presumably a flat / house with a shared garden would be less desirable and thus cheaper?

p00hsticks

tonygold said:

user1977 said:

What remedy are you seeking?

well surely the rental being paid reflects the fact it had a private garden. presumably a flat / house with a shared garden would be less desirable and thus cheaper?

But presumably the landlord already knows that the garden is in fact shared and has set the rent at a level to reflect that....

user1977

tonygold said:

user1977 said:

What remedy are you seeking?

well surely the rental being paid reflects the fact it had a private garden. presumably a flat / house with a shared garden would be less desirable and thus cheaper?

Perhaps, though the OP says this only affects a section of the garden, so presumably they still do have a private garden. I suspect there isn't going to be a significant difference in market rental value just because the garden is a bit smaller than they thought.

atdavidson

Thanks for the replies.

I'm not really sure what I'm seeking, but I'm disapointed and angry. Really the landlord should purchase the shared part of the garden from the neighbours so they can give me what they promised but of course that's ridiculous.

I've signed a 12-month contract and just bought lots of furniture for the flat so I'm not sure I'll be looking to leave. I can't see the landlord being willing to offer any compensation or rent reduction in this market, but I do feel there is an injustice here. I deserve some compensation and the landlord should be punished for miselling.

I suppose I could ask them to erect a fence at the property boundary so that the garden is private, but that wouldn't look very nice and I'm still losing a section of garden I've been sold.

I'm looking for advice here as to what possiblities there are and what I could (or should) ask for.

Thanks again!

theartfullodger

A private garden can be jointly shared with several properties.  What actual financial loss have you suffered that you wish to claim for, please?

user1977

A garden doesn't need to have a fence in order to be private.

Why are you so certain this is "mis-selling" rather than just somebody's misunderstanding?

HampshireH

As above a garden can be a private garden and still shared.

I cannot imagine your rent is any more due to the garden being shared compared to the market value without having exclusive use.

Just make friends with the neighbour.

You have no grounds for a reduction or early termination without financial penalty etc

Unless perhaps you specifically asked and can prove that you asked if you had exclusive use of it.

Jenni_D

If the garden is only accessible by the residents then it is still private, just not exclusive.  

TripleH

The same sentence carefully written can mean different things to different people.

Sadly you cannot assume your interpretation is 'the correct one'.

'Flat has access to private exclusive parking' can mean something different to 'flat has a designated parking space in gated area' to 'flat 10 has sole and exclusive use of bay 7'.

It may be that only you and your neighbour are allowed access to use the garden.

Before you do complain however, think about what you want out of the situation it is less stressful that way and you can focus on a realistic outcome. By all means if you want to vent on the vents board that's fine