Council House & Ivy Climbing Up Walls Liability.

Retrogamer

Hello folks,

Bit of a strange one here and i'm looking for some advise.
The picture below is of my house, and neighbours houses.
It's 4 in a block, with 2 up top and 2 on the bottom. 
Top left is bought & mines
Top right is bought
Bottom right is council rented.
Bottom left is also council rented.

These parts of the front gardens are owned by the council and maintained by the people renting them.

The gentleman in the lower right house has been in hospital and very ill for months now.
The gentleman in the lower left below mines has mobility problems and can't afford the council prices to have them maintain his garden any more.

I've noticed due to the lack of maintaince for 2 years now, that ivy has started to grow up from the hedge / bushes that sits between their two front gardens and up the wall and looks like potentially into the wall cavity via the vent  block on my house.

I'm disabled and have some mobility issues and the woman in the top right house is in her 80's so we can't even offer to cut it down as a good willl gesture for them below to get it under control as you'd have to cut away all of the bushes just to get access to the ivy.

Given that the house and land are owned by the council i was thinking if i wrote to them, and explained the problem and concerns would that then mean if they ignore it and the building gets damaged i would have grounds to deny to pay any contribution? 
My thinking is as it's own their land they are responsible regardless of the tennant's willingness and if they ignore the concerns it would make them liable for any damage?



Any thoughts or advise appretiated 

sammyjammy

If the council is responsible then you will end up paying anyway as your property is leasehold.  Why not get a quote from someone local and all four of you contribute what you can, it might not seem fair but otherwise it will cost you £££ if the council come and do it.

ka7e

You could ask the Council if they are aware of any community groups that tidy gardens for pensioners/vulnerable people. If you have access to social media, they can often be found on Facebook or Nextdoor.co.uk

Mr.Generous

I'd just go and cut through the ivy near the base and let it die.

Retrogamer

sammyjammy said:

If the council is responsible then you will end up paying anyway as your property is leasehold.  Why not get a quote from someone local and all four of you contribute what you can, it might not seem fair but otherwise it will cost you £££ if the council come and do it.

If the building is damaged externally or in the attic / roof then i'm obligated to pay as it's a leasehold but the gardens aren't shared and this land this vegitation you see here all belongs to the council only and they pass the onus of maintaining it to the tennant. The tall hedge on the right is shared  between both council tennants in the lower flates only. The top flats are allocated different parts of the front and rear gardens so it's not communual or part of the leasehold.

My thought process is, if you report a pothole or uneven pavement to the council and they have ample time to fix the issue, but choose not to, it makes them liable for any damages that occur as not fixing a problem is considered as negligent in civil courts.
I'm thinking the same in this scenario. If the council are aware of the problem that falls under their responsiblity to fix and choose not to, i think if i had to pay for any building repairs i'd  be able to claim it back via small claims.

The tennants downstairs can afford the costs fully to fix it themself but they choose to spend their benefits on other things and at least one couldn't care less about fixing it. So essentially if it was to be paid for it would fall solely on me as the other 3 would have zero interest in chipping in and it's not my garden or land. My salary is basically minimum wage as well so i'm not in a great financial position to be so generous.

ka7e said:

You could ask the Council if they are aware of any community groups that tidy gardens for pensioners/vulnerable people. If you have access to social media, they can often be found on Facebook or Nextdoor.co.uk

Thank you. I've emailed the council's facebook community page via DM to seek some advice or suggestions on who to reach out to specifically.Mr.Generous said:

I'd just go and cut through the ivy near the base and let it die.

I have pain issues that limit my mobility with my right hand so although i could manage to cut the ivy i think, you'd need to cut away all of the vegetation surrounding it to be able to get access to the ivy roots and that's just a bit too much for me just now.

HampshireH

Retrogamer said:

sammyjammy said:

If the council is responsible then you will end up paying anyway as your property is leasehold.  Why not get a quote from someone local and all four of you contribute what you can, it might not seem fair but otherwise it will cost you £££ if the council come and do it.

If the building is damaged externally or in the attic / roof then i'm obligated to pay as it's a leasehold but the gardens aren't shared and this land this vegitation you see here all belongs to the council only and they pass the onus of maintaining it to the tennant. The tall hedge on the right is shared  between both council tennants in the lower flates only. The top flats are allocated different parts of the front and rear gardens so it's not communual or part of the leasehold.

My thought process is, if you report a pothole or uneven pavement to the council and they have ample time to fix the issue, but choose not to, it makes them liable for any damages that occur as not fixing a problem is considered as negligent in civil courts.
I'm thinking the same in this scenario. If the council are aware of the problem that falls under their responsiblity to fix and choose not to, i think if i had to pay for any building repairs i'd  be able to claim it back via small claims.

The tennants downstairs can afford the costs fully to fix it themself but they choose to spend their benefits on other things and at least one couldn't care less about fixing it. So essentially if it was to be paid for it would fall solely on me as the other 3 would have zero interest in chipping in and it's not my garden or land. My salary is basically minimum wage as well so i'm not in a great financial position to be so generous.

ka7e said:

You could ask the Council if they are aware of any community groups that tidy gardens for pensioners/vulnerable people. If you have access to social media, they can often be found on Facebook or Nextdoor.co.uk

Thank you. I've emailed the council's facebook community page via DM to seek some advice or suggestions on who to reach out to specifically.Mr.Generous said:

I'd just go and cut through the ivy near the base and let it die.

I have pain issues that limit my mobility with my right hand so although i could manage to cut the ivy i think, you'd need to cut away all of the vegetation surrounding it to be able to get access to the ivy roots and that's just a bit too much for me just now.

If you can just cut it for now it will at least stop it growing further until the council respond.

In terns of the council and a Complaint presumably they are freeholders? So they have the overarching responsibility to maintain. I would go down this route..and point out their obligations as a freeholder in addition to those of their tenants and their responsibilities as their landlord.

Flugelhorn

Good long handled choppers help, you can get quite a lot of "chopping power" from them without too much effort 

Farway

Flugelhorn said:

Good long handled choppers help, you can get quite a lot of "chopping power" from them without too much effort 

Especially if you get the "ratchet" type that help increase the leverage

You wouldn't need super-duper last forever ones because probably only be used a few times

Something like this

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Three-Stage-Telescopic-Ratchet-Loppers/p/234975

Retrogamer

HampshireH said:

Retrogamer said:

sammyjammy said:

If the council is responsible then you will end up paying anyway as your property is leasehold.  Why not get a quote from someone local and all four of you contribute what you can, it might not seem fair but otherwise it will cost you £££ if the council come and do it.

If the building is damaged externally or in the attic / roof then i'm obligated to pay as it's a leasehold but the gardens aren't shared and this land this vegitation you see here all belongs to the council only and they pass the onus of maintaining it to the tennant. The tall hedge on the right is shared  between both council tennants in the lower flates only. The top flats are allocated different parts of the front and rear gardens so it's not communual or part of the leasehold.

My thought process is, if you report a pothole or uneven pavement to the council and they have ample time to fix the issue, but choose not to, it makes them liable for any damages that occur as not fixing a problem is considered as negligent in civil courts.
I'm thinking the same in this scenario. If the council are aware of the problem that falls under their responsiblity to fix and choose not to, i think if i had to pay for any building repairs i'd  be able to claim it back via small claims.

The tennants downstairs can afford the costs fully to fix it themself but they choose to spend their benefits on other things and at least one couldn't care less about fixing it. So essentially if it was to be paid for it would fall solely on me as the other 3 would have zero interest in chipping in and it's not my garden or land. My salary is basically minimum wage as well so i'm not in a great financial position to be so generous.

ka7e said:

You could ask the Council if they are aware of any community groups that tidy gardens for pensioners/vulnerable people. If you have access to social media, they can often be found on Facebook or Nextdoor.co.uk

Thank you. I've emailed the council's facebook community page via DM to seek some advice or suggestions on who to reach out to specifically.Mr.Generous said:

I'd just go and cut through the ivy near the base and let it die.

I have pain issues that limit my mobility with my right hand so although i could manage to cut the ivy i think, you'd need to cut away all of the vegetation surrounding it to be able to get access to the ivy roots and that's just a bit too much for me just now.

If you can just cut it for now it will at least stop it growing further until the council respond.

In terns of the council and a Complaint presumably they are freeholders? So they have the overarching responsibility to maintain. I would go down this route..and point out their obligations as a freeholder in addition to those of their tenants and their responsibilities as their landlord.

Unfortunatily i can't cut it just now as it's impossible to get access to anywhere near it to do it without cutting away all the vegetation first. Farway said:

Flugelhorn said:

Good long handled choppers help, you can get quite a lot of "chopping power" from them without too much effort 

Especially if you get the "ratchet" type that help increase the leverage

You wouldn't need super-duper last forever ones because probably only be used a few times

Something like this

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Three-Stage-Telescopic-Ratchet-Loppers/p/234975

I'd need to cut away all the other vegetation beside the hedge and a lot of the hedge itself to get access to cut the ivy lower down. With the pain issues in my right hand (still waiting on an NHS diagnosis after 3 years) holding a pen is often too painful for me so this would be behond my current abilities) Not to mention there's no where to put the cuttings. The neighbour gets a lot of benefits due to their disability and addictions but they'd rather buy super lagers than put it towards anything semi productive. The council recently had to replace all the floorboards near their windows as the moisture from all the bushes and shrubs had rotted their flooring.

Flugelhorn said:

Good long handled choppers help, you can get quite a lot of "chopping power" from them without too much effort 

They would need to extend about 6-7 feet long to reach accross all of the other vegetation and into the area where the ivy is growing from. The bushes and beside the hedge and the hedge itself are so thick you can't even see the stems for the ivy.


I've emailed a more specific team in the council (housing officers) who i've been told are responsible for the tennants living there so waiting to see what they suggest or say on the matter.

I've bought my house 4 years ago but due to my pittance of a salary i've still bare plaster walls as i can't sort them and about 20 other things myself and saving is a slow process.
Likewise lots needing done in my own garden but struggling with the time and money.
And likewise with my car that's been off the road now for over 2 months.

Hence why i'd prefer the council to sort this out as it's on their land and it's their tennant and i have an overwhelming amount of tasks to do with my own house, car and garden as it is.

Working_Mum

It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate Retrogamer - could you investigate if there are any local groups who can clear the space for you or help you with the jobs which need doing in your home. I am in Yorkshire and I am aware of a couple of volunteer groups who help people who are in need of support.

Do you make the most of things like Freecycl3/FB to get stuff for free which may help with your projects - I often see paint and other decorating or DIY items being offered. It can really help the pennies stretch.

Sending hugs - sounds like it's a tough space for you right now.