Garden and shared gardens (section 16)

Responsibility for your own garden and outside areas.

16.1.  You must keep your garden well-maintained at all times.

16.2.  You are responsible for maintaining all parts of your garden and outside areas including pathways, drives, sheds, garage, greenhouses, outbuildings, grass, plants, bushes, hedges, and trees (including any of these that were present when your tenancy started as well as anything you have installed or planted yourself).

16.3.  You must keep hedges, trees, and shrubs at a manageable height. They should not hang over a public right of way and/or cause an obstruction and/or a nuisance to neighbouring properties. They should not cause a reduction or loss of light and/or cause damage to property including to pipes, drains, cables, fences, sheds. They must not endanger the health and safety of other people.

16.4.  You must not plant climbing plants against the building. Climbing plants include ivy.

16.5.  You must remove self-seeding climbing plants and trees. We reserve the right to recharge you for the cost of removal of any such vegetation and any associated structural repairs.

16.6.  You must not lay an artificial lawn. This includes astro turf.

16.7.  You must keep any garden and path clean, tidy and free from obstruction. You should not leave rubbish or large items such as unwanted furniture, white goods, and mattresses in your garden.

16.8.  You must obtain our prior written permission if you wish to plant a tree, or cut one down.

16.9.  You must not dig in the garden to a depth more than 0.5m or in any event within 3m of any structural wall or boundary.

16.10. If you do not comply with any of the terms in this section we may clear and/or cut back your garden and/or outside area and re-charge you for the work.

16.11. You must not extend any garden and/or outside area beyond its existing boundary.

Shared Gardens and outside areas.

16.12. You must not store or leave any personal belongings in any shared gardens or shared outside areas. This includes but is not limited to, flowerpots, children’s buggies, bicycles, re-chargeable motorised vehicles, toys, boots, and shoes.

16.13. You must not leave any rubbish in any shared gardens or outside areas.

16.14. You must not use inflatables or set up any paddling/swimming pools, trampolines and/or bouncy castles in any shared gardens or outside areas without our prior written permission. When deciding whether to grant permission, we will consider factors such as whether you have the necessary public liability insurance cover and whether adult supervision will be provided at all times.

16.15. You must not install swings and/or slides in shared gardens or outside areas.

16.16. You must not light any fires, including bonfires, in any shared gardens. If you use a barbeque this must be at least 5 meters away from any building including garages, sheds, or outbuildings.

16.17. You must not cut down, top, lop, uproot, damage, or destroy any tree, shrub, plant or hedge in any shared garden or outside areas.

16.18. You must not plant any plants, shrubs, hedges and/or trees in any shared garden or outside areas.

16.19. You must not erect any structure, including sheds, on shared garden or outside areas.

16.20. You must not separate off in any way any part of any shared garden or outside areas.

16.21. You must not claim any part of a shared garden or outside area as your own and/or must not inhibit anyone from using and/or accessing any part of a shared garden or outside area.

16.22. You must not install a gate anywhere on any shared garden or outside areas.

16.23. We reserve the right to remove any items that are placed in the shared garden or outside areas without permission and dispose of them, as well as repairing any damage arising from misuse of those areas and recharge the cost to the tenant responsible where known.

16.24. Where you have an allocated garden or outside area in a block of flats and fail to maintain it to an acceptable standard the Council will, following reasonable notice, take the garden over and return it to shared status on a permanent basis. In addition, further enforcement action could be taken.