Can my tenant change the front garden of our house to a 'off road' parking area without our consent

[Oldsu]

Just after Christmas 2022 an elderly aunt died and left us her house, I love the house but its too far from, where I work, so we will move there in a few years time when I finally retire, the house is a Victorian cottage with a lovely front garden (roses and a magnolia tree and original railings) as neither DH drive we wont need a parking area when we move in, parking in the road seems to be difficult but there are no double yellow lines or residents parking permits so not impossible, we have factored this in with the rent and are charging 1/3 below market .

We rent this through an agency who have spoken to us a few times about putting in a parking area and we have said no, last September our tenant emailed me directly and asked me when the work was going to start, I forwarded it to the agents and told them to speak to the tenants, last November the tenants emailed me again asking about the work and said they would be looking to pay a reduced rent until the work is done, again I forwarded it to the agents for them to deal with, today I got another email telling me if the work is not done in 3 months they have the 'legal' right to get their own company to do the work and charge us afterwards. I want to forward it to my agents but it seems the agents are not making it clear about the parking area or the tenants are ignoring them so I think I am going to have to deal with the last email myself

When we inherited the house all paper work was done including updating the property records on the Land Registry so DH and I are on the LR as owners.

So my question is, I understand they wont need planning permission if the correct material is used but would need it to put in a dropped kerb, if they do apply would the council check the LR to check they are actually the owners of the property, if they didn't get planning permission but got a company to do the work anyway would the company also have to check the LR to make sure the customer has a right to make the change. I know it would be easier and simpler to put in the parking space and revert to a garden when we move in but I don't want to its my property and my garden. Any help would be appreciated

Yes but none of that stops someone simply going ahead and doing work illegally

My concern would be that the tenant does just that. Good that you are going to see the agent, imo you need to give the necessary notice today too and in future follow up your emails with phone calls and keep written records of them

The agent isn't fit for purpose

The council do not check ownership
Highways approve dropped kerbs not the planners
But your tenants could just not bother with a dropped kerb anyway.

This is bizarre, I don't understand why the tenant would think this was appropriate unless the agent hasn't been truthful with them. I'd speak to the tenant directly, ask them exactly what the agent said and tell them under no circumstances will this work be happening. If it is the tenant pushing and not the agent lying I'd tell them their rental agreement is ending.

This is your property, including your front garden. Any damage to your property without your permission is not legal. Please get in touch with a solicitor.

A drooped kerb would be on a public road not your land, so would not need permission from property owner

Quite agree
i was just advising as OP was going to look into a preservation order

No they can't.

But just want to note that doing so increased the value of our neighbour's house hugely.

They already had off road parking for two cars but bricked over the whole lot for 3 and it added several thousands.

I much prefer a lawn for the bees though.

The draft email from an above poster is excellent: sets out your position, clearly states what you have said in the past and expectations for the future, and creates a paper trail in case the tenants/agents act unlawfully. I would send it ASAP.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if your agent had lied to the tenant about what you have said or plan to do re: off road parking. And then lied to you about the tenant. When I used to rent, I decided never to go through an agent again after repeated incidents of dishonesty from various agents. Hopefully if you send the suggested email, the tenant will respond outlining why they have been pushing and whether it was because the agent told them it would be done.

I'd be contacting the agent and arranging a joint inspection of the whole property.
Surely it is in their contract re their responsibility to maintain & report faults (house and garden) but not to alter anything themselves?

@Oldsu - Before doing anything else at all today, PLEASE send IamtheDevilsAvocado's email immediately, to both agents and tenants, without the last line if you don't yet know what you will do if this is not done and without repeating "please reply by x date". You have to make it crystal clear that the tenants have absolutely no right to make any changes to your house or garden without your permission and they cannot legally threaten you with withholding some of the rent. I would actually give them notice to quit at the end of their contract in July, but maybe leave telling them that until you have to legally as I can imagine they will use that as an excuse to completely stop paying you. Also, change agents. Your current ones clearly don't know what they're doing.
I would also ask for an inspection to see what's going on as I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.

^this.

What else have they done without permission?

I'd serve notice on them anyway, and find a new letting agent - one that can follow your instructions.

Just respond to their email and ask for a discussion , see if the estate agents have made a false promise about the parking and go from there , if it’s just the tenants pushing explain that any changes would amount to criminal damage and while you were happy for them to stay the rent needs paying in full or you will seek to end tenancy

As a landlord (with a drive! Ironically tenant doesn't have a car) I wanted to add join the NRLA and take their advice. And if you haven't already, take out their landlord insurance in case this or any future tenant does something heinous.

Sounds to me like they've been told by the agents that you had planned to do the work going by your comment of them asking when is the work starting. I'd be asking your agent to email them clearly that no work is happening and to cc you in so that they see clearly.

I know when we were tenants we were lied to by agents all the time about what the landlord would or wouldn't do. And when we rented out our house our agents, though nothing like as bad as your situation, clearly didn't communicate fully with us or the tenants over several matters.

Given the way the letters to you are worded, I think it's likely the agents have told the tenants you will put parking in and the tenants have signed the contract on that basis. As well as talking to the agents (who may be just as loose with the truth with you) I would talk to the tenants and see why they believe you would put parking in. If they say they were told you were planning on doing it I'd ask for any advertising, particulars, correspondence they have from the agents. You will have to let them know directly that you have never agreed to put in a parking space and that they do not have permission to make alterations to the front garden.

But if they have evidence that the agent has lied I would go to bat with the agents to see if you can get them to pay out the rest of the contract term on the tenants behalf while the tenants look for a more suitable place (and you look for a different agent).

Ex Landlord here:

Your agent is incompetent. Fire them.

Your tenant is an entitled arsehole. Serve notice before they go ahead and trash the place.

Seriously, you need to toughen up. This is a very obvious CF situation and the fact that you are on a chat forum asking is worrying to say the least.

Same here. I'd be worried that they'd already started to destroy the lovely garden.

Yes indeed @NumberTheory , I think it’s pointless only talking to the agents, I think it’s unlikely you’ll get the truth from them, they’re not going to admit that they lied to the tenants. OP needs to send that email today, to the tenant and agent. Then how the tenant responds will dictate how to move forward.

The last house that we rented before we bought was no pets. We found this out the day with moved in with our dog, because the agents had told us it was pet friendly and had even written it into the contract! The owners weren’t very happy, but fortunately allowed us to stay (and we repaid them by leaving it in such a good state of order and cleanliness that the landlady was delighted on her final inspection).

But you really have to watch agents, they can be little buggers! We would have been in all sorts of trouble if the landlady had dug her heels in about our dog. I wonder if your agents have been stringing these tenants along about a driveway, which would explain why the tenants are getting annoyed - if they’ve been told this is going to happen then they’ve good reason to expect it.

You sound like you’re being quite passive about the whole thing though tbh - you need to speak to the agents and find out exactly what the situation is here.

I think the agent is likely to be principally at fault here, but the tenant is still being massively unreasonable. Sack the agent and make it very clear to the tenant that no work will be happening and any attempt to start work will lead to an eviction notice.

(Am a tenant myself, in a country where it's much more usual for tenants to do work to rented properties, but even that's kitchens, flooring and bathrooms, not removing gardens, and the tenants pay for it themselves!)

You need to speak up now.Stop dithering and go in all guns blazing.Tell the tenants the lease will not be extended,fire the agent.Takeback control.

There is a way to limit what people can do on a property without listing it. I think it’s called a section 4 notice. It basically takes away the rights to permitted development on houses with particular character.

I would get rid of the tenants as soon as you can though and the agents as others have said. I’d be worried the tenants were about to tear up the garden regardless of you saying no.

I feel a bit sorry for the tenants. I expect they were told you'd be doing this. They've also emailed you three times and been ignored. I think you need to reply to them directly and call or visit your agents.

If everyone else in the row has created parking and your tenants are desperate, the parking situation must be awful. Maybe you will reconsider when you live there. You might not drive but surely you have visitors, workmen sometimes, maybe a cleaner, deliveries.obviously, that'll be a decision for you in a few years but I wouldn't push the preservation order.

You don’t need a preservation order, in the same way that you don’t need to justify why the tenant can’t make any changes. It is your property and the tenant can’t make any changes without your permission. You don’t give your permission so that is an end to it.

Write to the agent and the tenant (don’t just leave it to the agent, you need to know that the tenant has heard it directly from you)making very clear that you do not give permission for any work to take place, there will be no parking area installed and the front garden is to remain entirely unchanged. If any changes are made, the full cost of reinstatement will be charged. If the tenant is unhappy with this, you are willing to discuss ending the tenancy if that is what they wish.

The agent may well have told the tenant all sorts to get them to take the tenancy - the agents promised me full redecoration, new appliances etc for a house I rented, and they’d agreed nothing of the sort with the landlord. Agents can be devious lying bastards at times and “local” firms the worst for it IME.

I think you'll need to reply to the agent and the tenants that
1 the house was rented at a reduced price because off no parking
2 the garden is a unique feature
3 they viewed the property and rented it as it was and you the landlord never promised to change the garden
4 clearly state that under no circumstances do you give permission for alterations or works of this or any nature to be undertaken on the property
5 check the lease there is probably a clause in it that states the tenant cannot make any alterations to the property
6 advise tenants communications go through the agent in future and to stop emailing you!
7 Clearly you need a new agent.

Howeve you need written evidence to show it has been communicated to the tenants in case they proceed with works.
Tbh I would look at getting them out they sound pushy and entitled- and I think you re just going to have more trouble with them.

Sack your agents immediately. Get new ones to serve notice on tenants to vacate. Get new tenants.