Neighbour's front garden

[Jessix123]

Our house is on the market but has only had one physical viewing in 4 weeks. The neighbours on one side are lovely but they rent out their ground floor flat and the front garden is full of rubbish and junk which is putting people off even wanting to view. Should we offer to clear up their front garden in order to help our situation or would this be insulting?

Is at actual junk as in rubbish they don't want it need or junk in the clearance / hoarding sense?

Yes, I would speak to them about this. I would be very put off a property if next door was a tip. They don't sound very 'lovely' if they've allowed their tenants to create such an eyesore and potential health hazard.

You are in the best position to judge that situation.
There are many reasons that people allow their gardens to become strewn with rubbish, MH problems, marital issues, chaotic lifestyles, elderly or physcally challenged.
Or those that don't give a shit.

How well do you know the neighbours?
If you feel they are in need of help then you could coat the offer in a non- judgemental way " We have excess room in our skip/van to the dump, shall I take a few things with me next time I go."

If you think your neighbours may be a ittle hostile then I would contact the landlord or agent- they can put pressure on the tenants to clean up their act.

If you know the landlords and say they are lovely I would go straight to them and ask them to have a word with their tenants. Landlord- tenants relationships allow for this kind of conversation whereas it's more likely to cause tension between neighbours. I am a big shitebag though and avoid confrontation at all costs so if you feel you know why there garden is a mess and it is easily fixable then you could broach the subject with them? And if they are mad hopefully you won't be their neighbours for too much longer anyway 🙂

I would. There's no way I would buy or even rent a place next to a house wink junk around it. Even if it was another house on the street.

Try the environmental health department of the council, if it's bad enough they will force them to clean it up

You could start a protracted and polite dialogue with the landlord about requesting the tenant to clear it up...
Or you could just go straight to the landlord with a plan and offer to pay for this to be done in a more ‘fait accompli’ manner.
I expect the landlord would agree as it’s of benefit to them and in the grand scheme of things any cost would be relatively insignificant to a house move.

I feel for you. My NDN have an old bathroom suite in the front garden which has been there for 6 months, they have never mowed the lawn in the two years they have been there, the back garden is wall to wall with dog poo, plus an old mattress and hundreds of fag ends.
It is a rental property, I have spoken to the letting agents, but "due to covid" they cant do visits ! I will be phoning the enviromental agency as soon as its starts geting warmer and the poo starts to stink and attract flies.
My home may be up for sale in the near future and this is on mind mind.

sorry for typos

@thereisonlyoneofme

I feel for you. My NDN have an old bathroom suite in the front garden which has been there for 6 months, they have never mowed the lawn in the two years they have been there, the back garden is wall to wall with dog poo, plus an old mattress and hundreds of fag ends. It is a rental property, I have spoken to the letting agents, but "due to covid" they cant do visits ! I will be phoning the enviromental agency as soon as its starts geting warmer and the poo starts to stink and attract flies. My home may be up for sale in the near future and this is on mind mind.

I wouldn't wait until it starts to get warmer, it could take weeks/months for them to act. Get into it ASAP!

@thereisonlyoneofme

I feel for you. My NDN have an old bathroom suite in the front garden which has been there for 6 months, they have never mowed the lawn in the two years they have been there, the back garden is wall to wall with dog poo, plus an old mattress and hundreds of fag ends. It is a rental property, I have spoken to the letting agents, but "due to covid" they cant do visits ! I will be phoning the enviromental agency as soon as its starts geting warmer and the poo starts to stink and attract flies. My home may be up for sale in the near future and this is on mind mind.

Oh God, that is disgusting - what makes a person think they can treat someone else's house that way. I rent, we've had to do live video inspections once a quarter via the agent, I wonder if their LL knows there has been no inspections

I don't think you can offer to tidy it up, but you can have a polite word with the owners about it as you sound like you're on good enough terms. There should be some clause in the contract they can use to get the tenants to tidy it up? I bet they don't like looking at it either!

Otherwise, I suspect neither you nor the owners can enter the garden as the tenants have the legal right to 'quiet enjoyment of their home'.

I am most definitely not a legal expert, as you can probably tell.

If you know the landlords and say they are lovely I would go straight to them and ask them to have a word with their tenants. Landlord- tenants relationships allow for this kind of conversation whereas it's more likely to cause tension between neighbours

As a tenant I would much rather you talked to me first. I've had a neighbour go straight to the landlord and I didn't like it. It feels like an escalation.

You shouldn’t have to but I definitely would. I remember house hunting myself and being really put off by neighbouring houses on more than one occasion.

Thanks so much everyone. Great advice and the overall consensus is that it is acceptable to approach them about it. Have now emailed the landlord as the tenants don't answer. Landlord must know anyway as he lives a couple of doors down. Awaiting a response

If you've only had one physical viewing, it's unlikely buyers are being put off solely by the neighbours garden.

Yes, have a word, but also look at the listing and make sure it's flattering and accurate.

Sorry op, it would put me off straight away. I definitely wouldn't consider viewing a house where next doors garden was full of junk. Even if everything else about the house ticked the right boxes. I hope you get somewhere with the landlord

Tell (don't ask) the landlord to get it sorted. If they don't resolve it within a few weeks, contact the council. They can order them to tidy it up.

@StrawberrySquash

If you know the landlords and say they are lovely I would go straight to them and ask them to have a word with their tenants. Landlord- tenants relationships allow for this kind of conversation whereas it's more likely to cause tension between neighbours

As a tenant I would much rather you talked to me first. I've had a neighbour go straight to the landlord and I didn't like it. It feels like an escalation.

I totally appreciate this and it is a fair point, however i think that would depend on the issue and what the people are like. Something like the OP is describing sounds like the tenants would know they shouldnt be using their front garden as a dumping ground and I guess based on this i assumed you are unlikely to get a the resolution you are looking for. And as i said in my post i can be a bit of a wuss. However interesting to think about it from a different angle.

I clearly up the rotten pumpkins and rubbish outside my neighbour's flat when we were selling. No way would anybody have bought it looking like that. Plus there was a risk of attracting rats. I'd just phone the landlord and then get on and do it.