Advice need - landlords accessing garden too much for comfort

ka7e

I would think it's entirely reasonable to have a lock on your garden gate for your own security and peace of mind. Tell the letting agent you are fitting a lock on the inside (so the LL cannot ask for a key to let himself in) as recommended by crime prevention agencies. He will now be required to give notice so the gate can be unlocked for his visits.

Section62

ka7e said:

I would think it's entirely reasonable to have a lock on your garden gate for your own security and peace of mind. Tell the letting agent you are fitting a lock on the inside (so the LL cannot ask for a key to let himself in) as recommended by crime prevention agencies. He will now be required to give notice so the gate can be unlocked for his visits.

What gives you confidence the landlord won't respond to that move by commencing the process to end the tenancy?  Is that outcome something the OP wants, or would prefer to avoid?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Section62 said:

Grass needs to be cut regularly and frequently in the growing season to keep it in good condition.  Leaving it for a month before cutting will not only lead to a rubbish lawn, it also typically requires more work to do that one cutting than would be needed in four once-a-week cuts.

We cut our grass once a month, during spring and early summer it's full of daisies, buttercups and those white flowers on clovers, the bees are very happy buzzing around the garden, far more important, to me, than having a bowling green perfect lawn. 

I'm surprised by the responses to this thread, the OP says the leases "simply states that they are responsible for the garden" (clarification on the exact wording if different may affect the position) but that clause doesn't say the landlord has the right to turn up at random once a week to mow the lawn. 

It sounds to me as if the landlord fails to understand that, whist it may be their property, it isn't their home any longer. 

I don't know enough about what the legal parameters of "peaceful enjoyment" are or what terms may be classed as unfair in a tenant's contract so can't advise specifically on the what the OP is entitled to but the landlord has to consider they currently have a long term tenant who is, presumably, paying rent, looking after the place and giving the landlord an easy time. Does the landlord wish to go through the expense of evicting such a tenant and then renting to an unknown over the length of the grass?

OP from reading here I believe you can get advice from Shelter, me, I'd be telling the landlord their activities infringe on your right to peaceful enjoyment and whilst they are "responsible" for the garden until such time that it turns into a jungle they have no right to tend to it so please stop coming to the house. I wouldn't sign a new lease until they remove the clause about the garden and if they don't want to I'd stick to a rolling contract. 

As someone else has mentioned you may run the risk of being evicted, to do so the landlord would have to have something wrong with their business sense if you are good tenant but then it sounds as if there is something wrong with their business sense....  

ka7e

Section62 said:

ka7e said:

I would think it's entirely reasonable to have a lock on your garden gate for your own security and peace of mind. Tell the letting agent you are fitting a lock on the inside (so the LL cannot ask for a key to let himself in) as recommended by crime prevention agencies. He will now be required to give notice so the gate can be unlocked for his visits.

What gives you confidence the landlord won't respond to that move by commencing the process to end the tenancy?  Is that outcome something the OP wants, or would prefer to avoid?

The alternative being the OP suck it up and continues to have his privacy and quiet enjoyment violated? I said it is a "reasonable" expectation to be allowed a lock on your gate for security reasons and the relationship with the LL has been fairly cordial. The LL also risks having to go through the eviction process with a good tenant who has not been in arrears, and finding another reliable tenant who has no objection to him wandering around their garden.

Section62

ka7e said:

Section62 said:

ka7e said:

I would think it's entirely reasonable to have a lock on your garden gate for your own security and peace of mind. Tell the letting agent you are fitting a lock on the inside (so the LL cannot ask for a key to let himself in) as recommended by crime prevention agencies. He will now be required to give notice so the gate can be unlocked for his visits.

What gives you confidence the landlord won't respond to that move by commencing the process to end the tenancy?  Is that outcome something the OP wants, or would prefer to avoid?

The alternative being the OP suck it up and continues to have his privacy and quiet enjoyment violated? I said it is a "reasonable" expectation to be allowed a lock on your gate for security reasons and the relationship with the LL has been fairly cordial. The LL also risks having to go through the eviction process with a good tenant who has not been in arrears, and finding another reliable tenant who has no objection to him wandering around their garden.

BiB1 - No, but they need to think through the different scenarios and possible outcomes and decide which they are happiest with.

BiB2 - ^Because the OP also says "I'm anxious to renew before the kick-off and kick us out". The form of that anxiety and what (if any) plan 'B' may exist has got to be front and centre in the OP's next move.

BiB3 - Unless I missed it the OP hasn't said the landlord is "wandering around their garden".  The landlord comes to do work in the garden, and some maintenance on the exterior of the building.  Some people would be delighted with a landlord that keeps the property maintained in accordance with their agreement, rather than constantly needing to be chased to get work done - but such a level of service isn't everyone's cup of tea.

The balance in relation to wants and needs in this situation is clearly wrong, but a 'hostile' act of putting a lock on the gate and telling the landlord he'll have to give notice for access (and by extension can only have access when someone is home) isn't necessarily going to be viewed as "reasonable" by the landlord... not least when the existing contract places an obligation on him to do this work.

There's a good chance the landlord is insisting on doing the garden maintenance because he has 'control' issues.  If so, then doing something which takes that control away from him (and doing it in an 'up yours' manner) is probably unlikely to make him want to renew the contract.  Which is an OK outcome if the OP is up for that, but the impression I get is the opposite is the case (i.e. them being "anxious to renew").

A better approach might be to get the agent to negotiate with the landlord that gardening visits will be limited to a particular time window, and anything outside that would be subject to notice.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I don't think there is anything stopping OP from renewing for 12 months as it stands now (I don't know if that gives them any protection against being evicted). 

They could renew and then say please stop visiting the property, peaceful enjoyment, etc. 

From a bit of reading (correct me if I'm wrong on anything ) the landlord is legally responsible for anything structural, what should be done with the garden should be written in the contract.

So if the tenant requires permission to alter the garden that should be in the contract.

If they are required to maintain it to a certain reasonable standard that should be written in the contract.

Ultimately the garden should be in the same condition when the tenant leaves as it was when they first arrived, with the landlord having a check in inventory of the garden to prove how it was. Again correct me if I'm wrong, but I really can't see the deposit protection scheme adjudicators drilling down into the health of the grass based upon how often it's been mowed. Leave the garden as a jungle, tear up the grass with dirt bikes or simply leave it to die and I would assume the landlord should be compensated but it seems extremely unreasonable to me to dictate that the grass must be cut x times per x. 

What if OP has a portable BBQ and outdoors sofa in the garden for summer? Should they be expected it move every week? Should the landlord drag it around the garden and if they do what happens if they damage it? 

Some landlords may use a gardening service for their tenants but that is very different to the property owner coming by 4 times in a week to do some gardening at someone elses home. 

The whole thing seems nonsense to me and I think it needs to be nipped in the bud with a calm and reasonable discussion about why the landlords actions are inappropriate, if that ends in having to find a new home perhaps things will end up being for the better overall. 

FFHillbilly

landlord sounds a bit mad to me. I can't think of anything worse than having to go and do gardening on a rental property. why doesn't he trust the tennants to look after it?

MultiFuelBurner

Must be some garden?

BobT36

MobileSaver said:

BobT36 said:

WEEKLY mow? Grass doesn't grow that quick.. Ask that it's done monthly at MOST,

This is so wrong it hurts! Grass can grow an inch in just four days with the right growing conditions, we use our ride-on mower several times a week on the main lawns to keep them looking perfect.

I didn't say it didn't grow, just not that quick (implication of it being quick enough to the point of NEEDING mowing).
It's subjective but, an inch does not 'need' mowing. 

If you want it looking "perfect" for your own house then good for you! But it's another matter when disturbing someone else, and the OP clearly thinks it's too much. In my opinion, a monthly or even 2-month mow should be satisfactory to the point of being classed as "maintaining the garden in a tenantlike manner". 


You could be someone who hoovers EVERY day and irons their pants too, is it ok for the landlord to turn up and do the same at the tenant's? It's not the landlord's "home", the only standards they should be enforcing are general "reasonable" maintenance, and leaving the property as they found it. It's bad enough having to let someone else control whether you have a roof over your head at all, tenants can do without landlords imposing their own personal standards and control under that roof, too. 


On the other hand, I'd love my landlord to maintain my garden! (Reasonably). I have no-where to store a mower and I often think landlords should provide basic gardening equipment. It's not fair for a tenant to spend god knows how much on a mower and then be S21'd and end up in a flat or something with no-where to store it and no need of it. I'd be quite happy for the landlord to turn up and do it for me, or lend a mower (I source one from a family member instead). HOWEVER even if they were to maintain it, I'd still not want them turning up any random time, I'd agree no more than monthly, and with 24hr notice with me having the final say on when. I'm sure they wouldn't want me just turning up at their home uninvited at any random time, either. 

MultiFuelBurner

The OP has stated for the first year they stuck to the verbal commitment of the same day but for the past five years it sounds like they have gone unchallenged.

So part of the issue is the tenants not bringing this up earlier. Why wait 5 years???