Does a student landlord need to provide a lawnmower if they want the garden maintained?

[longwalk]

DS has just finished university. His Y3 landlord wants to retain £150 of their deposit because he says they haven’t cut the grass and maintained the lawn. However, he didn’t leave a mower or any other tools. Nor is there a shed or anywhere else they could have stored their own mower even if they were so inclined to buy one. Small terraced house so no room in house either.
On top of this the landlord also wants to charge them a further £100 as they are saying the black council bin wasn’t there when they did the check out. This sat out the front on the pavement unsecured all year. Mid terrace house so nowhere else to put it. It was there when they left. I know this for definite as I put a rubbish bag in it myself. We left on the Sunday and Monday was their bin day.

Any thoughts or anything we can do about either of these two issues? Thanks!

It probably would have been prudent for them to pay a handyman or gardener to come and mow the lawn before they moved out, the same way you’d pay someone to come and do a deep clean/clean the oven etc but the time for that has now passed so you’ll need to rely on the check in inventory/photos. I’d leave it to the deposit protection to sort, £250 is extortionate for someone to come and mow a lawn. It has to be proportionate to what it will cost LL to amend.

6 ADULTS taking on a rental agreement should have checked the rental agreement!

-They could have asked for the gardening maintenance to be included in rent
-They could have employed a gardener and spoken to other uni friends for a recommendation
-They could have purchased a plastic garden box from aldi/lidl/B&Q with a lockable bolt and stored a lawn mower in that, then taken both when they moved out

Did any of them take photos when they moved out- showing that the black bin was still insitu?

As for cleaning, if they didn't clean it thoroughly themselves, did they not employ a company of their choice to do a final tenancy deep clean?

Deductions have to be reasonable though, my bin was stolen and it cost me £18 to get a new one. Check with the council and see what a replacement bin would cost and dispute the full charge.

@longwalk They pay a garden contractor. 2 hours max. Or rent a flat.

In all the student houses my DCs have rented (so far...) some form of garden maintenance has been included in the rent. It wasn't mentioned in the contract or specifically included in the rent, but a company has come round once a month (or less frequently in the winter) to cut the grass and trim hedges.

your experience is specific to you and has no impact to others.

the scenario entirely depends on the attitude of the landlord when drafting the contract and deciding how much profit to make for themselves.

There is nothing in law says the garden must be subject to ongoing maintenance, only that it has (like the property itself) to be returned in the same (or better) condition as it was received (allowing for seasonal change in respect of the garden)

While I agree if the Tenancy Agreement says they have to maintain the garden to a certain standard then they do.
As for the bin you could take that to adjudication

My son has just moved into a shared student house with a big garden. The LL sends someone round once a month to cut the grass, at no extra cost to the students.