Overgrown Garden (Shared Ownership)

B

Babyboo

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Just wondering if anyone else has has this experience.

We are purchasing a house through Shared Ownership with the council. The house itself internally is fine. However the front and back gardens are overgrown with weeds and the council won't cut them down before we move in. We feel that the house is not in presentable order and if we were buying on the open market, this wouldn't be an issue because the seller would ensure that the house is in reasonable condition for the buyer including the external property. As the council are the vendor (and effectively the buyer together with us) we believe that we shouldn't have to cut down this grass as it is a big job. The weeds are over 6 feet high in both the front and back gardens. If it was a case that a manual lawnmower would do the job, then we would cut it ourselves. Unfortunately this is not the case though and we haven't the machinery to do it

Has anybody has this experience? Are we being selfish and unreasonale here?

Thanks
babyboo

 
If you don't like the gardens, don't buy the house.

(excellent user-name BTW - apropos IMHO)
 
"As the council are the vendor (and effectively the buyer together with us) we believe that we shouldn't have to cut down this grass as it is a big job"

How do you figure the council to be both vendor and buyer??? As I understand it the council is facilitating your purchase of a private property (Ie a property you found on the open market yourself, and which the council is effectively funding the purchase of) . In the case of shared ownership and how that scheme is supposed to work the property is not the councils to sell, therefore they would have no responsibility with regards to the condition of the property or the garden for that matter, other than to survey the property for the purposes of offering you the finance to purchase it.

"If it was a case that a manual lawnmower would do the job, then we would cut it ourselves. Unfortunately this is not the case though and we haven't the machinery to do it"
What are you going to do when the house is actually yours??? Ring the council to come cut the grass???

I would personally think ye are being very selfish and unreasonable in this case.
 

mathepac - we are delighted with front and back gardens of the house aswell as the actually house itself. We have been on the list a long time and we jumped at the offer. I'll ignore your comment on my username

gazza1 - yes we know the council are funding it. Obviously we don't expect the council to maintain the garden for us when we live there. We know that - No need for that comment. Appreciate your opinion however. I thought myself that it might be unreasonable to ask them to cut the grass. I've asked several people about it mostly friends and family but none of them have gone through this scheme. This is why I wanted to ask on this forum

Some people are waiting to pounce on this site! I've been reading posts on this site several years and I never post one myself. I normally do a search if I have a question to see if someone else has a similar issue. I'll keep to the searching !!

I will though keep checking this post if anybody else has a comment
 
I think you should just cut the grass, go to a hire shop and get what you need from them. However, you may find that when you get rid of all of the weeds that you need a new lawn. Getting all of this sorted will only cost you a little bit of money and some time.

I assume it is a second hand house and therefore you are buying it "warts and all". Most gardens get a little out of control when they are being sold as the vendor does not care about it any more.
 
jack2009 - Yes we thought the same thing about hiring a machine and just doing it ourselves. We might actually enjoy it.. It can be a little project for us. The house is a new build so it's a blank canvass which is great
 
Well for a new build you might be right about having to get the weeds removed but it could be a nice little project for your to undertake. Best of luck
 
Hey Babyboo, its not by any chance the Clifden development that you are buying in, is it?
 
Hi Emma1980 - sorry for the late response...it's not no...it's not in Dublin. It's a new development in Kilkenny.
 
Get some friends together and get stuck in, you'd be surprised how fast you can make progress. Promise them a BBQ once you can get into the garden.

If you are putting loose stones down, it can be done very quickly.

Usually the problem is getting rid of the rubbish so you may have to invest in one of those skip bags.
 
Babyboo said:
Hi Emma1980 - sorry for the late response...it's not no...it's not in Dublin. It's a new development in Kilkenny.
Click to expand...

Oh right, its just that the house i moved into wasn't that bad but because 7 months later, half the houses still aren't occupied, the gardens are a disgrace! We were originally told that the security people who are there daily would be looking after the gardens and making sure the grass was kept cut but sure that never happened! Some of the gardens have huge stinger bushes growing about 6 feet tall and the full width of the garden! I certainly wouldn't envy anyone having to sort that out!!
 
I suggest you consider buying a scythe and a slash hook.

Never mind the garden, think of the value at childrens parties as you re-enact The Hogfather.

Besides Hallowe'en is nearly upon us once again and I know one estate in Kilkenny where it may surpass all expectations.

And finally, if any debt collector's call, you may find a hugely overgrown [6'] garden, a scythe and a slash hook all have uses you hadn't previously considered.

:-D

ONQ
 
AlbacoreA said:
Security people looking after gardens? I don't think so...
Click to expand...

that was security themselves that told us that. he apologised that he hadn't sorted ours out (ours wasn't in that bad condition though!) security stay in the house at the back of mine/
 
Babyboo said:
Some people are waiting to pounce on this site! I've been reading posts on this site several years and I never post one myself. I normally do a search if I have a question to see if someone else has a similar issue. I'll keep to the searching !!

I will though keep checking this post if anybody else has a comment
Click to expand...

By the looks of things, never a truer word has been said! I've been posting on this site for a while now and found it extremly helpful when i was moving into my house. There's no need for smart comments, if someone's not going to be helpful, then don't bother posting.
 
jaybird - yes I expect them to clean the windows and make the tea!! Again silly comment!

Emma1980, ONG, Romulan - Thanks for the constructive talk and funny comments. We will hire the equipment and just get stuck into it....or not......we'll just leave it the way it is and let the neighbours complain ; )
 
oh right! ha!
anyway, best of luck with the garden, i don't envy you!! but seriously, there's no harm in enquiring with the council about it....
 
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