Shed dispute

[runnerblade95]

Sorry if this is a long thread, bear with me! I’m a permanent council tenant who has recently moved into a new flat. Our communal garden is fenced off with 6 sheds facing our block which has 6 flats in it.

A tenant from another block, also fenced in on their side, is using my shed and has been using my shed for months maybe even years before I moved in. I called the council and someone from the neighbourhood team told me that they do not get involved in disputes regarding sheds and that basically it’s nothing to do with them.

They asked me are the sheds visible from where you are. I said yes and that I can see them from my window and that there are 6, presumably, for the 6 tenants that live in my block. The advisor then replied well then to me that sounds like 1 of the 6 is your shed. I advise you to put a note on the shed door stating that you’ve just moved in and that this is your shed and to give enough notice for them to move their items into their own shed. Which should be situated in their fenced off communal premises.

I followed the advisor’s advice and did this with the note on the shed, only to be met with confrontation and aggression. I did exactly what the council told me to do, to no avail.

What the other tenant did let slip is that he used to be very good friends with the previous tenant of my flat and that when they moved out, that they gave him the keys

Surely, that is not allowed?

So my question is, AIBU to be upset by this and if so, does anyone have any advice as to how I should approach this matter?

Thank you everyone, I’m going to find my tenancy agreement and have a thorough read through it.

With regards to the previous tenant giving his friend across the street the keys, how would he have been able to do this if the shed didn’t belong to him or the council didn’t provide him with keys when he first moved in.

I’m almost positive that the shed actually is mine, because if it isn’t then surely the other 5 sheds also don’t belong to the tenants that occupy this building?

This is causing me quite a bit of stress so I’m going to log off for now but have taken screenshots of the advice given and will be acting on it first thing on Monday morning

Trying to post part of my tenancy agreement that shows that I should have been given she keys but wasn't but it won't let me post because I am a new user. I will try again in a few days.

Tell them it’s your shed so they need to move their stuff, give them a day to move it all then change the lock.

@SartresSoul

Tell them it’s your shed so they need to move their stuff, give them a day to move it all then change the lock.

You’ve no idea how tempted I am to do this but I need to find out for sure if I even have any rights to do so. It appears that the landlord didn’t give me the shed keys because there were none to give, because the previous tenant kept them and gave them to his friend.

That’s fairly clear then-you go back to your landlord and ask for the keys and she’d that are part of your lease.
Tell them someone is occupying part of the property you rent and you would like them to deal with it.

@MrsElijahMikaelson1

That’s fairly clear then-you go back to your landlord and ask for the keys and she’d that are part of your lease. Tell them someone is occupying part of the property you rent and you would like them to deal with it.

It won’t let me post the photo I’ve taken but it basically has boxes that are ticked to show which keys were given. One of the boxes is shed key. Which is not ticked. Because I wasn’t given keys for the shed. Then underneath it says exactly this:

There may be a further set of keys to collect from the Rehousing Team. Although you can change and increase the number of locks to your home, YOU MUST return all entry keys and entrycom keys when your tenancy comes to an end.

So basically, it doesn’t state verbatim that you MUST return the SHED keys.

This is where my problem lies.

Because if that’s the case, does that mean that when vacating the premises, that you can KEEP the shed keys and therefore, essentially either give them to someone else on the estate which is what has happened, or worse yet, keep them for yourself and continue using the shed that was given to you by the council, in your new property however many miles away?

Something doesn’t look right about this and I’m going to get to the bottom of it on Monday.

Tell them you will be using the shed now, give them a few days to move the items out and change the locks.

@runnerblade95 as has been repeatedly pointed out to you this is not a problem it is not an issue, change the locks.

I’m almost positive that the shed actually is mine,

Why? Everything points to the opposite conclusion.

Let the friend keep the shed...but deny them access to your garden and get those who share the garden with you to agree to that.

None of you should want people who don't live in the block accessing your communal garden.

Tell them they can remove the shed as you will be using your space in your communal garden to put your own shed up. (Call their bluff).

The shed itself is a bit of red herring, think about WHERE the shed is.

That's part of the solution I suspect.

@rocksonrocks

Yes, the person who is using the shed does have to enter my communal garden through the gate to access the shed.

How is it a communal garden if it’s “yours”?

It's quite obvious what OP means

I would proceed as @namejustforthis suggests, there is a procedure to follow and you are more likely to get the result you want if you follow protocol.

Challenging the shed-hogging person and changing locks is likely to be taken badly and will escalate the aggression. If they were a reasonable person they wouldn't have continued to appropriate the shed when the friend tenant moved out! Don't engage with them over this if you can avoid it.

At least you can see there is a reasonable expectation of using a shed since the shed keys are mentioned on the form, so it seems unlikely the council will say you aren't entitled to the use of one.

Good luck with this today! Sounds like you're absolutely in the right. No one at will want to be bothered sorting it though so you'll have to be a real nuisance if you want you want to help. Or put up a note. Give 2 weeks notice AND add that access to this area is limited to residents in the 6 flats.

One other way of tackling this is to check your tenancy agreement to see who can have copies of your keys and also access your communal garden.

I suspect that if your garden is communal it is restricted to the flats in your block and cheeky neighbour has no rights to the keys or to access it.

Looking forward to the update; good luck OP!

Is the section on keys the only point in the whole tenancy that the shed is mentioned @runnerblade95? Seems strange if it is. If it's mentioned elsewhere don't worry about the keys. You are looking for a problem in thr wording that isn't there.

The property includes a shed if the tenancy refers to a shed. The tenancy does not so the chances are there is no right to the shed in my view. However as the housing officer on the thread said the council should have records about sheds so see if you can persuade them to double check the position.

If the shed is mentioned nowhere (other than to say shed keys are NOT being handed back) and there is no drawing with a shed on it setting out what the tenancy is for then you do not get the shed in my view.

Report her to the council for being aggressive then if that carries on the council can kick her out of the flat.

Sorry for late update! Long story short, spoke to the relevant person who deals with these situations. Told him the entire situation including the previous tenant handing over the keys. He said that’s not allowed but that when he called the other tenant, that he flat out denied being given the keys. This annoyed me deeply. It has been referred over to an officer who is equipped to deal with these issues and is coming out to have a look at the sheds, see where they are situated and determine whether or not that is in fact my shed. He also stated that the fact that the shed is mentioned where it says about which keys the tenant has been given upon moving in, is an indication to the fact that I should have been given keys but wasn’t. Presumably due to the fact that they were not returned upon the previous tenant vacating this property.

Sorry for the rushed update, just doing the evening run with my little one.

Here is the document that I could not post previously:

So as you can see, shed keys is a box that is on the list. Although unticked, I would assume this means that I was supposed to be supplied with shed keys.

Also, my neighbour who had a similar problem when moving in, says that the council told him that the 6 sheds are for the 6 tenants in my block.

So I can only cross my fingers at this point.

It's crap. We've just moved into council accommodation, there are no sheds but a whole load of garages which are rented out to all and sundry, you don't even have to live here to rent one. There isn't even a waiting list I can go on. I just have to keep checking the website and then apply, but they never come up. I feel your pain.

If the shed stealer has totally denied having the keys then it can't be his stuff in the shed. Must have been left by the old tenant and so needs chucking. Just saying ...

(But best wait for the housing officer to decide.)

@runnerblade95

Sorry for late update! Long story short, spoke to the relevant person who deals with these situations. Told him the entire situation including the previous tenant handing over the keys. He said that’s not allowed but that when he called the other tenant, that he flat out denied being given the keys. This annoyed me deeply. It has been referred over to an officer who is equipped to deal with these issues and is coming out to have a look at the sheds, see where they are situated and determine whether or not that is in fact my shed. He also stated that the fact that the shed is mentioned where it says about which keys the tenant has been given upon moving in, is an indication to the fact that I should have been given keys but wasn’t. Presumably due to the fact that they were not returned upon the previous tenant vacating this property.

Sorry for the rushed update, just doing the evening run with my little one.

If the next door block tenant doesn’t have the keys , and the previous tenant hasn’t returned them then it only seems right and fair that the lock is replaced and any shed contents - which must obviously belong to the previous tenant since no one else has the keys* - disposed of just as any items left littering the flat would have been disposed of after a reasonable time. Then , since it is an empty shed and you as a tenant need it the new lock keys should be given to you.

• hmmm!!! Hard glance at next door block tenant.

@FatCatThinCat

If the shed stealer has totally denied having the keys then it can't be his stuff in the shed. Must have been left by the old tenant and so needs chucking. Just saying ...

(But best wait for the housing officer to decide.)

No no, I am actually inclined to believe that the items in the shed are actually for the family (his relatives) who are now living in the flat who has my keys (sorry, this is confusing).

Basically, the guy who said that the previous tenants of my flat gave him the keys upon them vacating the property, has another family living in his property now (presumably relatives). So yes, I am inclined to agree that it probably isn’t his stuff in the shed and that the stuff in the shed actually belongs to the relatives that are living in his flat.