How To Create A Fuss Free Garden For Your Rented Property

To your tenants, the addition of a garden in a property they are looking to rent can be highly desirable and, in many cases, instrumental in their decision to choose your property over another.

But for you the landlord, you must also consider how easy it’s going to be for your tenants to maintain any outdoor areas, especially for tenants who have busy lifestyles. Likewise, those who lack the knowledge or even ability to look after more intricately designed gardens.

Given this consideration, it’s perhaps no wonder that landlords favour low maintenance gardens, as this ensures the tenant can easily keep on top of any outdoor areas. Plus at the end of the tenancy, the landlord is less likely to be faced with extensive work to tidy up the garden, because tenants were able to maintain it easily.

If you’re a landlord looking to let out a property, here are our top fuss free ideas to keep your rented garden looking ship shape without creating a hassle for your tenants in the process.

Gardens For Renters: An Overview

It can be tricky to know what to do with any garden that you plan on renting out. That’s because it won’t be you who is responsible for its upkeep anymore, as the responsibility will instead fall to your tenants.

Depending on how the garden is constructed, it may be easy to maintain or simply be unsuitable for tenants to look after. So the garden’s current suitability for renting is worth having a think about before putting any property on the market.

What Are The Tenant’s Responsibilities When It Comes To Garden Maintenance?

For anyone looking to become a landlord for the first time, it’s handy to know how much maintenance your tenants will be expected to keep up with by law. That way, you can ensure that the garden you let out as part of the property will fit within these requirements.

The only exception here is if you plan to include maintenance services as part of the rental agreement (i.e. to hire a gardener). For properties with larger grounds, such services are highly recommended.

However, in the vast majority of cases, it is expected that the tenant will take care of the garden, just as they’d expected to do so for the rest of the property.

So what does garden maintenance for a rented property entail? The answer lies in the terms you will set out as part of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement. At the very minimum, it is usually expected that tenants will keep the garden clean and tidy, including free from litter and ensuring it doesn’t become overgrown. Although, it’s worth noting that tenants are not expected to take care of specialist jobs such as removing dangerous branches from trees or pruning hedges.

Tenants will also be expected to return the garden in the same state as which it was let out to them, which also means they are not expected to make improvements, should it be overgrown, as an example. On the other side of the coin, tenants cannot make vast changes to the design or features within the garden without your permission.

Think Twice About Real Lawn

There’s no denying that a real grass lawn looks lovely. If only lawns stayed looking that way without the need for intervention!

In the summertime, lawns ideally need mowing every 7-10 days. This is going to mean there will need to be a lawnmower for your tenant to use, and they will need to give up the time to mow the lawn as soon as the grass starts getting too long. Naturally, such a time consuming task can be extremely off-putting for tenants, especially busy young professionals or those with mobility issues, as just two common examples.

Add in any pets your tenants may have, and your once beautiful lawn will soon develop discolouration patches should any dogs or cats use the lawn as a toilet.

So, while it may pain you to rip up a lawn and place an artificial lawn down instead, it will ensure the garden is far easier to maintain. Plus, without the presence of a muddy lawn, dogs won’t be running in and out with muddy paws as much either.

If you do want to keep a grass lawn, consider whether the size is appropriate for your tenants to manage. Otherwise, you may need to hire someone to come and maintain your lawn on their behalf.

Remove Any Potential Safety Hazards

Part of being a good landlord is anticipating the needs of your tenants, especially when it comes to preventing any accidents or general discomfort from living in your property.

When it comes to rented gardens, there can be any number of safety hazards depending on the tenants you are looking to attract. For example, ponds or pools aren’t child friendly, and uneven paving or gravel aren’t wheelchair friendly.

So, it’s worth considering whether the surface needs updating so that it’s safe and suitable for everyone, including those with additional needs. Composite decking is one such option to consider.

You’ll also need to consider the outdoor area as a whole, as if there are any broken or faulty areas that could cause injury, then such issues will also need to be addressed.

While removing any safety hazards may incur time and expense, it will mean less work is required for your tenants, and you’ll reduce the chances of having any legal issues on your hands, should it be found the garden had any obvious safety issues that were not addressed prior to letting the property out.

Scale Back The Plants

Your tenants cannot be expected to tend to plants, whether it be constantly watering them, deadheading them, removing weeds etc. So, consider if the plants you have at present will incur lots of work for your tenants or if they are able to survive without much intervention.

Similar to artificial lawns, artificial plants make for a great alternative to using real plants. If renting out your family home, then any plants can always be moved elsewhere to avoid getting rid of them altogether.

Low Maintenance Composite Decking

We touched on installing a reliable, easy to install and maintain surface such as composite decking. However, it’s definitely worth considering for any rented garden because it offers you the landlord a plethora of benefits.

Let’s start with the installation. You don’t need to mess around with mixing concrete as you would with a patio, nor do you need to lift heavy paving slabs. Instead, everything you need to install your deck has been pre-determined to make it as simple as possible for competent DIYers or professional tradespeople to put together.

Once your decking has been installed, it will provide benefits such as being anti-slip, weather resistant, mould resistant and even fade resistant. Backed by a 10 year guarantee, your tenants can simply wipe down any stains and give the deck a gentle clean with soap and water as needed.

By far the biggest advantage of composite decking is it provides a safe and even surface for your tenants to enjoy their garden. Whether they want to sit out in the sun, entertain guests or simply spend time with their family, composite decking makes it a seamless experience. Plus, as composite decking is available in a wide range of colours, it also looks extremely visually pleasing too, which will boost the attractiveness of your property as a whole when looking to rent or sell it.

Allow Room For Personalisation

A final point to note is that while your focus will be on creating a low maintenance garden that’s easy for your tenants to maintain and doesn’t cause you the landlord endless headaches, there also needs to be some room for your tenants to personalise the space.

While they may not be permitted to make heavy changes, the ability to move items around or add smaller installations can help the space feel more like a home.

We’d certainly recommend having a discussion with your tenants about how they would like to use their outdoor space so that you all remain on the same page. As an example, tenants with children may want to install some outdoor play equipment, and for those with pets, they may prefer a lawn that’s artificial or additional security measures on the fencing to avoid pets escaping etc.

Composite Decking Near Me – Dino Decking

Are you a landlord looking to rent your property out and need some help in making your garden suitable for tenants? Here at Dino Decking, we supply composite decking across the UK including for homeowners and landlords.

If you need any help in selecting the right deck for your needs, you can reach our customer team at any time by giving us a call on 01942 355968 or dropping us an email at support@dinodecking.co.uk.

As well as giving us a call, if you’re local to Wigan you can also visit our showroom to see our decking in person.

Based elsewhere in the UK? Order your free composite decking samples today, and we’ll send you a beautiful range of our decking options.

You can also download our brochure to browse our full range of products.