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Original poster

Very overgrown yard - what are my rights as a buyer?

96 replies

DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 07:17

Hi all, I know that this is one for the estate agent/solicitor but I was wondering if is part of the condition of sale that the garden/back entry to a house should be accessible?

We are buying a house and when we went for the second viewing the back yard was almost unaccessible as plants are totally overgrown. The plants were also blocking access to the back gate.

I'd like to know if you have come across this and how you have resolved it - thank you in advance!

OP posts:
Petronus · 06/07/2022 07:52

Honestly, this is a non-problem. Buy the house, chop back the garden, stop over thinking it.

LittleBearPad · 06/07/2022 07:53

3 months!

Get your secateurs out.

Blueswedeshoes · 06/07/2022 07:58

I think you’re being a bit precious tbh. It’s a garden, gardens grow.

FemmeNatal · 06/07/2022 08:00

DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 07:17

Hi all, I know that this is one for the estate agent/solicitor but I was wondering if is part of the condition of sale that the garden/back entry to a house should be accessible?

We are buying a house and when we went for the second viewing the back yard was almost unaccessible as plants are totally overgrown. The plants were also blocking access to the back gate.

I'd like to know if you have come across this and how you have resolved it - thank you in advance!

Best bet if it all seems a bit much is to get a professional in to clear it all out for you.

They’ll have the right equipment, and will be able to get it done pretty quickly.

kirinm · 06/07/2022 08:03

I can't believe you're making so much of a fuss! It's some overgrown weeds. It is either a day weeding / strimming or about £200 to get a gardener to do it.

kirinm · 06/07/2022 08:04

Hope you like gardening because you evidently do not appreciate how fast gardens can grow.

LittleSockOfHorrors · 06/07/2022 08:06

I went to walk my dog yesterday somewhere I hadn't been for about six weeks and the hedges around the carpark were absolutely wild. It was like a completely different place.

I would make this something I made a fuss about. You know the garden is under there. It's just plants. It will take an afternoon to do.

I've pulled out of selling a house to a couple who were pains in the arse. They seemed to think it was the same as renting and kept going on about nonsense like shelving.

SeaRabbit · 06/07/2022 08:10

Have you had a survey that confirms it would identify Japanese Knotweed? That can grow like crazy.

mrsed1987 · 06/07/2022 08:28

We are about to move, accepted the offer in feb buy I've continued to cut the grass and weed etc. Partly because I have a child who wants to be outside and I wanted something nice to look at!

We also have ridiculous bushes all around our property, I'm talking 20 feet tall. We are going to cut them away from the path (as it's a public path anyway) but not trim the top as then the new owners can decide how short they want them!

We did a second viewing on the house we are buying last week and I was relieved to see the garden mowed and in good condition still so I would be annoyed like you are, but I don't think I would have made an issue out of it, but would put it on the list of jobs for when we move in!

Shellingbynight · 06/07/2022 08:38

My garden has grown hugely in the past few months, and I suppose someone could see it as 'overgrown' and parts of it inaccessible. Part of it is a wildflower meadow, I like it looking wild. It all dies down/gets cut back in autumn.

You can ask them to cut back, but they don't have to. You're not going to pull out of a sale (surely) just for that. If it was a well kept garden, three months' growth will be easy for you to deal with when you get there.

ttacticall · 06/07/2022 08:38

OP, you do realise that the garden will continue to grow once you own the house and you'll be responsible for maintaining it yourself?

Unless, heaven forbid, you rip out what sounds like a lovely, mature garden and put it to slabs. If that's your plan, I would suggest you walk away from this property and find somewhere else that's already lower maintenance.. nature will thank you for it.

Schooldil3ma · 06/07/2022 08:56

Just tether a goat out there for a few days, it'll be grand.
You're a FTB I'm guessing?

Sprig1 · 06/07/2022 08:58

Petronus · 06/07/2022 07:52

Honestly, this is a non-problem. Buy the house, chop back the garden, stop over thinking it.

Exactly this.

AngelfishDecay · 06/07/2022 09:19

If I was selling to you, I'd tell you fuck off.

Or hand you some shears. Three months growth'll take an afternoon to clear. Gardens grow, you know.

notangelinajolie · 06/07/2022 09:23

I wouldn’t worry about the garden. You can get stuck in once you have moved in. DH reckons it’s best to leave a new garden to grow and wait to see what comes up. I don’t think there are many people who get a perfectly manicured lawn on the day they move in - but it does happen. DH was out moving the lawn the morning we moved.

Good luck, hope your move goes well - and happy gardening Flowers

ChicCroissant · 06/07/2022 09:30

Are you a first-time buyer, OP? Yes, they should have kept the garden under control but it's not an issue that would take much to fix so I'd balance that against the overall stress of the house-buying process because it seems like a fairly small detail in the scheme of things.

DogInATent · 06/07/2022 09:40

3 months between first and second viewings? Second viewing after your offer was accepted - is this a wind-up?

Original poster
DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 11:55

Hi there, thank you all, just had a quick chat my conveyancer who has confirmed that garden maintenance, like house maintenance, is part of the condition of sale and will be writing to the sellers to remind them of this before we exchange. Hopefully this should do the trick.

OP posts:
Original poster
DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 12:00

notangelinajolie · 06/07/2022 09:23

I wouldn’t worry about the garden. You can get stuck in once you have moved in. DH reckons it’s best to leave a new garden to grow and wait to see what comes up. I don’t think there are many people who get a perfectly manicured lawn on the day they move in - but it does happen. DH was out moving the lawn the morning we moved.

Good luck, hope your move goes well - and happy gardening Flowers

Hi thank you for your kind message and, yes, normally when buying a house I would not worry for an overgrown garden, when we moved here the lawn had not be mowed for about six months and was a right savannah Grin - the problem with this property we are buying now is that the years is fairly small and the walls around it are covered with some form of very rampant vine (definitely not Japanese knotweed) which are literally covering the whole yard now and can present a problem on moving day as some items will have to come through the garden. :/

OP posts:
kirinm · 06/07/2022 12:13

@DomusAurea could be bind weed? It is rampant and grows scarily fast. It freaks me out how obviously 'alive' it is.

Freysimo · 06/07/2022 12:19

It sounds like Russian vine, grows like crazy.

Original poster
DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 12:41

DogInATent · 06/07/2022 09:40

3 months between first and second viewings? Second viewing after your offer was accepted - is this a wind-up?

It is quite frequent to do a second inspection to measure up after the offer is accepted.It happened to our sale too. On the timings... yah I hear you... it's very slow at the moment. Our buyers' buyers (bottom of the chain) just had their mortgage accepted that is why we did not go sooner.

OP posts:
Original poster
DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 12:46

ChicCroissant · 06/07/2022 09:30

Are you a first-time buyer, OP? Yes, they should have kept the garden under control but it's not an issue that would take much to fix so I'd balance that against the overall stress of the house-buying process because it seems like a fairly small detail in the scheme of things.

Hahaha no this is our 4th house move - as I explained before, an overgrown garden normally would not be a problem, but because the yard is small it creates all sort of access problems, the branches of these triffids are nearly in the house! And the back gate is invisible behind them. I am moving long distance and would rather not have to do gardening before the removal people can come in also because I would not know where to store these branches. I think I have not explained the situation in full and people are, understandably, projecting their vision on what is, in fact, a different situation.

OP posts:
Original poster
DomusAurea · 06/07/2022 12:48

AngelfishDecay · 06/07/2022 09:19

If I was selling to you, I'd tell you fuck off.

Or hand you some shears. Three months growth'll take an afternoon to clear. Gardens grow, you know.

Fortunately you are not selling to me. Win win situation :)

OP posts:
bilbodog · 06/07/2022 12:54

Its probably bind weed - we had similar when we bought our first house over 30 years ago. Took my dad a couple of days to pull it out and we discovered a patio and shrubs underneath!