Neighbour lied they owned the house

It absolutely ISN'T perfectly fine for a rental tenant to agree to scaffolding which will be attached to the property. That is for the owner of the property to agree to (or not) as scaffolding can cause damage.

It is quite weird and I can see why you're a little mystified op. The only reason I can think is I have heard the odd person who felt they were looked down upon by their neighbors for being renters.

Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding and you’ve done a lot of assuming since then?
It’s certainly absolutely fine for her to give permission for scaffolding in her garden, as it’s she that would be inconvenienced (if she’d stayed) not the landlord.

How do you know that?

They may have found their dream property and bought it only recently but didn’t want to say anything until it was all finalised.

They may be having for move for various reasons and didn’t fancy discussing it.

They may actually own the property and didn’t want you knowing because they’ll be renting it out.

They could have bought half of it under a shared housing scheme but then went bankrupt.

You may have misheard her.

There are so many possibilities but I don’t think affects you at all.

I am in rented accommodation and have been for 15+ years (and lived in numerous properties) and not once have I needed to contact the landlord about work a neighbour needed doing.

You either misheard or one of them doesn’t want you knowing the truth.

Just wait until they’ve gone and then speak to the new people moving in.

I had a similar issue with a neighbour many years ago - got their okay to work on a fence etc and just assumed they owned the house.

A few years in all their trees were cut down and the company that did it just let them all fall into my garden without removing the waste. I was understandably annoyed - it was at that point that she told me her landlord had arranged the work and I should contact him.

He made a few digs about me replacing the fence without consulting him and I explained I thought his tenants owned the house and had spoken to them.

not sure why he was annoyed - I paid fully for the new fence and it was higher and more secure.

So just use the registered owner's contact details on the title extract?

Why should she tell you if she rents? It’s not really your business. She rents the land as well as the house so she can give permission, or not, for access and scaffolding as it isn’t going to cause any material damage.

You come across as looking down on renters.

Yeah this ... ^ My friend lives in a rented housing association bungalow and has been there 10 years. The whole road of 32 properties - in a cul de sac - was bought by the council from the building company when the building company went tits up - some way through the build. Then the council added it to their housing stock. (1970s.) So they look very much like private-built homes. (As this is what they were meant to be originally.)

Since then, around 20 of the 32 homes have been bought on right-to-buy, and some sold 3 or 4 times. 12 are housing association now since the council sold them on in the early 1990s.

A big 4 bed detached house was built on a spare plot of land in the 2000s, (2003 I think,) not far from my friend's bungalow. A woman and her husband (in their 50s) moved in in 2022. (It was previously owned by a widow who moved in in 2010 with her husband and son, but she moved when her husband died in 2022. And by a family of 3 before that.

Anyway, the new lady (who moved in - in 2022,) was very friendly and chatty with my friend when she bumped into her, and spoke a few times a month. Then the lady asked my friend if she wanted to buy a piece of land that she couldn't be bothered with any longer. (Half an acre that would have tripled the size of my friend's garden..) Friend said 'oh we'd love to, but we don't own this bungalow, we rent it from a housing association.' The woman's face dropped, and she said 'what...? You RENT?' Friend said 'yes, I believe around a dozen people in this road do.'

The woman looked like and then... Said she is vexed she wasn't informed that she was a stone's throw from social housing when she bought the house!

Also said to my friend that she was shocked she is renting social housing as she would have sworn she was a homeowner. Friend said 'oh why?' The woman said 'you seem to look after the property and garden, and just don't look and seem like someone who rents social housing.' My friend was speechless, as the woman walked off. The woman has hardly spoken to my friend since. Not mixing with those plebby renty people eh? 😆

It is if she plans to put up scaffolding because if any part of it needs to go on next doors’ property she needs the permission of the land owner.

Cheeky I reckon for a tenant to agree on behalf of the owner about possible structural issues. Maybe she checked with the owner and relayed the information after your conversation and they said it was ok?? She probably didn't want you to know. Although, I moved in to my house last year and my next door neighbours told me they rented and when I asked about repairing a wall that belonged to their side, they said that the owner wouldn't even notice so I should just go ahead and repair it which I did. I guess if its something ultimately beneficial to the owner then there wouldn't be an issue.

Land registry.

She’s been given permission, the tenants likely let the landlord know. She can ask. It’s really not a run round your house screaming with excitement issue.

If you read Op's posts - she's about to put scaffolding up on the neighbouring property. She needs owner permission to do that.

Bingo

Omg!

I really can’t see the issue here or why you’re so excited by the fact they rented. So what, she managed every issue and I’m sure anything she felt needed to be dealt with by the landlord she’d have told them. There’s been no issues. And it’s none of your business. It really isn’t.

Land Registry searches are cheap and easy. I always obtain extracts for the properties closest to mine (particularly if it's a semi) if only to check for covenants.

TBH we don’t really advertise we don’t own the house we live in (only have to see the trampoline thread earlier to see how renters are viewed by some people!).
We don’t lie, just avoid the question. When did you buy, oh we moved in around 3 years ago etc.
I suspect neighbour did the same and you have assumed they own it.
To be honest, not sure any verbal permission is worth anything anyway. So not sure exactly what permission you’ve been asking for.