How are the gardening costs calculated?
You are required to return the garden back to your landlord in the same condition that it was given to you. There is no wear and tear allowance on gardening, therefore, if there are any differences from your inventory at check-out, they will unfortunately be noted as dilapidations by the inventory company and you could be charged. The amount that you are charged depends on the size of the garden, the extent of the difference from your inventory and how much work is involved to return it to its original state. For example, small patios with a couple of flower beds will take the gardener a lot less time to do than a large garden with a lawn and hedge borders. Similarly, if a garden has been cut back to some extent, but some parts missed, this will not take as long to sort out than if the garden has been left to completely overgrow for several months. The gardener factors all of this in when invoicing for the job as well as costs involved in any green waste removal needed. Gardening charges can therefore vary considerably from around £40 up to £300+.
We did cut back our garden before we moved out but didn’t manage to remove the green waste, is this correct that we should pay for this now and why is it so much?
Part of the clearance of your garden prior to your check-out should include removing all green waste. Large piles of this left in gardens attracts vermin and can take a long time to break down naturally. New tenants will be moving into the property shortly after you vacate, therefore, the garden needs to be cleared and ready for them to use. If we need to get our gardener to remove any green waste once you have checked out, then unfortunately there will be a charge for this. Our gardener charges for their time to remove this as well as the cost of disposing of it at a commercial green waste disposal site. The amount you could be charged depends on the amount of waste left; the larger the amount, the longer it will take our gardeners to load it onto their truck for removal and the more they will be charged for disposal.
