messy property

[beyonche]

is there a law which states that a landlord must maintain their proerties appearance outside, IE the front and back garden? I live in a terraced house and get along with all of my neighbours, however one of my neighbours has rubbish and items of scrap in the front garden. Their back garden is even worse and i am concerned about when i come to sell my house in the near future. Does anyone know what the legal standing is? Surely the landlord should be maintaining the property?

[Velvetee]

I imagine if the tenants live there, the rubbish and scrap must be theirs. Tenants are responsible for the upkeep and cleanliness of the interior, but the landlord for any repairs or maintanance required. I imagine the same would apply to the gardens.

[Twenty20]

It's probably not pleasing to the eye but I dont see how you can tell someone else how they should keep their garden. You could try a polite letter to the landlord and see if that has an effect.

[Whoever]

Write to the landlord and ask him to get the place cleaned up because you've seen rats running around in the rubbish and you're going to make a complaint to the Council.

[beyonche]

Thanks for the prompt replies. Does anyone know how you get the contact details for the landlord other than from the tennants themselves?

[bushbaby_de]

Slightly late response but.....
f you want to find out who owns a property you will have to do a land registry search, which I believe you can do online for a few pounds but I have never done it before. If the garden is an absolute tip, say with items of junk in the front garden that has been there for some time (not just temporarily) it is possible that your local council can compel the owner to tidy up the land under s215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which allows Council's to require the clearing of land that they consider to be detrimental to the amenity of the local area - but it needs to be pretty bad! Hope this helps.
Katie