A mum is frustrated with a tenant who wants to rip out the "lovely" garden in front of the Victorian cottage she inherited from her aunt in order to transform it into a car parking space.
Just after Christmas 2021, the mum's aunt died and left her home to her, but as it's "too far" from her and her husband's places of work and neither of them drive, they've decided to rent it out until they relocate and move there in a few years' time.
The historical cottage is complete with a pretty garden boasting roses and a magnolia tree, as well as original railings, but it doesn't have a designated car parking space. Though "parking in the road seems to be difficult" as it's a busy street, "there are no double yellow lines or residents parking permits" so it's not "impossible" to park there.
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As part of efforts to counteract the potential parking issues their tenants may face, the mum and her husband "have factored this in with the rent and are charging [a third] below market [value]". But this hasn't deterred the "cheeky" tenant who is determined to rip the garden out in favour of transforming it into a private parking space with a dropped kerb.
The tenant has threatened to have the work done and "charge" the mum for the costs. Expressing her fears and frustrations in a Mumsnet post titled 'Can my tenant change the front garden of our house to a 'off road' parking area without our consent', the mum explained the situation and continued: "We rent this through an agency who have spoken to us a few times about putting in a parking area and we have said no, last September our tenant emailed me directly and asked me when the work was going to start, I forwarded it to the agents and told them to speak to the tenants.
"Last November the tenants emailed me again asking about the work and said they would be looking to pay a reduced rent until the work is done, again I forwarded it to the agents for them to deal with, today I got another email telling me if the work is not done in 3 months they have the 'legal' right to get their own company to do the work and charge us afterwards.
"I want to forward it to my agents but it seems the agents are not making it clear about the parking area or the tenants are ignoring them so I think I am going to have to deal with the last email myself."
She confirmed the tenants have never been promised parking spaces and she absolutely will not be changing her mind as she wants the garden to remain. She confirmed she and her husband are the sole owners of the property, and that this has been updated with the land registry, but is still concerned by the tenants' threats.
Fellow Mumsnet users flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts. One said: "Of course, they can't put in a dropped kerb without your permission. You are the owner and you need to contact the council for this kind of permission."
Another said: "What the hell are your agents doing? Tenants can't simply decide to make changes to your property without permission. Honestly, I'd serve notice to the CFs [cheeky f***ers]. And probably then to the agents."
A third commented: "I'm not an expert in this area but what the hell - surely not, it's your property. No a tenant cannot simply start major building work without the owner's permission! I would be going around and making that clear."
Another Mumsnet user said: "No, they can't do the work without your permission. I would get new tenants who respect your property. A Victorian cottage with roses and a magnolia tree sounds lovely. I think a strongly worded letter about not touching anything, and if they do it's criminal damage needs sending."
Several others advised the mum to seek legal action, and to put it in writing to both the tenant and the agents that there has never been plans to put in private parking, which has been reflected in the rent. In follow up comments, the mum confirmed the agents have told the tenants several times that the garden will not be changed, but they are very "persistent".
The mum added: "I have sent the tenant an email making it clear that the house does not come with a parking space and the rent reflects this and that I have seen emails from the agent explaining this to them I have made it very clear to them that no work will be undertaken or considered and they do not have permission to do any work themselves I am going to wait and see how they respond but I think the next step is to get rid if they won't accept what I have said."
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