To expect a landlord to have told us this before signing lease?

[Lexi334]

Moved into a rental a couple of months ago. Let through a large local letting agent.
We viewed the property with the agent, submitted our application then the landlord requested to meet us herself so we came for a second viewing at the property with the landlord. We were here for an hour while she showed us a round and generally chatted about the property.
We got the keys a couple of weeks later and came into the property to find a “handbook” with all kinds of requests to do with the house:

• which garden plans should be watered on which days, and when each particular plant should be pruned


• under what circumstances we can/can’t use the outdoor access to our back garden (mid terrace) - allowed to walk round the side once per week to take bin out and once to take bin back. No other access for any reason!


• boiler pressure needs to be topped up every 5/6 days - it’s in the attic 🙄

Pretty annoying and odd but it is what it is.

I arrived home from work a couple of weeks ago to find a Gardner in cutting the grass in the back garden. When I asked him what he was doing there he said the landlord asked him to continue doing the front and back gardens - grass cut, borders tidied and weeded, pots maintained - at a cost of £40 per fortnight “to be paid in cash or by bank transfer by tenant” is what she’s emailed him.

Not long after I’ve had a window cleaner put a note through the door saying the windows were cleaned and we now owe 2 payments. It’s £12 per fortnight. Again, contacted them and the landlord has requested it. Again, to be paid by the tenant.

Ive spoken to the letting agent who contacted her (this process takes about 10 days to get a reply back 🙄) and she says this is regarded as “general upkeep” that we need to do on the property and she prefers it done to her standard by a “trusted professional”. So on top of the rent that I’m paying (which is already very high for the area), she expects over £100 a month to be paid in “general upkeep” too.

Surely this should have been disclosed before entering into a lease? Obviously I planned on maintaining the windows/garden etc but surely it should be my choice as to whether I do that myself or pay someone else to do it?

She doesn’t, or at least the OP doesn’t say that: she says outdoor access to the back garden. It could just as easily be a rear lane with gates into each garden, as it is in my terrace. No access to neighbours’ gardens required. Not sure why everyone’s jumping to the conclusion it’s through a neighbour’s garden when the more likely explanation is “the landlord is mental, see other clauses”.

If its not in your contract then you don't have to follow her silly rules and pay people you never engaged to carry out work.

What a CF the owner is. PS Make sure the boiler has been check and its pressure sorted. An unsafe boiler can kill.

If it involves walking through a neighbours garden then it is likely a covenant and the OP cannot use it without agreement of the neighbour.

I would be concerned about being asked to go into the attic for anything. Unless it's got easy and safe access (Which legally it should have I think with a rail around the entrance hole for the gas man)

Have you got a copy of the gas safety certificate? Does it mention needing topping up regularly?

She doesn't sound like she knows what she's doing at all. Well done for pushing back OP.

Except she says that she understands why the neighbour wouldn't want people traipsing through his garden all the time and using it as their usual access route.

Not sure why everyone’s jumping to the conclusion it’s through a neighbour’s garden

Nobody’s jumping to any conclusions. OP literally said Obviously if you happen to live in the end terrace then I doubt you want next door deciding to use their back door as their main entrance and traipsing through your garden multiple times per day.

Even if it is, they're not obliged.

I don't believe for a second that boiler meets safety standards. If my tenants reported that I'd have someone out to it the same day!

Don't pay the extra crap, you didn't employ them! I pay a window cleaner for my rental.

Use the garden as much as you like, it's your home.

What does your contract say?

That's irrelevant to all except external access to the garden.

I only get my windows cleaned every eight weeks [misses point of thread]

If it's not in your tenancy agreement she can whistle for it, the CF.

So you can't use your garden?

All illegal. The boiler is not fit for purpose. End of.

Also if she doesn't want her plants to die she needs to take them away and water them herself.

Yes she can. But by leaving her house via the back door, not via the neighbour’s garden. Considering how territorial MN is I’m surprised at how many pp seem to think this is OK.

This. I was the new neighbour who moved in with an easement through next doors garden. They swore blind the previous owners of my house had never used the access which may or may not have been true. I smiled, nodded and said how nice but I would using the access as and when I wanted to. From their point of view it isn't that bad as I only want to carry my rubbish round each week rather than through my house. I have no interest in them or desire to look at them through their windows so apart from the occasional hello if our paths cross it works well.

I’m a landlord and I’m aghast at the woman’s chutzpah. I haven’t RTWT so I’m sure everyone else has said this but to add on a gardening charge in excess of £100 per month which is not in the contract is outrageous and illegal. As well as all the other silly rules. You have no obligation whatsoever to do that, I’m sure she’s had previous tenants leave the garden looking like a jungle in departure ( I have) but she can’t start demanding that you pay for a gardener. And the boiler probably is on its last legs, I hope you have seen a recent gas safety certificate.

Wow! Interested to hear the LL's response. They sound like a nightmare!

I should add that the easement I have through the NDNs garden means I can use the access anytime day or night, there are no covenants in place. I wouldn't use it at night as wouldn't like it myself so why do to someone else.

Wow
Aside from if you are using NDN garden to access your back garden instead of going through house (which may be covered by a covenant) then the rest is batshit. Glad others have given you good advice.
M window cleaner and gardener are interfering with your peaceful enjoyment of property and at cost to LL unless you want to employ them. LL can't add extra costs sneakily to your monthly rent!!!

I'd be speaking to shelter for advice then also likely the local borough council re boiler (as their enforcement officers carry a lot of weight). No way would a safe working boiler need pressure top ups every 5-6 working days (via an attic!!) that's madness!! I can understand them asking you to check it regularly to make
Sure pressure is being maintained but it sounds like boiler shouldn't have gas safety certificate if it needs pressure top ups every 5 days

Has the ll or agent sent you the Gas and Electricity Safety certificates, your certificate showing your deposit is protected and a copy of ‘How to Rent’? If not, that’s your next query. Our boiler is similar, there’s defo a leak somewhere.

I meant LL can't add on extra costs of gardener and window cleaners additional to your rent - you didn't agree to that, it's sneaky and a huge omission.

If it were either/or the window cleaner or the gardener I'd think they were maybe pulling a fast one and charging you as well as the landlord, but even the suspicious cow that I am wouldn't suspect both!
Glad you've said you won't be paying.