It’s the time of year that streets and gardens are, once more, covered in a blanket of leaves.
As pretty as this may look, our Landlord Advice Team has received a number of calls relating to the maintenance of gutters and who is responsible for clearing leaves from them.
Here we share one of them.
The problem
This landlord called this week to discuss gutters and gardens. During a recent inspection he’d noticed the garden was growing wild, the gutters appeared to be filling up to risky levels and the windows weren’t being cleaned.
The landlord was concerned about all of these things, and wanted our opinion on how best to proceed.
We started off by explaining that tenants are expected to act in what’s known as a ‘tenant-like manner’.
This means doing the small jobs around the house you would expect any normal person to do such as cleaning the windows or sweeping the chimney.
This was decided in a case in 1954 by Lord Denning and it’s still appropriate to use when explaining a tenant’s responsibility to them. We advised them they should remind their tenants of this.
However, it’s quite difficult to get the tenants to perform this general maintenance if they don’t want to.
In cases like this, the landlord needs to look at whether they may become potentially liable for disrepair, or whether or not the tenant’s deposit could be used to offset any damage caused.
Acting in a tenant-like manner specifically includes cleaning the windows. It’s an example cited in the case so it’s definitely applicable. We asked our landlord if he had an inventory for the check in that covered these areas specifically.
He confirmed he’d had a professional inventory performed which covered the property and the condition of the garden. It did not mention the gutters however. Window cleaning then was a cost that could be deducted.
Regarding the gardening, we enquired as to whether or not the tenant had been provided with the tools to cut the grass and generally maintain the garden.
The landlord had in fact provided gardening equipment to his tenants. As such he should be able to deduct the cost of putting the garden right at the end of the tenancy from the deposit.
Guttering however is a tricky one.
The landlord has an obligation to keep exterior of the property in good repair, so many take this to mean the landlord is responsible and damaged or blocked drains could lead to the landlord being held liable.
It’s also potentially risky for the landlord to allow the tenants to clamber up to the top of their property to do this when a professional could do this relatively easily.
However, many do consider that there is a difference between keeping something in good repair and keeping something clear.
The argument is that clearing the guttering would be acting in a tenant-like manner. With that in mind, the landlord has to wonder whether it’s in his interests to leave himself at risk?
Also as there was no inventory in this case, it’s unlikely the landlord would be able to prove that the gutters had been cleared before the tenant moved in. As such, getting costs back would be very difficult.
We advised the landlord that it would be best for them to get the gutters cleared in this case.
We also discussed whether it would be better to simply provide this service as part of the rent in the future or whether or not they should put a clause in their tenancy making the tenant explicitly responsible for unblocking the gutters.
Satisfied with this answer, and happy to know what he should do to keep himself and his property safe, the landlord went away to contact the tenant regarding their tenant like responsibility.
Rupinder Aujla, LAT Manager said: “Responsibility for repairs can be a complex issue and landlords should always try and balance what the tenant is responsible for with what is the most practical way to prevent their property being damaged. We’re always happy to help with discussing this.”
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