Managing outside spaces for rental properties
Demand for outside space in the rental property market has always been high, but since the pandemic, this has been even more important for tenants on the property search. But outdoor spaces and their maintenance in rental properties can often be a source of conflict for landlords and tenants. So, what are some tips for reducing this conflict and ensuring that outside space at your rental property is managed how you would like?
How should the tenant maintain a garden in a rental property?
Firstly, we should answer the question, ‘should the tenant maintain a garden or outside space in a rental property?’ The short answer is yes, but with a few comments. Depending on the type of outside space you have at the rental property, there may be more or less expectation of maintenance from the tenant.
Once you have established that the tenant should be responsible for the maintenance of the garden, you need to consider how they should do this. Some landlords are happy for tenants to treat the outdoor space entirely as their own and manage it how they see fit. At the other end of the spectrum, some landlords want the outside space to be maintained in aspect, never changing and always just as they left it. Most landlords fall somewhere in the middle.
As a landlord, you need to understand where on the spectrum you fall and how best to communicate this to your letting agent and tenants so that there are clear expectations set from the off. You also need to be reasonable about your expectations; it is unlikely that your tenants will maintain the outside space at your rental property exactly as you would. As such, there are likely to be small differences in how things appear, but you need to keep in mind the rental property is not your home, it is their home.
How should a landlord prepare an outside space for rental properties?
Landlords should never expect the betterment of their rental properties. This goes for cleaning, maintenance and the outside space. If you hand over a property in poor condition, it is unlikely to come back to you in better condition. The same goes for the outside spaces. If the garden is an overgrown jungle full of miscellaneous junk, then it is unlikely to come back to you looking like something from Gardener’s World.
If you would like the tenants to maintain and care for the garden well, so it looks good, then you should have it in a similar condition or better when you hand over the rental property. It may be pertinent to ensure there is adequate space at the property to store any relevant gardening equipment. If you have a lawn which will require a mower, consider where the tenants will store this: is there likely to be space in the garage or is there already a shed on site?
These are not things you have to do, but they are worth considering as a way to reduce conflict and improve the chances of the tenants maintaining the garden as you would like them to.
Things to consider when establishing how to manage an outside space for rental properties
If your rental property has a high-maintenance garden space, you may need to consider what type of tenant will be best suited to this type of property. Some tenants may have a preference towards low-maintenance garden spaces, but often there are tenants who enjoy having a garden space they can put time into. It is important to consider which type of tenant would best suit your rental property and your expectations, then communicate this to your letting agent so they can help you find the ideal tenant for your property.
Some landlords have a plant, object or tree in the garden of their rental property that is especially important to them. This is often the case where landlords have become accidental landlords and are renting out their parents’ home or similar. There may be a tree that they planted as a child or some other element of the garden that carries significant personal weight. Ideally, the landlord should remove this element to their own home but sometimes, especially with plants or trees, this is not feasible for whatever reason.
If you are a landlord with an item like this in the garden of your rental property, it is worth considering how you would like this maintained and communicating to your tenants and letting agent why this particular item is of significant personal importance. Most letting agents and most tenants will be understanding of this and do their utmost to respect your wishes so long as the request is reasonable.
However, if you are particularly concerned about the maintenance of a plant or tree, or if the required maintenance is expensive or requires significant gardening knowledge, you may decide to manage this yourself. Just like any other routine management, so long as it is not required frequently, you could offer to attend and maintain the plant yourself perhaps once or twice a year for pruning or similar. This should be agreed with the tenant in advance and arranged with good notice, just like you would arrange a boiler service or similar.
The key is to create good communication with your tenant from the off so that both you and the tenant have a clear understanding of the expectations on both sides.
So, if you have rental properties that are taking up too much of your time, get in touch today for a chat about how we can help.