The garden was cleared of any building material/rubbish before they moved in. The lawn needs to be leveled and planted and the concrete yard needs to be redone as it is old. There is also some fencing to be done.
My parents hadn't intended on renting it out so quick- they were contacted by friends of the tenants who live nearby and knew the house and being done up to lease. It was them who asked to to move in mid-August as that was when their existing lease expired.
Anyway, the contractor arrived this morning and hopefully all work will be completed in the next few days