AIBU about this.

[Yousicktwistedfruit]

When my DH and I moved in to our flat 6 months ago we told by the landlord that the garden wasn’t shared we could have the run of it because the people upstairs didn’t use it. We live in a house that has been converted in to 2 flats we are in the ground floor flat and have a back door which is the only access to the garden other than the back gate. There are now new people upstairs they said the other day that new back gates where being put on which is fine by me because it means that my 2 dogs will be able to be left in the garden without the risk of them getting out we went out there today and the people upstairs have put a table and chairs in the garden. As far as I’m aware that garden is only for me and my husband no one has told us any different. I will be putting a lock on the new gate when they are installed because I don’t want my dogs being let out of the garden by anyone we live on a main road. Where do I stand on this I haven’t said anything to the upstairs neighbours. Should I just go back to the landlord and ask if it’s now a shared garden. I don’t feel comfortable doing the garden up and putting our own stuff out there if the people upstairs are going to use the garden as well.

@crustycrab the landlord is putting on the new gates that has nothing to do with the upstairs neighbours. Just because it’s shared garden doesn’t mean that I have to share my table and chairs and my bbq. We have lived here since November and in that time the dogs have had full use of the garden sorry but shared or not I’m not going to stop my dogs from using the garden just because the people upstairs want to use it. My plans to improve the garden where to get rid of all the nettles, mow the lawn, but in plants and level the garden so that it’s all flat at the minute the upstairs neighbours are using it while it’s a mess because I haven’t been able to get out there and do anything to it but now that the weather has picked up I wanted to get it all sorted out.

@afterschool garden can be cleaned up perfectly fine. My God! Do you not sit in your garden? Do you not get any wildlife? Jesus 🙈

Thank you @LST I do clean up the garden.

@AfterSchoolWorry they knew when they moved in here that we had 2 dogs and they use the garden it’s got nothing to do with me if they choose to sit in a “dog toilet” prey tell me where you think the dogs should go to the toilet should I train them to use our toilet.

Ah ok, you said that they said the gates were being put on.

"There are now new people upstairs they said the other day that new back gates where being put on"

The weather has been glorious since March, can't believe you're all sitting in an overgrown mess with dogs roaming around and doing their business. And cooking food out there?

Sorry but I think you all need to sort yourselves out and work together

@CuppaZa I’m happy to share the garden with them because it looks like it is a shared garden.

@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername I don’t know about the shed that was already there when we moved in and the previous tenants still had all of their stuff in the shed.

@crustycrab sorry I should’ve said they knocked on the door the other day to tell us that the landlord is having new gates delivered but due to the virus they won’t be getting fitted yet. I haven’t done anything with the garden as of yet because my husband got furloughed so we’ve not had the money to sort the garden out the way I wanted to so I’m just going to do what I can with it and hopefully next year I will be able to do what I originally wanted to do.

I think it sounds like a shared garden, sorry op. If you have a door that leads into it and the people upstairs have a separate entrance would it be possible to split it into two? Maybe ask your LL if you could fence it off so your dogs can be safe and you both could have some privacy.
I used to live in a upstairs flat where we had most of the back garden, about a third was fenced off for the ground floor flat at the back and the front flat had the front. Worked well for us all😊

Fair enough. I'd hate that though. Mowing the lawn and weeding costs nothing.

It sounds like the neighbours have been proactive with regards to contacting the landlord re: broken gates. That's how they know about it possibly?

They sound decent and rather than assuming they'll use your things and let you do all the hard work why not start as you mean to go on and demonstrate that you do care about the outside space?

I don’t understand haha you would sign a tenancy agreement on the basis that the LL ‘told’ you that the first floor tenants don’t use the garden. You need to have that in writing.

*how not haha

@Izzabellasasperella that’s a brilliant idea I will speak to the landlord and the upstairs neighbours about splitting the garden in half between us it’s a very long garden so could easily be split in half.

@crustycrab thank you I will do that. I had plans to borrow the stuff off my dad to do up the garden but then the lockdown happened so I’m having to slowly buy the stuff that we need for the garden but it will get sorted.

So you're not going to get rid of the nettles and cut the grass because it's shared now? That's a bit wide of you.
I'm in a 4 in a block flat (only 3 are occupied) and we have a shared garden. When we moved in, the garden was overgrown and weeds had taken over all the slabs etc. My mum came over and helped me do all the weeding, and we bored a lawnmower and strimmer for my partner to cut the grass.
Since then, the guy up the stairs has demolished an old shed that was taking up space, and tidied up and redug a flower bed that was all weeds, and the boy across the hall is currently making a new flower bed and tidying up the bushes etc. He has a barbecue, we're all welcome to use it whenever we want, and we share garden tools etc. We all plant what we want wherever.
But to this day. I am still the only person in this building that cuts the grass...by your thinking, should I just leave it as no one else does?

I completely understand you want to keep your dogs safe, but if you’re putting a lock in the gate then you should give upstairs tenants a set of keys

@Meggie2008 where have I said that I’m not going to do it because it’s a shared garden. I’m still doing it up all I said that if it’s a shared garden I’m not putting in all that effort to sort out the garden if they are just going to use it and not help with it as well and it’s great that you share stuff with your neighbours that’s you though not me I’m entitled to keep my own stuff for just myself I don’t have to share anything other than a garden shared garden doesn’t automatically mean shared stuff.

@SlimBig I will give them a set of keys and putting a notice on the gate telling them to be carful when opening the gate because of the dogs I wouldn’t worry so much if there was a gate across the driveway but there isn’t it’s open so they will just run straight on to the road.

to keep the garden fully stocked and maintained and in a neat and tidy condition and to keep boundary fences of the property in a good and tenantable state of repair at all time.

I wouldn't mind betting that their agreement says the same thing @Yousicktwistedfruit?

If it does then you need to accept that they have as much right to use the garden as you have. Why do you think they won't maintain it or that they will use your stuff?

Would def recommend splitting the garden if you're able to. You might find your neighbours prefer that too so that your dog's don't mess in 'their' part of it.

Have your neighbours said that they don't want to maintain the garden, is that why you think they won't?

I’m sure it does say the same thing and I’m sure they will maintain the garden just like we will to but I don’t know them so I don’t know all I know is what I want to do to the garden but I think splitting it would be a much better idea because what I want to do to the garden may not be what they want to do with it.

Does the landlord own both flats OP?

It is a bummer to think you have sole use and find out you don't - I can see how you'd make the assumption if you didn't know what to look out for.

There's no harm in asking if the landlord will split the use, if they DO own the whole property, but I'd be careful about pushing it, as there might not be too many flats around that accept dogs.

Sorry that this is crap for you 🙁🙁

It sounds like they want to be friendly and sort the garden out at the same time, they were polite to tell you about the new gate and must've contacted the landlord to address it. Something you haven't since moving in in November. Also haven't mown the lawn, it must be a state by now.

Flip it on its head, they probably think you don't give a shit about the garden. I know I would

@EinsteinaGogo yes he owns both flats. Exactly just a bit pants finding out that we no longer have sole use of the garden but it’s fine I don’t mind sharing I’ve had a shared garden in another flat that I lived in but I knew from the get go that it was shared. Exactly I will ask but I don’t like to push things with the landlord because the last thing I want is to be thrown out it’s really not easy finding somewhere that accepts dogs.

@crustycrab I think they do want to be friendly but I’ve never spoken to them only my husband has so they may think that only my husband lives here because they have never seen me. I haven’t because I didn’t realise how bad it was and I wasn’t sure who’s job it was to sort it out we where going to replace it ourselves but didn’t get chance to. The garden hasn’t been touched in a long time the last people who lived here where a couple and their animals and a young lad upstairs before that there was a lady in our flat who had been here 10 years so it probably hasn’t been touched by anyone since she left and the landlord is the type that only carers about getting his rent money and that’s it he doesn’t give a monkeys about the garden or the gate until the people upstairs asked for a new gate.

It does sound like it's shared but the previous tenant chose not to use it.

Speak with the landlord and see what he says. Explain you thought it was yours.

I'm sure you can all work out a plan that suits you all.

Thank you @Lipz I think your right it’s shared and the last tenant just wasn’t interested in using it and I think he said we had the run of it because he knew that and obviously didn’t expect him to move out. I will speak to all of them and see what we can come up with for the garden.

Gawd I don't envy them. You seem quite aggressive in how you feel the garden should be. It's not your garden/shed and if you want one all for you then go buy your own house.
I certainly wouldn't want to share a garden with someone who's been using it as a dog run and dog toilet. Disgusting.
Just because you had the sole use of it since November certainly doesn't make it 'yours'.

You are being really weirdly negative about this. The new people might be delighted to work on it too and help keep it maintained so you can share a nice space. Why are you assuming they won't and getting all territorial about it?