To think this landlord can’t demand this?

[YaMuvva]

My 18yo niece who previously lived 200 miles away has moved to the same town as us to go to the local Uni. I helped her (and 2 of her friends from school who are attending the same Uni) pick out a rental. We found one with 3 beds and a huge south facing garden at a fairly reasonable price for the area. The garden was a particular draw to them as they wanted to get loungers and sunbathe in the summer. they moved in in October.

Today I messaged to ask her if she wanted our garden table and chairs (we are getting rid to make room for new ones). They’re large but in excellent condition. She said she’d have to come over and measure to see if it fits - which I thought was odd as their garden is huge but was happy to have her over.

She came and measured this evening and said it’s too big! I at first thought she just didn’t want it and said it’s fine if she didn’t but actually it turns out that their landlord on move-in day laid down some rules:

• The garden is 95% grass, with a very small ‘patio’ area next to the back door which is basically 12 square slabs. It’s more like a footpath. They were told they aren’t allowed any garden furniture on the grass. Bang goes their Sun lounger plan. Our table is too big for these slabs and they are looking at a small bistro set.
• The grass has to be cut every 2 weeks no matter what. They’ve really struggled in winter when it’s been boggy and raining. I did point out that she’d never know if it wasn’t cut and to me it’s pointless in winter anyway!
• They aren’t allowed to access the attic, and given there’s only a small cupboard for storage otherwise they have very little storage. The attic is boarded out but the landlord has said she doesn’t want anything heavy stored on the boards in case they break 🤷‍♀️
• This to me is the worst - they aren’t allowed to dry any clothes in the house. Not even on a clothes airer. There is no tumble dryer and they aren’t allowed to install one, not even a condenser because it ‘creates condensation’ according to the LL. there’s a whirligig in the garden but she told me that until recently they were paying £30 a week at the laundrette to get their clothes dry as otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to get them dry when it’s either rained or been freezing cold for months on end. I told her she should have come to me to dry them in my dryer but she didn’t want to be a bother.

This LL has never done an inspection and niece emailed me her AST and there’s nothing about it in these rules - not that its enforceable anyway. The worst she could do is serve a section 21 which in practice could be a far bigger PITA than having a table and chairs on some grass.

But AIBU to think the LL can’t make these demands? I’ve told DN to just take the table, buy the Sun loungers and spend laundrette money on a heated airer. And put things in the bloody attic! This LL doesn’t seem to do regular inspections anyway, but when she does I’m happy to be there and tell her she cannot make these ridiculous demands.

When I rented there was same clause about drying washing inside and cutting the grass.

Grass we just used common sense and did it as needed in summer and made sure the front didn't get too long as that was obviously visible without an inspection.

Washing we did dry inside as we had no choice. Just made sure we opened windows and used a dehumidifier.

She just needs to be aware that if she does dry washing inside and it causes damp/mould issues they could lose their deposit

All pretty standard
bascilly cut grass a flat no rule because people with push it and you say a small table next thing there’s garden soda and all sorts of shit killing the grass
as for drying washing it’s something like a litre of water is dispersed into the atmosphere for every load of washing you dry sure fire way to cause mould

Are you the landlord??
I rented for years and all that was required was a standard clause to keep things in good condition, etc.
How else do you expect people to dry their washing if it's rainy outside?
My lovely LL in my very first apartment just got me a dehumidifier. Nice man. Wish all LL's were like him.

Get her and her friends to get themselves a clothes dryer and stop concerning themselves about the landlord's attempt at rules. When the landlord announces an inspection, they can always fold it up and put it away. They should stop wasting their money (and possibly ruining their clothes, based on my experience with the dryers at uni halls). Drying clothes on clothes dryers indoors is an absolutely normal part of living.

I would cut the grass every 2 weeks in summer only.
No furniture on the grass is fair enough. They can put stuff out on the grass when they're using it and then stack it on the patio in between
No access to attic/loft is standard for rental agreements
Not being allowed to dry clothes is a bit ridiculous. Usually you aren't allowed to dry things on the radiators and you have to open the windows to ventilate. We have a dehumidifier and never had mould issues related to clothes drying.

No furniture on the grass is understandable, but I’m sure that doesn’t mean sunloungers for a few hours, just use some common sense :)

Same with cutting the lawn, clearly that doesn’t need doing in winter when it’s not growing!

Ive never had access to the attic in a rented property, tbh the landlord could get stuck with all kinds of crap left up there, get some shelves or something?

However no drying clothes is ridiculous, I’d just buy a heated airer to use.

The tenancy agreement is the agreement between the two parties. If these conditions are not in the TA, then the LL has not got a leg to stand on.

The LL can write whatever they want, it doesn't mean the contract is legally enforceable.

Her rent clearly does not include the attic. She can't put anything there. If the beams break that is her guarantor landed with tens of thousands of pounds worth of damages.

These rules are all normal, standard and reasonable

The garden furniture thing is totally crap.
The clothes inside thing is ridiculous but they all say that and I don't think anyone actually abides by it - because it's actually not possible. We had the same issue only the house was already damp and the garden an eyesore.

If a landlord doesn't want clothes hanging isndie they should provide a tumble dryer. They should also require a licence.

The landlord can’t add rules that aren’t in the contract, and won’t be able to evict for breach of rules that aren’t in the contract. But landlord may get arsey with them and be difficult about a reference. And if furniture causes damage to the lawn or drying clothes inside causes mold problems, or they break one of the boards in the loft, or the lawn is in a worse state when they leave than when they moved in, then your niece and her friends could lose their deposit.

Most of this is pretty standard particularly the drying of clothes inside. Welcome to the shite world of renting I suppose.

As long as her deposit is with a deposit scheme she’ll be protected from more spurious landlord claims.

The only rule of these I remember having was nothing in the loft. The clothes drying is ridiculous but common sense like opening windows to let the air circulate or get a dehumidifier.
My friend has loads of rules. For her inspections hides anything she shouldn’t have including her cat to the neighbour! Shes been living there for years.

That’s why I suggested a heated airer with a cover - I feel like I tell everyone to get one but I just absolutely love mine 🤣

But LLs can’t make demands like that, no matter how reasonable they think those demands are, and i feel if you are that precious and demanding then landlording isn’t for you. Being a landlord takes thick skin and reasonable expectations and the acceptance that the moment they start their tenancy it’s no longer your home, it’s theirs.

That’s not how renting works. LLs can’t exclude whole parts of the house in an AST just because it doesn’t suit them

yes they can.

Yeah ignore the rules they're ridiculous.
Just don't kill the grass and keep the windows cracked open when you're drying laundry. She just doesn't want mould and / or dead grass but your daughter sounds very respectful/sensible so I wouldn't worry.

Yes they can.

It takes ten seconds to Google 'can my landlord refuse access to the attic uk'

It’s my niece, but yes she is and so are her flatmates. I think the LL is lucky she’s found such good tenants. The plonkers have been thing to push a mower through mud for 6 months though so I’m not sure how much can be said for them being bright 😂

LL can if it’s in the tenancy agreement, but OP said none of these conditions are in the tenancy agreement.

LL’s can’t sign an agreement, set the rent and then change the terms of the contract. That’s cowboy landlording and not enforceable.

Are they tenants or lodgers?

If tenants, these are unenforceable terms. So I'd tell your niece to get an airer for the house and a sun lounger for the garden. Mowing the lawn over winter is actually bad for the grass, so I would only look to maintain as needed.

@EsmeSusanOgg theyre tenants she lives at the other end of the country

If the LL hasn’t padlocked the loft and it doesn’t state that it’s excluded from use in the property in the AST, then they should use it if appropriate.

What are they supposed to use the grass they’re having to cut every two weeks for if not for sitting on? Does the landlord expect them to only use a blanket?

They probably did more damage to the grass having to stand on it on while wet and boggy pushing a lawnmower over it than putting a putting a few sunloungers on it when it’s hard and dry!

Tell them to just do what they want but move stuff prior to any inspection to save them aggro from what sounds like a nightmare landlord with her head up her arse. They must be given notice of any inspections.

I had a landlord like that, who liked to make up rules as he went along. (It was a HMO.) Only trouble he was local and liked to pop in every five minutes. My favourite was him putting up the rent via text message (which I never received.) He also told me off for buying an oil radiator and dehumidifier after waking up one morning to water running down the walls in my bedroom. This was after the heating kept breaking down. He then decided to fiddle with the boiler, flooded the bathroom and left us without water for hours. Supposedly he used to be a plumber, doubt he was a good one, as we had an air lock in the pipes and he'd never heard of that! He finally got a gas engineer out to look at the boiler properly, in March after the heating and hot water had been iffy for months. I moved out last November, came back to get the last of my stuff from my room and found he'd moved it around. 🤬