To ask my landlord to consider..

[BillyButtfuck]

Paying for / towards making our garden more useable?

We have a large garden which is split into two, half gravel and half 'grass' (there is no actual grass it is all weeds). It was like this when we moved in and documented on the inventory. There's no border between the two so half of the 'grass' is very shingley which makes it a nightmare with the lawnmower.
Also a lot of cats come into the garden and shit on the gravel
It was like this when we moved in so I completely understand that we were happy to take the property on and can't demand changes, but we would like to ask him to consider a change but I don't want to ask if it would be construed as rude or asky.
Our children will be walking by summer and it's not very suitable for them as it is.

We want to propose taking all the gravel up and having it removed and turning over the 'grass' and earth underneath the gravel and then turfing it all so we just have a grass lawn and no gravel.
There is no side access as we are link detached and the way the borders and fences are means there's no way of getting to the back other than through the house.

We would offer to do all of the work ourselves if he would consider paying for the gravel to be collected/disposed of, the hire of a roller and the turf.

WIBU to ask? We've been there just over a year and our tenancy period is until December 17, when we hope to renew.

I don't think it wbu to ask. It would be in his interests to only pay for materials and get free labour. But he may well say no or he may then turf you out and get more money for a property in better condition.

Dowhatnow ooo hadn't thought about it increasing the property value! I guess at the end of or contract period he could increase the rent again.
I'm hoping if we do ask that offering to do the labour will encourage him.

You can ask if you can do it and ask if he will contribute but he doesn't have to.

If he says yes do it but he won't pay then then it's up to you if you can afford it and want to do it.

if i was your landlord (and i am a landlord) i would say that you could do it but that i didnt want to contribute to the cost. You agreed to rent the property and you saw what it was like. Unless I had been planning to get this done anyway and then i might agree.

No danger in asking though. it should be put in writing surely, otherwise the inventory will be incorrect

The only time I've ever asked for improvements has been when an item needs replacing anyway but I want better than what he wants to put, example being our old house the kitchen lino was shot to bits I wanted tiles he wanted Lino as it was cheaper I made him an offer that he pays me for the supplies (family member staff discount so cheaper) and my family member who was a tiler would lay it all free of charge so he got a much better hard wearing floor for pretty much the same price as the lino and didn't have to get it people to do it.

We are currently doing our back garden (was a dump when we moved in) we will be taking all the improvements with us when we leave (Astro turf (grass won't grow as it doesn't drain), put his old 5ft fence back taking our 6ft one with us and will remove our decking) as this landlord is not so nice or understanding.

I am also a landlord and would consider a request like this. However, I would only do it if I thought it would add to the value of the property and be of benefit to more than just the current tenants. Unlike dreaming however, if I agreed, I would also pay for a proper contractor to do it. Otherwise, letting tenants undertake works like this risks ending up with a bodge job which has to be redone properly when the current tenants leave otherwise it actually devalues the property.

I can't see any of the landlords I've had being willing to pay, as you accepted the property as it was. They should be consulted to gain their consent to change the look of the garden, but don't expect them to pay for anything.

You can ask, if it increases the value of the property he might say yes.

We did something similar when we were renting (in another country) but it was agreed from the beginning of the tenancy.

Thanks all. I completely understand he doesn't have to even consider it but just wanted to see if it was worth asking!

Yes definitely worth asking. I work in a letting someone office sometimes and recently a landlord paid for shower upgrade if tenant paid electrician, another allowed tenant to put down laminate flooring but wouldn't pay for it, so you will never know unless you ask.

Is he a good landlord in general? Are repairs done quickly etc?
I've gone above and beyond at times for my tenants. Eg replaced with more modern fixtures when a repair would have been more than adequate. Your situation is something I would consider as it would be in my interests to improve the house at minimum cost but then I'd have sorted out the garden before you moved in

Our Landlord paid for a deck OP...so the LL might agree. What we did was offer to do the work if he paid for the materials. We were there for years so it was worth it to us.

I'm a landlord and it would depend on my relationship with my tenant. But in theory yes, I'd contribute to materials to do the work as long as the tenant and I worked together to decide how the garden was to be done. If they wanted to do the work, and I trusted them, I'd be over the moon.

He's been great so far. He used to live there and the house has been in his family for a long time so is always very keen on putting things right.
The previous tenants pulled up half of the lawn without telling him and put the gravel in for their dog apparently (who they had without permission and used to lock in the garage ).
They eventually ended their tenancy early which he agreed to on the basis they found new tenants quickly so there wasn't a vacant period long enough to sort the garden out.

This photo was from when we moved in, we've jet washed the decking, got rid of the dumped BBQ gas cylinder and we keep on top of the 'grass' by mowing and strimming but it just looks messy.
The red line is where the 'grass' comes too but is partly covered over by the gravel which has killed some of it off.

I'm a landlord and I would tell you that you are welcome to do as you please (and yes - I would also be delighted to have you renew, as you clearly care about maintaining the property nicely) but I would not contribute anything, as the care of the garden is set out in your lease as one of your responsibilities.

Icanteven thank you for your input - I really appreciate hearing landlords thoughts!
Would you find it cheeky or rude of your tenants if they asked you to contribute?
We get on great and I just don't want to make him feel awkward or uncomfortable.

billy - i can't imagine any landlord (or at least one thats done it for a couple of years) is going to be upset about you asking. Bad tenants are ones that damage the place, and don't pay rent. Asking about improving a place, even if it involves some cost is neither here nor there

Im a landlord and id snap your hand off (and pay for the turf)

I definitely wouldn't find it cheeky or rude to be asked to contribute. If - big if - I was feeling flush at the time I might put a little money towards it - £100 tops.

There's no harm in asking, the worst they could say is no, possibly think about suggesting you go halves as you want to be there as long as you can.