To think it’s inappropriate of the landlord to drive past and complain about the state of the drive?

[Raisinsandginger]

We have moved out of our rental property, and so aren’t living there at the moment. We still have until November left on the tenancy.

The landlord has complained today as he drove past and the drive needed weeding, and the letting agent rang us up to complain about this. DH is normally very mild mannered but he was visibly irritated by this.

So as not to drip feed, the house is on its own - the drive isn’t shared - and there aren’t actually any other houses around it who might be impacted by weeds on the drive. We have been back to cut the lawn and to weed, but obviously this isn’t daily as we aren’t living there.

We have a property we let out and I wouldn’t dream of doing this to the tenant. AIBU to be really quite pissed off about this? The other problem is they now want to inspect the rest of the house, which is in a bit of disarray due to the fact we’re half in and half out, so next week we’ll have to schedule a day to get in and sort that.

Tell them you’re in the process of moving and, while they’re welcome to inspect, they will find the inevitable ‘mess’ all of which will be rectified before the end of tenancy.

If maintaining the exterior & interior of the property is part of your lease, then the owner has an obvious reason (weeds at a now unoccupied house) to be concerned and involved.

This...

A friend is moving out of rented into her own place now. She said to me the other day they need to sort out the front and back gardens before they move as it's in their lease.

The interior and exterior have been maintained (and honestly, it really wasn’t immaculate when we moved in, but that’s by the by.) We were at the property last week and weeded the drive and mowed the lawn then. Given the lack of rain, I doubt it’s suddenly become jungle like in eight days or so!

Oh, we’ll absolutely ensure that it’s immaculate before we move out, but that’s the point - the tenancy doesn’t end for another two and a half months.

If maintenance of the outdoor space is part of your lease then the particular circumstances of moving out at the moment are kinda irrelevant.

If it's in there it's no loss of an obligation than actually paying the rent.

It’s relevant insofar as the inside is a mess

My belief is that while the house belongs to the landlord, it is the tenants home. People are allowed to have weeds in the drive, not uniformly to cut the grass every week and so on. Plus, the position of the drive means that the landlord would actually have had to drive onto the property which I don’t think is appropriate tbh.

What will he achieve by inspecting he property if you are moving out anyway. I'd just smile and say you would be happy to end the tenancy early of he prefers to do so.

Yeah, driving onto the property to have a peak without prior agreement isn't OK.

Driving past on a public road and by chance noticing your tennants aren't complying with the terms of their lease is

If the outside looks a state then I don't think he's unreasonable at all to call it out now. He doesn't know you're planning to have it perfect in 2 months time.

Regular maintenance has all sorts of advantages over just doing it once in a while.

And yes I'd also be thinking is the inside a mess too.

The worry is the deposit, @HangOnToYourself - we are paying rent and mortgage at the moment, so really do need it back.

@Butterlover1 i know some people will always say the OP is BU (I’m not aiming this at you personally, it’s more a wry sort of look at MN) but I promise, we are abiding by the terms of our tenancy. There is absolutely nothing in the tenancy agreement that states the drive must not have weeds on it for one thing and for another, it happens.

We could easily have been abroad for three weeks and not in a position to weed the drive, we’d have done it when we got back, it’s (surely) what most people do.

The outside doesn’t look a state at all.

Does he know you’ve moved out?

He might be concerned it’s going to look obviously empty - weeds, uncut grass, no lights ever on etc - to passers by.

They cant touch your deposit as long as the house is back to the same condition when you move out

Again though, @JustLyra , it’s our home, we could be on holiday, or travelling abroad for months (i wish!) - it’s not really his business. In the same vein, I wouldn’t dream of demanding to know my own tenants whereabouts.

In theory that’s true @HangOnToYourself but in practice they always try to find something, or did anyway. Not sure how different it is now.

It is his business if he knows you’ve moved out. It’s his business if his property looks abandoned.

You could be on holiday, but you’re not. You’ve moved out and if he knows that his concerns are understandable.

Is there a reason you’ve not negotiated an early end to the tenancy rather than running it on?

If your deposit is protected then you’ll not have issues as he’d need photos of the place looking considerably worse than when you moved in (and surely being a LL you know that?)

We had to sign up for six month, @JustLyra

So genuine question, what can be done? Live somewhere we don’t want to for three months? It would hardly be reasonable for him to insist on that, even if he could.

My tenant is sorted by a letting agent. I don’t personally deal with the deposits, which should also be the case for us, but given we have a landlord making a fuss over what really does amount to a few weeds, it’s a concern. I had this last time I rented, where the landlord constantly seemed to be causing a fuss about petty things, and it isn’t right. It stops you relaxing and enjoying your home.

He is probably concerned his property looked empty and therefore at risk of burglary / squatters etc not to mention the insurance potentially being invalid

On my tenancy agreement it clearly states not to leave the property empty for more than 30 days in a year! Unless agreed by landlord. Presumably so they can keep an eye out for things going wrong.

I dont know if it's been a while since you rented but it's not like that any more, landlords need proof if there are any disputes and Dispute protection tend to find in favour of the tenant

*deposit protection

Of course it's unreasonable! It's weeds on a driveway not an abandoned sofa and half a caravan.

Most contracts will state you can't leave it empty for more than x days - I'd have a read of yours and check.

I get you want it to feel like your home and not constantly be checked on, but that's just the nature of lettings.

I'd want to know if mine was going to be empty for 3 months.

This.