Garden and grounds maintenance

Although the overall responsibilities of the maintenance of the property are with the landlord, there are certain instances that place direct responsibility on tenants. It is the tenants' responsibility to leave the garden/grounds in the same state which it was when they first entered the property.

Please see the below list, although not exhaustive – which provides examples of instances in which it is the direct responsibility of the tenant to take care of and attend to in a thorough fashion in order to maintain a clean and tidy environment in order to avoid negative repercussions.

-Keep the garden/yard free from sanitary hazards

It is the responsibility of the tenant to dispose of waste in an efficient and safe manner.  A failure to keep up with this can lead to such things as rodents being attracted to the property if it was the case that a rodent issue was to arise and this resulted directly as a consequence of not maintaining a level of effective and efficient waste disposal on a regular basis, this could have negative consequences on the deposit you paid on the property.

-Ensure that emergency exits are kept clear with a clear exit route in case of emergencies.

This is for obvious reasons, the last thing that is needed is any obstacles that may be a hindrance to overall health and safety, it is in the best interest of all parties involved that this potential risk is minimised as much as possible with exit routes kept clear.

-The grass (if applicable at your property) is kept well maintained.

Whilst it is the responsibility of the landlord for the overall structural maintenance (in such cases where there may be an underlying structural issue beyond your control), the overall regular maintenance of the grass is the responsibility of the tenants. The grass should be cut on a regular basis to avoid overgrowth, which could lead to long-term structural damage to the grounds.

-Tenants mustn’t tamper with batteries of carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms. As a key health and safety component, batteries must not be

removed from such items as this would prevent them from working in the case of a fire for example. Also, smoke alarms shouldn’t be covered as this could

prevent them from detecting a potential fire hazard threat.

-Seasonal maintenance tasks.

It is of vital importance that tenants respond to seasonal changes in climate in a manner that enables the appropriate level of

maintenance for the property. An example of this is snow, this should be shovelled to keep the driveway clear at all times. Also, in the Autumn – tenants

must do their best to sweep the fallen leaves to avoid a build-up in certain areas of the property/grounds of the property.

Overall, any issues that arise out of a lack of maintenance on the part of the tenant could potentially lead to the deposit being negatively affected and it is in the best interest of all that tenants play their part to sufficiently maintain the property so as to prevent such an occurrence.