Just heard from our old neighbour that the tenants in our old house which we let have taken about six feet of the top of three old fir trees down the back of the garden to let more light to the lawn. We’d let the trees grow to protect our privacy- the house over t he back is slightly further up a hill, and the top storey overlooks our house. Tenancy agreement states they must keep the gardens in good order.
Should they have asked permission from either us or the letting agent?
My wife also suspects that since lopping t he top off they won’t recover their height, but I know nothing about the truth of that.

I would have thought that they should have asked permission to carry out this work as it’s not like they just trimmed the hedge, but then it also partly falls into the category of garden maintenance.
Chances are they will grow back. They ‘may’ have done you a favour.

[edit] Unless the trees were only 10′ high to start with [/edit]

Vague tenancy agreement, if you want specifics you should put them in and get them explained. After the fact you probably have no chance of getting the tree’s put back together. Do you want money for it?

?

If lived next door to that I’d put lots and lots of weed killer over the fence.

Looks like a girl I once knew 😯

6 foot off how big in the first place. if its 6 foot off a 30 foot tre i would say thats maintenance. if its 6 foot off a 12 foot tree thats a bit excessive.

Either way i’m not sure you could prove it was anything other than garden maintenance, and itll grow back.

Standard clause on the tenancy agreement that the agents put together mike. Wouldn’t have expected that someone would have tried to take the top off some thirty foot trees themselves to be honest. Can’t put in specifics to cover every eventuality though.

Tenants who actually do something in the garden? Count yourself lucky. Mowing the lawn (occasionally) is about as far as any of mine have ever got.

Most conifers will soon be back up and blocking the light in no time – it’s cutting them back too hard that they struggle with.

Very true (having read & signed enough from both sides)
More saying regardless of if they can/could/should have, they have. If you want the trees protected get a clause in there. After that you have very little come back from here on. Sorry to be blunt/negative but not much you can do from here.

Got to side with the tenants here. How are they supposed to know what Good order really means to you?

They probably thought they were doing you a favour.

If you want your garden maintained to your standards then either do it your self or get a gardener in.

If you want your garden maintained to your standards then either do it your self or get a gardener in.

Speaking as a tenant whose prior landlord moaned that the garden (which hadn’t been touched for two years prior to us moving in) was looking a bit of a mess, this.

If this is the the only “problem” you have had or think you will have with them… I reckon they are good tenents…. count your lucky stars and keep ’em.

I’d have wanted to be informed and then had it done properly by a tree surgeon.

6ft is a fair bit.

Can our tenants chop down trees?

Just heard from our old neighbour that the tenants in our old house which we let have taken about six feet of the top of three old fir trees down the back of the garden to let more light to the lawn

By the sounds of it, yes, they can. HTH 😀

come on. if I were a tenant, I would see it as a common courtesy to inform the landlord that I was going to chop the tops of trees off. what if there’s a preservation order on the trees? by even pruning them you could be violating the order and could be fined.

It sounds like you have a tenant who will look after the property

Worth hanging on to IMO

If I was a tennant and I went to that trouble and the landlord complianed to me about it, I would be pretty peeved. And if I didn’t leave would not feel inclined to do much other “upkeep”

I recon your better off thanking them for it, but saying that this level of work is above what you would expect them to do, and if there is other work of similar magnitude etc in the future to get in touch and you will arrange for appropriate work to be done for them

zokes – Member

“Can our tenants chop down trees?”

By the sounds of it, yes, they can. HTH

😆

But really I don’t see what the problem is, if you planted them to protect your privacy, and you’re not living there at present? Fir trees grow PDQ.

“I’d have wanted to be informed and then had it done properly by a tree surgeon.”

What and have it cost you, the landlord, money ?? Weird.

They should have asked but… would you get rid of them for this?

Point out, nicely, that they should of asked and tell them politely to consult you on any other “improvements” they’d like to make.

Thanks all, especially zokes 🙂

As brakes said, I would have expected a call about the trees, but they are good tenants, and the last time I saw the garden was being well looked after. There’s an expectation they’ll be in there for afew years, so if they’re happy I am as well.

keeping the garden ‘in good order’ is a subjective term. You allowing the trees to grow to a height for privacy is keeping ‘in good order’ someone else trimming them back to allow the rest of the garden to grow is also ‘in good order’

Unless the trees were only 7 ft tall to begin with they’ve not been chopped down, they’ve just had a haircut.

You’ve rented the house to tenants to live in as their own and to enjoy in peace and privacy. Its your property. Its their home. If you wanted the garden maintained the way you want pay a gardener. Otherwise the garden is there to be kept and enjoyed in the manner the tenant wants.

You wont find a leylandia with a tpo thats fo sho 😉

they have probably saved you ~£400 in maintenance / fir tree surgery bills
the fir trees will grow back to the height you had them at and will keep going if left unchecked

I think you should be rather chuffed with them

You sound like our landlord, there is an big old apple tree that smashes the tiles on next doors roof and blocks our gutters every autumn, but they wont let us or any one else do anything about pruning it. They will then complain that we haven’t moved the leaves that gather on the outer side of the garden fence blown across open land.

So you can probably guess how my attitude towards the garden has now changed.

You sound like our landlord, there is an big old apple tree that smashes the tiles on next doors roof and blocks our gutters every autumn, but they wont let us or any one else do anything about pruning it. They will then complain that we haven’t moved the leaves that gather on the outer side of the garden fence blown across open land.

I’m not sure how anything I’ve said makes me sound like your landlord…

Well, we could just chop bits off the apple tree…

People like you make me sick

People like you make me sick

People like who?

I’m surprised they didn’t ask you to do the work for them.

Have they popped the tops back on yet?

Renting a house out and expecting it to stay exactly how you left it in the long term isn’t sensible. If you want a tenant to stay long term you need to give them enough leeway to make them feel at home. I occasionally wince at some choices of wallpaper and paint some of my tenants make, and I’m happy to tell them I don’t have the same taste, but I also tell them if they want to do it and stick around for years, then that suits us both, and I chip in when they choose to change a carpet or fitting. A shame for (good) tenants that they can’t make a house a home and feel secure in many cases.

Your property will be a lot easier to let in future if they’ve kept on top of the garden work for you and made it lighter.

They clearly fancy staying for a bit, and in the current climate, they sound like ideal tenants. They pay their rent, they are prepared to do a substantial amount of garden work…

If you sour the relationship by having a whinge at them, you could end up with far, far worse folk wrecking the place or just not paying you.