Is the garden the landlord's responsibility or the tenant's?

Across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, garden responsibility is mainly a tenancy-agreement issue, not a universal landlord-or-tenant rule. The crucial distinction is between repair and ordinary upkeep: statutes impose repair duties on landlords, but mowing, weeding, watering and end-of-tenancy garden condition usually need clear wording.

Is garden maintenance the landlord's responsibility or the tenant's?

Warren v Keen (Court of Appeal) holds a tenant owes no duty to maintain or hand back a garden in any state absent an express clause. That is the opposite of the advice-site claim, repeated by NRLA, that a silent tenancy still implies the tenant must return the garden as found; the judgment governs, and the implied duty claim has no legal basis in England and Wales because “Apart from express contract, a tenant owes no duty to the landlord to keep the premises in repair.” Landlord repairing duties are narrower: England and Wales require repair of “the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house,” while Wales defines the dwelling to include land occupied with it unless agricultural land exceeds 0.809 hectares. Scotland’s repairing-standard definition of a house includes “any yard, garden, garage, out-house or other area,” but the Scottish model PRT garden clause is still a clause, not a mowing statute. Northern Ireland requires landlord repair of the dwelling-house structure and exterior, while tenants must take proper care of the premises as good tenants. In practice, tenant garden maintenance responsibilities in the UK should be written into the agreement if the tenant is expected to cut the grass.

What should a garden maintenance clause in a tenancy agreement say?

A garden maintenance clause should say exactly which jobs the tenant must do, which jobs the landlord keeps, and how the garden will be judged at the end of the tenancy or occupation contract. The clause should be specific enough to answer cutting grass, weeding, watering, leaves, patios, paths, lawns, borders, hedges, shrubs, ponds, trees, decking, tools, waste, access for a gardener and seasonal change. A strong tenant wording is the mydeposits example requiring the tenant to “cut the grass (if any) of the property with an appropriate garden mower as necessary from time to time to keep the grass in a neat and tidy condition, and to keep the patio areas, paths, garden areas, lawns, flower beds, shrubs or bushes and borders as tidy, weed free and in seasonal order as at the start of the tenancy.” In Wales, this is an additional agreed term: government consultation material says, “Additional terms will often be included in an occupation contract to address specific issues, for example, an agreement for the contract-holder to maintain the garden.” In Scotland, the model PRT uses the simpler form: “The Tenant will maintain the garden in a reasonable manner.”

Are tenants responsible for trees, hedges and decking?

Tenants are not automatically responsible for trees, hedges or decking unless the tenancy makes them responsible, but occupiers still owe safety duties to visitors and tenants should not carry out risky cutting, structural repairs or alterations without consent. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the occupier owes visitors the common duty “to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe,” so an obvious dangerous branch or rotten deck should be reported and not ignored. Landlords often retain trees because safety, height, protected trees and specialist work are landlord-risk issues; NRLA guidance says, “Landlords are usually responsible for the maintenance of trees and climbing plants, making sure they are safe,” but some market ASTs put hedges into the tenant’s garden duties. A high-hedge notice in England and Wales binds “every person who is for the time being an owner or occupier” of the hedge land. Decking is different again: existing decking may be a repair or safety issue, while new decking is an alteration; in Northern Ireland, a tenant “shall not carry out any alterations to those premises without the consent of the landlord.”

What can you do if a tenant is not looking after the garden?

If a tenant is not looking after the garden, the landlord’s remedies are evidence, notice, access by agreement, deposit or damages at the end, and — only where a clear clause exists — breach action rather than a freestanding garden-maintenance power. In England and Wales, a silent agreement is weak because Warren v Keen states, “Apart from express contract, a tenant owes no duty to the landlord to keep the premises in repair”; in England, where the tenancy is an assured tenancy, breach of a garden clause may fit Ground 12, which covers where “Any obligation of the tenancy (other than one related to the payment of rent) has been broken or not performed.” In Wales, the equivalent route is breach of the occupation contract under Renting Homes rather than Housing Act 1988 Ground 12. In Scotland, the model PRT says, “The Tenant will maintain the garden in a reasonable manner,” and the official easy-read notes add, “If the tenant does not do this, then the landlord can do it instead and ask the tenant to pay back the costs.” In Northern Ireland, the tenant “shall take proper care of the premises comprised in that tenancy as a good tenant.” For a live tenancy, the practical route is dated check-in photos, inspection notes, a written request to remedy, and a narrowly evidenced cost if the clause is still ignored.

Can you charge an outgoing tenant for the state of the garden?

You can charge an outgoing tenant for garden condition only where the tenancy or occupation contract was breached and the charge reflects loss, not ordinary seasonal growth or improvement beyond the original condition. In England, the Tenant Fees Act allows “A payment of damages for breach of a tenancy agreement or an agreement between a letting agent and a relevant person,” so end of tenancy gardening charges must be framed as damages, not a fixed penalty or automatic cleaning-style fee. In Wales, the garden can be part of the dwelling because the Act says a dwelling “includes any land occupied together with the dwelling, unless the land is agricultural land exceeding 0.809 hectares,” but the contract still needs a usable garden term. Deposit practice is evidence-led: NRLA’s TDS-based guidance says, “Landlords may claim from the deposit if the garden’s condition at check-out shows clear neglect or avoidable damage.” A dead lawn, lawn covered in wood chippings, or reinstating a garden before sale is therefore chargeable only to the extent it proves tenant breach and actual loss, with allowance for season, weather, length of tenancy and the check-in condition.

Who clears rubbish left in the garden?

Rubbish left by the landlord’s contractor before the tenancy starts is the landlord’s job to clear before handover; rubbish accumulated by the tenant during occupation is usually dealt with under the same express-clause, check-in and return-condition analysis as garden damage. If carpet fitters leave offcuts, packaging and waste in the garden just before a tenancy starts, the incoming tenant did not create that waste and should not be handed a property already burdened by the landlord’s works. Once the tenant is in occupation, waste law usually addresses the occupier rather than deciding the landlord-tenant contract: in Great Britain, a waste authority may require the occupier “to place the waste for collection in receptacles of a kind and number specified,” and in Northern Ireland a district council may also serve the notice on the occupier. If a tenant leaves rubbish in the garden at check-out, the landlord’s recovery depends on inventory photographs, waste clauses and evidence of removal cost. On private land, government guidance is blunt about fly-tipping: “Your council might charge you if it removes fly-tipped waste from your land.”

Do landlords have to provide bins?

Landlords do not generally have to provide bins for an ordinary non-HMO private let, because waste-bin notices are aimed at the occupier, but HMO rules can put bin provision directly on the manager or licence holder. In England, Wales and Scotland, the Environmental Protection Act allows the waste authority to serve the occupier with a notice requiring waste to be placed in specified receptacles and may “require the occupier to provide them.” Northern Ireland uses the same occupier model for non-HMOs: the council may require the occupier to place waste in specified receptacles. HMOs are the major exception: English HMO managers must “ensure that sufficient bins or other suitable receptacles are provided,” Welsh HMO managers have the same duty, and Northern Ireland HMO rules say, “Wheeled bins must be provided for occupiers, together with any other recycling bins as required in the council area.” Some councils recommend more from landlords anyway: Portsmouth says owners should ensure tenants have “suitable bins,” Ipswich tells renters to approach landlords to pay, and Cheltenham recommended landlords pay for receptacles; those are local positions, not the general statutory rule.

How do you make a rental garden low-maintenance?

You make a rental garden low-maintenance by reducing fast-growing lawn, fragile planting and discretionary work, then matching the tenancy clause to the design so nobody has to guess what upkeep means. There is no legal requirement in any UK nation to make a rental garden low-maintenance, but it reduces disputes because garden issues “account for between 12% and 15% of all end of tenancy disagreements which end up needing resolution services.” The most robust layout is hardstanding where appropriate, clear paths, simple borders, slow-growing shrubs, drought-tolerant perennials, no specialist trees within tenant reach, no loose gravel where it will migrate into lawns, and a practical storage point for any tools you do provide. NRLA’s market guidance says, “Slow growing, drought tolerant flowering shrubs and perennials combined with hard landscaping is as near to maintenance-free as you can get with a garden,” and notes that landlords can consider artificial grass. Check the numbers before installing it: Checkatrade puts artificial-grass supply and fit at “between £45/m² and £80/m² all-in.” Abodient can store the tenancy, garden clause, check-in photos and maintenance documents against the property, which matters because garden deductions are won or lost on what was agreed and evidenced.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Warren v Keen [1954] 1 QB 15 — “Apart from express contract, a tenant owes no duty to the landlord to keep the premises in repair.” Source
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.11 — “(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.246 — “(b)includes any land occupied together with the dwelling, unless the land is agricultural land exceeding 0.809 hectares.” Source
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 s.194 — “(ii) any yard, garden, garage, out-house or other area or structure which is, or which is capable of being, occupied or enjoyed together with the living accommodation (solely or in common with others),” Source
• Private Residential Tenancy Model Agreement, Scottish Government — “The Tenant will maintain the garden in a reasonable manner.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.7 — “(a)shall keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house comprised in that tenancy;” Source
• mydeposits garden clause example — “cut the grass (if any) of the property with an appropriate garden mower as necessary from time to time to keep the grass in a neat and tidy condition, and to keep the patio areas, paths, garden areas, lawns, flower beds, shrubs or bushes and borders as tidy, weed free and in seasonal order as at the start of the tenancy.” Source
• Welsh Government consultation on Renting Homes supplementary provisions — “Additional terms will often be included in an occupation contract to address specific issues, for example, an agreement for the contract-holder to maintain the garden.” Source
• Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 s.2 — “The common duty of care is a duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there.” Source
• NRLA guide to garden maintenance — “Landlords are usually responsible for the maintenance of trees and climbing plants, making sure they are safe.” Source
• Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 Part 8 — “(b)shall be binding on every person who is for the time being an owner or occupier of the land specified in the notice as the land where the hedge in question is situated.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.8 — “(d)shall not carry out any alterations to those premises without the consent of the landlord, but that consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2 Ground 12 — “Any obligation of the tenancy (other than one related to the payment of rent) has been broken or not performed.” Source
• Private Residential Tenancy Model Agreement easy-read notes, Scottish Government — “If the tenant does not do this, then the landlord can do it instead and ask the tenant to pay back the costs.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.8 — “(a)shall take proper care of the premises comprised in that tenancy as a good tenant;” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Schedule 1 paragraph 5 — “A payment of damages for breach of a tenancy agreement or an agreement between a letting agent and a relevant person is a permitted payment.” Source
• NRLA, garden damage deposit claims — “Landlords may claim from the deposit if the garden’s condition at check-out shows clear neglect or avoidable damage.” Source
• Environmental Protection Act 1990 s.46 — “Where a waste collection authority has a duty by virtue of section 45(1)(a) above to arrange for the collection of household waste from any premises, the authority may, by notice served on him, require the occupier to place the waste for collection in receptacles of a kind and number specified.” Source
• Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 art.21 — “21.—(1) Where a district council is required under Article 20(1)(a) to arrange for the collection of household waste from any premises, the council may, by notice served on him, require the occupier to place the waste for collection in receptacles of a kind and number specified.” Source
• GOV.UK waste on land guidance — “Your council might charge you if it removes fly-tipped waste from your land.” Source
• Environmental Protection Act 1990 s.46 — “(d)require the occupier to provide them.” Source
• Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 reg.9 — “(a)ensure that sufficient bins or other suitable receptacles are provided that are adequate for the requirements of each household occupying the HMO for the storage of refuse and litter pending their disposal; and” Source
• Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 reg.9 — “(a)ensure that sufficient bins or other suitable receptacles are provided which are adequate for the requirements of each household occupying the HMO for the storage of refuse and litter pending their disposal; and” Source
• Houses in Multiple Occupation (Living Accommodation Standard) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 reg.17 — “17.—(1) Wheeled bins must be provided for occupiers, together with any other recycling bins as required in the council area.” Source
• Portsmouth City Council landlord waste responsibilities — “However, as the owner of the building, it is your responsibility to ensure tenants have the correct information, suitable bins and waste storage facilities and to contact your tenants if concerns are raised regarding their waste storage or presentation of waste.” Source
• Ipswich Borough Council replacement bin charges — “If you rent your house from a private or social landlord you should approach them to pay for your bins.” Source
• Cheltenham Borough Council waste and recycling receptacles report — “It is recommended that landlords, like developers (see 3.3 above), should be paying for waste and recycling receptacles, not the Council and Council Tax payers as set out in paragraph 2.5 of the report from 5 August 2024.” Source
• NRLA guide to garden maintenance — “Garden issues are common and account for between 12% and 15% of all end of tenancy disagreements which end up needing resolution services.” Source
• NRLA guide to garden maintenance — “Slow growing, drought tolerant flowering shrubs and perennials combined with hard landscaping is as near to maintenance-free as you can get with a garden.” Source
• Checkatrade artificial grass cost guide — “Artificial grass supply and fit price ranges between £45/m² and £80/m² all-in (including the sub-base).” Source