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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think my landlord is an absolute chancer?

51 replies

Nahthatsnoton · 04/08/2021 14:26

Recently left my rental property. I am no gardener but did my best to look after the garden. Obligation under contract to water and mow the lawn which I did.

I did not keep the bushes in the garden exactly to the size they were trimmed when I moved in and there was no reference to the bushes in the contract. I didn't let them become wild and overgrown though, they were just bigger than when I moved in. I cut the grass around them and the garden looked nice.

When the landlord came round they demanded I return the garden to exactly how it was when we moved in and cut the bushes back. I did this. Except now the space where the bushes had grown bigger now had mud rather than grass. Lack of sunlight I guess.

In a garden of around 100sqm the mud probably is in total 6sq metres around two bushes.

Landlord has sent us quote for garden. It is nearly £3,000 for
complete and total re-turfing. I have found grass seed for a tenner!

I am obviously not going to agree to £3,000 as I doubt even Charlie Dimmock herself would charge that but it is also so disproportionate to returf the whole garden for a little bit of mud in two corners. It has enraged me so much that I think I am now going to am refuse to even offer the grass seed as I don't believe I have breached my actual obligations.

AIBU to think my landlord is an absolute chancer?

OP posts:
thanksforyourcommentrandomman · 04/08/2021 14:28

Is your deposit protected?

GnomeyGnome · 04/08/2021 14:30

If the only stipulation in your contract regarding the garden was to water and mow the lawn then you've done all you needed to do. If the LL is that precious about their garden then they should've hired a gardener to tend to it whilst you were in the property. Absolute cheeky fucker and I'd tell them to bugger off! Have you had your deposit returned?

ComDummings · 04/08/2021 14:32

Offer him nothing, cheeky bastard

Shirleyphallus · 04/08/2021 14:32

Do not even engage with this. Tell your landlord you want to enter in to dispute and leave it to the dispute resolution, they’ll side with the tenant and you’ll get your money back

DO NOT offer him some token amount, just tell him no and take the full amount to dispute

He’s an idiot

ComDummings · 04/08/2021 14:34

@Shirleyphallus

Do not even engage with this. Tell your landlord you want to enter in to dispute and leave it to the dispute resolution, they’ll side with the tenant and you’ll get your money back

DO NOT offer him some token amount, just tell him no and take the full amount to dispute

He’s an idiot

This ^^ totally this
girlmom21 · 04/08/2021 14:45

He absolutely is a chancer!

Watchingyou2sleezes · 04/08/2021 14:47

Not a penny

30degreesandmeltinghere · 04/08/2021 14:53

Tell him you have given the grass seed a hhod talking to about the need for it to grow rapidly!!

MeadowLines · 04/08/2021 14:56

I agree with @Shirleyphallus

Queenoftheashes · 04/08/2021 15:05

Yup Shirley has it. what a tool

user1471538283 · 04/08/2021 15:06

He cannot do this and he sounds like the type of landlord I had years ago. You kept it need and free of rubbish.

Let it go to dispute resolution.

TheCrowening · 04/08/2021 15:10

Yeah, exactly what Shirley said.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 04/08/2021 15:11

Agree with everyone else! What a chancer

pansypotter123 · 04/08/2021 15:11

And, actually, bushes/shrubs do grow. The man's a fool!

raspberrymuffin · 04/08/2021 15:20

My last landlord was like this, totally unable to understand that plants grow and that this is generally accepted to be a good thing. Absolutely thick as mince. Fortunately I rented though an agency who actually understood the law.

I'd suggest you go via the deposit protection scheme and propose the cost of some grass seed instead. They cannot claim for betterment or for fair wear and tear and they are absolutely chancing it.

OneTooManyMornings · 04/08/2021 15:21

Definitely a chancer!

When I moved out of a rental property after over 10 years the landlord tried to take £600 from my deposit to put the garden back to its "original state" even though the company who did the check-out wrote on their forms that it was in the same condition as at the start of my tenancy.

I had to go through the TDS to get my deposit back.

Oh, and if your landlord or letting agent try to tell you not to bother disputing because they've spoken to the TDS and they agree with the charges don't listen to them. Mine tried that. They were definitely lying. (My deposit was returned in full.) I reported my letting agent's lies, with the email evidence to the TDS.

Don't let your landlord bully you and lie to you.

chesirecat99 · 04/08/2021 15:24

Returfing the entire garden if the rest of the lawn is in the same condition as it was when you moved in would be betterment so the landlord can't charge you for that. The mud under the shrubs is more complicated. You would have been in a better position if you hadn't trimmed them. You need to show that they were well maintained and trimming them back at the landlord's request was a matter of his preference rather than general garden maintenance that would be expected.

Trimming hedges and shrubs is usually the tenant's responsibility as it falls under general garden maintenance, like mowing the lawn and weeding, whether it is specified or not. The exception is if they require specialist maintenance by someone who is skilled and qualified eg topiary, they are very tall so you would need to use a ladder, or use a chainsaw.

Plants are expected to grow though. If it was a hedge, it would be normal to trim them back and keep them the same size so they don't encroach on the garden. If they were shrubs in a flower bed or in the middle of the lawn, that is more subjective. How would you know that he wanted them to be kept a specific size? As long as they were neat, that is fine. Where were they? Do you have any photos of them before they were trimmed?

I would raise a dispute but you need to be very clear that you did maintain the shrubs but the landlord requested you cut them back further before you left as he wanted them to be smaller, which left the ground underneath bare. Emphasise that the shrubs were not overgrown.

ChainJane · 04/08/2021 15:25

He's an idiot. Bushes grow. Taking care of the garden does not mean keeping it exactly the same from beginning to end of tenancy.

It's like with carpets and curtains. You have to take care of them but cannot be required to leave them in exactly the same state you found them in because fair wear and tear is a thing.

chesirecat99 · 04/08/2021 15:26

The most you should have to pay for is turfing the bare patch but it could go either way in a dispute. They may decide that you should have kept the bushes trimmed further so it is your fault. You certainly shouldn't have to pay for the rest to be turfed though. CF...

Whyemseeaye · 04/08/2021 15:27

Take it to the TDS. They will laugh in his face!

EvenRosesHaveThorns · 04/08/2021 15:29

No way. Make sure your deposit is protected by contacting the 3 companies. In this day and age landlords still do not do this (as I found out personally), threatened them with court and got twice the amount back (which was kind as we would have got more in court due to their ridiculous demands and behaviour)

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/08/2021 15:32

He’s a CF trying it on, and I say that as a LL myself.
Ignore. That is, unless he’s failed to register your deposit with an officially recognised scheme, in which case I’d take him to the cleaners - IIRC he’d have to pay you 3 months’ rent, and serve the bugger right.

IntermittentParps · 04/08/2021 16:11

Just ignore. Don't even tell him you want to enter into dispute; why do his thinking for him?

Shirleyphallus · 04/08/2021 16:13

@IntermittentParps

Just ignore. Don't even tell him you want to enter into dispute; why do his thinking for him?
You have to do this if your deposit is protected and he’s laying claim to it
IntermittentParps · 04/08/2021 16:21

Ah, I see. Although we don't know that it is.