Gardens

My tenants love gardening. The garden at my property is bare and I guess they want to do it up and they have requested my permission. Anything I should be wary off ? Do i need to set some restrictions. For example, maybe they are overly enthusiastic and dig up a hole to build a fish pond - this can be considered as "do it up".

 

Get their proposed "do it up" on paper in detail. Have a look and then decide.
1st things 1st.
If you like what they propose then let them rip. But make sure its in writing with pictures/plans etc and keep them to it strictly.

Lucky to have tenants who want to keep a garden....just so long as it's not a dope garden.

 

One of my past tenants started a vege garden by piling straw and compost on top of the grass. They moved out and left it there at the end of the lease. It didn't look like much in terms of volume, but it filled up two wheelie bins when I removed it.

Be very clear with them about whether they are going to remove or leave the plants when they move. Also about what type of garden you are agreeing to, and how it will be maintained.

 

Tell them you want approval of all plants removed or added. I had a tenant ask to plant an agave succulent. It ended up being a massive banned weed that produced suckers everywhere.

 

Good Morning,
I love hearing these requests from tenants, to me they want to look after the house as if it was their own. I would have them draw a plan of what they would like to do and also what plants they would like to use. That way you have it all in writing from them and have yourself or the property manager inspect once it's complete and take photos so you have all of it documented.
Kind regards,
Samantha Ellis

 

I do not mind tenants that want to make the place "home", but I like to know what exactly they are doing, and it goes with them when leaving is the usual response, one place I got had vege gardens left it was tonnes of soil and a right pain to remove and get rid of (the are a real eye sore when let go)

 

As others have suggested, just make sure everything is in writing, in terms of what they can plant and what happens to the plants in the event the tenant vacates the property.

 

I don't get everyone's need to control or approve what sort of garden the tenant wants to put in.

If I had a bare property, I'd probably appreciate whatever the tenants wanted to put in. And I wouldn't want to be seen as some pedantic owner that was getting in the way.

 

I can see your point and it makes sense that this could be seen as an improvement to the property.

I took over a management where the owner had to pay for the removal of a bottle brush plant on her property that she was not aware of. Long story short, council issued a work order for the retaining wall to be rectified, unfortunately, the plant happened to be where work was needed to be done and she was left to pay for the removal of the plant.

I think as a courtesy, the owner should be notified and given the opportunity to make a decision, as ultimately they will be left with the plant once the tenant vacates the property.

 

Uuhhhmmm, because its the owners property and not the tenants.

So you'd be happy with a tenant putting in a couple of willows, or maybe some camphor laurels, you know, the ones that just love to get their roots into the sewer pipes and under the house footings causing all sorts of troubles for the owner who should not be so pedantic ?

Crazy.

 

Not really courtesy, it is a must, tenants can't be planting trees on the property as they like, they can do large pots if they like though.

It is bad enough when birds drop seeds from weed type trees and they are not controlled when young, they are a problem when in the wrong places.

 

Not during a tenancy it isn't. Other way around.

Probably at first instance. I don't really know much about plants so I probably wouldn't pick up on it until later.

But that's my point - why the need to be pedantic about at first instance? I'm sure some normal gardening isn't going to cause any irreversible damage in the time before you can get out there and have a look.

 

One of my tenants is a painter, asked if I could pay for the paint (at his cost price) and he would paint it (no cost).
They asked me for approval on colour, I said go ahead as long as it's neutral.
Good result.

I understand wanting to ensure that the tenants don't go over the top, but the more they make it their home the longer they will stay

 

R U kidding? The property belongs to the owner. The tenant is not allowed to make any changes to the property without owners consent. period!
What is "pedantic" about that?
You sound like a tenants advocate, totally fixated on doing the owner out of their rights.

Some "normal" gardening eh?
Lets get that in writing please. See above comment about owners rights.

A tenant does not have the right to go making changes to a property without the owners consent.

In saying that, that does not mean their proposed changes will not be allowed.
We have allowed tenants many times to make changes, but made sure to our satisfaction and to protect the property from damage etc, and sometimes we paid for these changes as well, much to our tenants delight!

Its about working together, not like you advocate, to screw the owner. Sheesh!

 

One of my first legal jobs was a tenant advocate actually. Then later I worked as a tenancy solicitor and then a casual lecturer at law school teaching residential tenancy law among other things.

And if someone asked me "who's property is it?" out of either a tenant or the landlord, then answer would easily be "the tenant's" during the term of the tenancy.

Did I say anything about not working together? Or screwing over any owners? Did you have an issue with a tenant advocate or something in your past?

All I'm saying is that if a tenant is offering to improve your property, then I wouldn't want my initial response to be seen as pedantic or getting in the way of that.

 

This would be a no brainer, but it may be the exception.

I inspected a property that I was very interested in, agent was complaining about LL not spending money etc, it was a solid home that needed some minor painting and cleaning up on the surface, but when we got inside, the vacating tenant was painting,.....they took down wall paper and no proper prep, and was in process of literally slopping flat ceiling white on everything from floor to ceiling - but not the ceiling.

Straight away I was not interested, as it was now a huge job to rectify, whoever buys it will have paint coming off and looks like crap, I would say 20k off if someone wanted to do the work.

 

For a solicitor/lecturer, I find this a very poor choice of words, and I am by no means an English scholar.

It is not their property, no matter how it is spun, they have a lic/contract to use the property, they can make it their home, that is fair enough.

Let tenants do as they wish at your own peril.

 

I'd probably say sure, go ahead, but with the proviso that they need to advise of any permanent and especially large species of trees and shrubs, and approval needed for any structural changes. (Walls, ponds, gazebo or whatever)

 

What is the set up re water costs for the property? Some gardens ie. vege gardens can be quite water intensive and if you are picking up the water tab you may get a little shock. Modern native garden on the other hand could work out great.

 

Good point, I had one ask if they could put in a vege garden, after that the water seemed to be up by a third & they are supposed to pay, but are now behind !