Let tenants pave garden?

[ForeverGenX]

We have a rental home with an east facing garden. Our tenants want to pave the back garden, removing all grass. In summer the grass is lush but it turns into a mud bath for many months. They have a raised paved patio at the back and a slab path down the middle of the lawn. I want them to enjoy the garden but am reluctant to allow them to ditch all the grass. Is this mean of me? Am worried about biodiversity loss and also whether we will be able to reinstate the grass easily at some point if it is paved over. What can we do about drainage? Is there a more low maintenance version of grass in an east facing garden that is more eco-friendly than slabs?

I’d write a contract that says he can do it but it needs to be returned to its original grass at the end of the tenancy .

Obviously not the original grass

You also need to consider the potential consequences of letting him do work at his own cost.

I used to be an LL and my former tenant decided to decorate and put up a feature wall. I said that was fine at his own cost as long as it was returned to the previous white walls when he left. Needless to say, he didn’t do this, and then tried to claim I’d said I would pay him. It all ended very acrimoniously with him harassing me and getting a solicitor to write to me to try and claim money off me. He didn’t have a leg to stand on because I had my instructions in writing plus his written admission that he’d failed to follow them but it was a load of hassle I could have done without.

are you sure they didn't do the changes alrady?

Sharp sand is supposed to be good for lawn drainage OP. Maybe google and also speak to professional gardeners?

Also your tenants have had a good run with you as their landlord and it sounds that, generally, you have good tenants but you may want to consider putting the rent up a reasonable amount if there's been no increase in the six years they've been with you, to help with the cost of living increases which will be with us for a little while. 🌹