Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think we shouldn't have to trim the hedges

204 replies

tulippa · 31/01/2023 14:31

We've been renting a property that has front and back gardens bordered by high hedges with some further tall standalone hedges/shrubs on the lawn.

We have paid twice to get the hedges trimmed during our 18 months in the property. The landlord has not supplied any equipment to cut hedges or ladders which would be needed as they're quite tall and we had to buy our own lawnmower when we moved in. Recently, DH has found advice online which suggests that cutting hedges is not a tenant's responsibility in the same way that mowing the lawn is. The landlord messaged us at the weekend asking us to cut the hedges (they're not actually looking too bad at the moment) saying now would be a good time as they don't have any leaves on.

DH explained the advice he had found, that we did not want to cause any confrontation but it's not our responsibility to do this. It's surely a bit like getting the gutters cleaned or the boiler serviced. Regular maintenance rather than general frequent upkeep. The landlord has replied saying that it is our responsibility and if we don't want to do it ourselves, we should pay someone. So we are at a stalemate. The landlord has form for digging his heels in about certain things.

Does anyone know what we should do? Is there any organisation who can mediate with this sort of thing? Or do we have to fork out for the hedges?

OP posts:
daisymade · 31/01/2023 21:48

I’m a landlord. It’s their responsibility in our tenancy agreements but they did it once and did I a ridiculously shoddy job to say they have to look at it every day so now I do it and recharge them.
I always find it interesting on here that the rhetoric is tenants expected to do no maintenance whilst living there.

rwalker · 31/01/2023 21:51

tulippa · 31/01/2023 16:49

Don't know exactly but it needs a tall ladder/platform.

Show quote history

Is it high as a person if so how much

Neededanewuserhandle · 31/01/2023 21:54

tulippa · 31/01/2023 15:57

This is what the tenancy agreement says about the garden on our responsibilities. It doesn't mention the landlord's.

13.1. To keep the garden in the same condition and style as at the commencement of the Tenancy.
13.2. To keep the borders, paths, and patios, if any, weeded.
13.3. To cut the grass regularly during the growing season.
13.4. To allow any person, who has been given authority by the Landlord or the Agent if applicable, access to
the Property for the purpose of attending to the garden.
13.5. Not to lop, prune, remove or destroy any existing plants, trees or shrubs, unless it is required to keep the
garden in good order without the consent of the Landlord or the Agent which will not be unreasonably
withheld.

point 1 seems to cover it - hedges need to be kept as found.

Neededanewuserhandle · 31/01/2023 21:58

AlisonDonut · 31/01/2023 17:00

As soon as it becomes ladder height then it requires working at heights insurance that is needed and potentially a course that needs to be attended in order to be legal.

I had this at a rented property and asked them if it fell under their insurance, which equipment was I using, and what course were they paying me to attend to meet working at height regulations and they got a contractor in to do it.

Where would I as a tenant get "working at heights insurance" and what cover would it provide?

Overandunderit · 31/01/2023 22:00

Point 13.1 covers it's your responsibility.

Why is that difficult to understand?

SnackSizeRaisin · 31/01/2023 22:12

I would pay a gardener to do the bits you can't reach once a year in winter. Surely won't cost that much. £50 perhaps. It's part of the cost of renting a house with garden.
We rent and have to do the garden ourselves. A friend did our high hedge with a step ladder and a telescopic electric hedge trimmer that he got in Aldi for £7.99.

billy1966 · 31/01/2023 22:22

He is taking the piss big time.

If you were injured, I think you could sue him.

Why would you be buying equipment to maintain his property.

Hes a CF.

Up to you if you want to entertain him.

This is different to keeping the grass cut.

My last landlord many years ago had someone who did even this, but he had about 20 properties and was very professional.

fyn · 31/01/2023 22:26

@billy1966 what a silly thing to say, I had to buy a lawnmower to mow the grass at our rental and I have to pay somebody to clean the windows as I can’t reach. This isn’t any different and is clearly set out in the tenancy agreement that the OP has signed. She shouldn’t have signed if she didn’t agree.

CottonSock · 31/01/2023 22:33

I lived in a rental with a high hedge. I tried to cut it but after starting realised it was well beyond me. Landlord sent someone who complained a lot doing it..

I now own a house with 10 foot hedges and pay someone. It's dangerous and difficult. I could do it myself but the tree surgeon has better equipment, more training and a giant wood chipper. I'm with your dh that LL should sort it. Think some people dont appreciate how much work it is. I wouldn't even be able to dispose of the trimmings.

CottonSock · 31/01/2023 22:34

£50 😄🤪
It costs us £300 and this is a small city garden I'm talking about.

dizzydizzydizzy · 31/01/2023 22:41

chesirecat99 · 31/01/2023 15:24

It's a grey area, there is no specific law. Unless there is a clause in the contract, landlords are usually responsible for cutting trees and high hedges because they are jobs that require specialist skill and are dangerous, they aren't "day to day" maintenance, jobs that anyone can do, like mowing the lawn. Tenants would be expected to prune low hedges/shrubs that you could trim with secateurs standing on the ground, whereas using an electric hedge trimmer up a ladder requires expensive equipment and skill/knowledge so you don't damage the hedge or yourself!

You should be able to find lots of advice about it online to forward to the landlord eg the NRLA (National Residental Landlord's Association) advice is:

Landlords are usually responsible for the maintenance of trees and climbing plants, making sure they are safe. In most instances, they are also responsible for maintaining large shrubs and hedges and removing the cuttings, but this can be a very grey area. To avoid doubt, if a landlord needs the tenant to do any specific, basic garden maintenance tasks they should be listed in the tenancy agreement and discussed with the tenant. Landlord and tenant expectations can be very different so, as always, it’s best to communicate clearly with the tenant.

www.nrla.org.uk/news/landlords-essential-guide-to-garden-maintenance

This. I used to be a landlord. A job of that level of complexity should be for the owner to organize and pay for.

Ripleysgameface · 31/01/2023 22:54

I would say it's his responsibility to pay someone to do it.

Or

If he wants you to do it he has to provide the equipment you need.

MoreSleepPleasee · 31/01/2023 23:00

I live in a rented property and I've never cut the hedges in 16 years. Landlord does it. I don't get charged.

WilburTheIron · 31/01/2023 23:03

tulippa · 31/01/2023 14:50

@FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee Thanks - I was starting to wonder if that poster is my landlord. Grin

If not your landlord then definitely a landlord 😆

Neededanewuserhandle · 31/01/2023 23:09

If you were injured, I think you could sue him.
For what?

FlowerArranger · 31/01/2023 23:10

I don't know whether clause 13.1 in the tenancy agreement would hold up in court. The height of the fence seems to make it a somewhat grey area as to whether the tenants can be compelled to maintain it.

Personally I think the LL was stupid not to have had the hedge trimmed down to a height of no more than 5-6 feet before the start of the tenancy. This would have made it much easier to maintain and there'd be no potential for confusion or disagreement.

BloodAndFire · 31/01/2023 23:10

I don't rent any more but i did for many years, and I was never asked to do any hedge trimming or anything that required heavy duty power tools.

But i always lived in flats where the outside space was shared to some extent.

I do think, unfortunately, that the clause about keeping the garden in the same condition as when you moved in might mean it is your responsibility.

Is it causing a problem for anyone if you just let it grow?

SovietKitsch · 31/01/2023 23:25

The problem you have, is that regardless of who’s responsibility it is, if you piss him off, it’s an AST and he can have you out in 2 months by serving a s21 notice.

billy1966 · 31/01/2023 23:27

Neededanewuserhandle · 31/01/2023 23:09

If you were injured, I think you could sue him.
For what?

We have a gardening crew that do our garden several times a year, cutting very high hedges, trees etc.
They have public liability insurance if they have a fall on our property and are fully insured for the work they do on other people's property.

If the OP was to be pressured to do this work on the property and injured herself I would think that she could well have a case.

Perhaps I'm wrong?
It is very normal to expect people doing work onnyour property to be insured.

But your landlord demanding you do skilled maintenance on their property which involves ladders and platforms for 10 ft high hedges is utter bullshit and not normal.

That he expects his tenant to fund it OR to buy the equipment is also bullshit.

This is not normal maintenance of a property that you are renting IMO.

chupachump · 31/01/2023 23:32

A relative living in a council property had a letter asking them to trim the hedges around their property. When they weren't able, the council gave them some help which they paid towards.

That would tell me that unless specified, this is likely to be standard for most tenants.

billy1966 · 31/01/2023 23:32

fyn · 31/01/2023 22:26

@billy1966 what a silly thing to say, I had to buy a lawnmower to mow the grass at our rental and I have to pay somebody to clean the windows as I can’t reach. This isn’t any different and is clearly set out in the tenancy agreement that the OP has signed. She shouldn’t have signed if she didn’t agree.

Keeping windows clean and cutting grass is not the same cutting 10ft hedges and requiring ladders, a platform and hedge cutting equipment.

🙄

SpookyBlackCat · 01/02/2023 00:16

If you are planning on staying there a while, I would ask the LL if he/she can cut the hedge down to a more manageable height. We had a row of massive conifers that the LL removed because they were very fast growing and too close to the house. Maybe they will agree to remove the conifer and cut the whole thing to 6 foot or less so you can easily maintain it.

OriginalUsername2 · 01/02/2023 00:54

He won’t back down? YOU don’t back down. Simple.

LadyJ2023 · 01/02/2023 01:21

Legally its a landlords responsibility to cut hedges,shrubs, trees and maintain them. But many tenancy agreements have a clause in them usually saying it will be the tenants responsibility. If this is the case then the tenant will be responsible and if not the landlord. But remember if you start to battle with your landlord he could then add more to your rental for doing these services. Many people do not fuss about certain things as keeping peace is quite often more important than bad relations with a landlord especially if they are a good landlord in other ways house repairs etc

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 01/02/2023 01:21

I would not consider hedge trimming a renter's responsibility.