Am I entitled to remove this fence from the property I'm renting? (UK)?

[yehudi]

Hi folks,

Just looking for some advice concerning a property I'm renting.

I'm a student who has just moved in to their first rental, and as such I'm a bit clueless as to what rights I do and do not have.

Anyhoo, I let from a letting agency with five other students (which I believe is aimed primarily at a student market). Knowing the house would likely be inhabited by students, the landlord seems to have fenced off a large portion of our garden, as well as that of two adjoining properties, leaving us with a mere postage stamp, probably so he does not have to maintain what is beyond it. Peeping over, It seems to have been this way for a good few years and is quite overgrown.

Personally, myself and the other tenants would prefer a larger garden that we could bring back up to standard and maintain, and would be happy to replace the fence when we vacate the premises. I'm just wondering how we'd go about requesting this properly.

I can't see our landlord being too willing, as after all it was likely him who put up the fence in the first place. However, as tenants, are we entitled to make modifications such as this, as long as we return it to the state it was when we moved in? Surely if we're renting the property we're renting all of the property and have a right to access all of it, even if it does have a fence through the middle of it.

Any advice on proper procedure for these sort of modifications/our entitlement (or not) to make such modifications would be great.

Many thanks,

Matt

[clem84]

Live and learn. You cannot take down the fence.

Pay attention when you view a house, not after you have moved into one.

[dubh35]

Check your legal documents. What do they say?

You signed a contract when you rented the accomodation, that should have had all the details you needed.

(You didn't even read the legal document you signed, did you? )

Too many pages? The wrong font?

DID YOU READ WHAT YOU SIGNED FOR?

[breasal]

Yeah, you'd think that, but you don't. Yes, I know you'd be most likely improving it if it's overgrown but you still need the landlord's permission to do anything with it and once you've got that agreement you can follow it up by agreeing how the landlord would like it on your eventual departure from the property.

I can't quite see what benefit to the landlord having it fenced off actually is so your solitary option here is to ask for permission and live with it if they say no.

[chansomps]

Put the request to the landlord in writing, explaining you will maintain this area and replace the fence when finished. I don't see why he would object to it! But it is up to him if you wanted to change/improve anything. If you do it without asking, he is more than likely going to be angry when he comes to inspect!

[chen12]

You are not allowed to remove the fence without the landlord's written permission. He must have his reasons for doing this in the first place.

[bachir93]

> the landlord seems to have fenced off a large portion of our garden
That is an 'assumption', it may not actually belong to the property - though probably does, as the landlord will not want the liability for providing maintainence tools, nor most students want to do the maintaining.

Standard conditions of rentals
You must return the property in as good as state/arrangement as you found it,
so any modifications need to be undone.

what you are proposing is an improvement without damage/ alteration
- whether or not the landlord maintains it later, is another issue.

Just make a request to the agent, asking for permission to work the garden.
Assure them, that at the end of the rental you will fence off the area again to show that new tenants are not expected to maintain it (and also that the landlord does not have to provide tools etc in the future). I doubt there will be any objection.

Even if you worked it anyway, without permission
I suspect it would be the same - worst is that it actually belongs to someone else and they get a free improvement.


Any injuries etc would all be down to you !