Should fines be issued for messy front gardens?
I’m looking for a place to buy at the moment, and a front garden that’s full of junk is a real turn-off. A government antisocial behaviour proposal suggests fining people who leave rubbish in their front garden.
I’m house hunting at the moment, and as an avid gardener, a good garden is important to me. But it’s not just my garden that’s important to me – it’s the others in the street.
Even a garden that’s just unkempt is off-putting, so I can understand that householders feel that messy gardens blight their street, especially if they’re trying to sell or rent out a property.
Garden Criminal Behaviour Orders
A government White Paper on antisocial behaviour has proposed that people who leave rubbish in their front gardens could be fined or taken to court. But in fact, councils already have the power to prosecute people who are neglecting their plot.
Stephen McGlade, a Which? Legal Service lawyer, says:
‘Councils have long since been able to intervene and ask an owner or occupier who neglects a piece of land to tidy up the site, and to fine them if no action is taken. Anyone can complain to the council about the condition of any land in its area. The council may also act without a complaint being made.’
Eyesore Gardens Scheme
The Barking and Dagenham area must be looking pretty smart these days, because its council has been using its existing powers to run its Eyesore Gardens Scheme for the last three years. The scheme dealt with 3,050 untidy gardens last year – an average of more than eight per day. That’s a hell of a lot of messy gardens that needed some attention, and suggests that the problem is pretty widespread.
But what constitutes an ‘untidy’ garden, exactly – or a ‘health hazard’ for that matter? Piles of rubble, broken fridges and old mattresses presumably count, but what about gardens that are just overgrown? One woman I know sowed a wildflower meadow in her front lawn, and drew complaints from her neighbours, who thought the un-mown look spoilt the look of their street.
What do you think constitutes a messy garden, and have you approached your council about a troublesome garden in your area? How quickly was it dealt with?
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Dean
In my opinion, conservation and housing association areas are the only places that the rule should apply. There is no law saying that you have to repaint your house, repoint the brickwork, buy a new door, replace the rotting windows, repave your drive if it is falling into disrepair.
If there is a garden on your street with junk in it, either the person is a hoarder or they are renting, or both. The council can come and remove all of it free of charge anyway, it just needs someone with the knowledge of this to just ring them up. Maybe someone just couldn’t get all the stuff in a car to take it to the recycling centre.
You are never going to find a street that’s perfect, so I recommend buying a brand new house, like my partner and I did. Then all the gardens in the street are small, well kept and immature. Plus seeing as it’s a new house, people are very wary about what they plant and where they plant it creating some really interesting and unique streets.
Em
>>> There is no law saying that you have to repaint your house, repoint the brickwork, buy a new door, replace the rotting windows, repave your drive if it is falling into disrepair. <<<
Not true. The Town and Country Planning Act Section 215 gives local planning authorities powers to require proper maintenance of land. In this context, "land"" includes buildings.
Dean
Sorry, I think you have misinterpreted that “rule” Em
You have also applied your own context.
“Proper Maintenance” is subjective and you give no indication as to whether this rule relates to private or commercial properties or even clarified where it says that this rule is pertinent to general upkeep. It is a completely vague rule to which you have incorrectly decided applies to the comments I made.
Perhaps you should’ve added “only if it a risk to public health” or “only if there is a risk to damagin nearby property” or something like that. Or maybe quoted the exact rule that states that it applies to private dwellings.
I’m happy to accept that there is some sort of rule, but the example you give really cannot be used in this case.
dieseltaylor
Absence of a law does not mean that allowing a building or a garden to decay is actually desirable either for the individual or the neighbours. Dean says “The council can come and remove all of it free of charge anyway”. Is there any example of this please?
The UK has a history of laissez-faire towards social legislation and perhaps we are now getting to an era where people specifically require laws to understand their duties to society. In Germany they have always felt a need for everyone to observe the same standards: e.g.
“Winter Service and Street Sweeping: If there is no caretaker then residents are legally obliged to remove snow and ice from in front of their house during winter. This is generally stated in the rent contract. If tenants are responsible for removing snow and ice then they are liable for all injuries incurred if they fail to meet their obligations. In some regions the streets also have to be swept once a week.”
Perhaps not keeping rubbish in the garden is not too much of a restriction on a resident.?
Em
@ Dean – I appreciate that you might not recognize how s.215 could relate to your post, as even local planning authorities (LPAs) sometimes fail to understand its very broad scope and application. So I have posted a link to the Best Practice Guidance that was issued to LPAs in 2005.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/townplanningact
You will see from this that it does apply to private dwellings and it does concern itself with the general upkeep of properties:
“Section 215 has been effectively used on … [other circumstances] … as well as the more typical rundown residential properties and overgrown gardens.”
“The scope of works that can be required in s215 notices is wide and includes planting, clearance, tidying, enclosure, demolition, re-building, external repairs and repainting.”
It also contains some “before and after” photographic case studies, if you don’t want to read chapter and verse.
There does not have to be any specific risk to public health or safety – these are dealt with under other, more specific, laws.
The only requirement for a s.215 notice to be served is detriment to amenity, in the opinion of the LPA. Normally, a threat of action by the LPA is sufficient to cause remedial works to be undertaken, or the property to be sold on to a more responsible owner/developer.
If your LPA is not initially sympathetic and you feel there is a genuine case, pressure from other like-minded residents and local councillors may well do the trick. I’ve seen it work in practice to good effect.
Liz Ransome
This is a tricky one as the ‘face’ appeal of a place is so subjective. Of course broken appliances and stained mattresses are a given to go in the unacceptable pile. But when it comes to how you design your garden there can’t be restrictions as everyone’s tastes are different.
Nikki Whiteman
Oooh, this is a tricky one. I live in a ground floor flat and have a real problem with my neighbours upstairs dumping their stuff in the garden – old bits of wood, curtain poles, and – yes – the obligatory mattress. I have explained it to them but they keep doing it, so the rubbish becomes my responsibility. I do clear it away, but am annoyed at having to do it, and would be even more annoyed if I were fined for it, given that it’s not my rubbish!
I can see why it means a lot to people that their local area is kept in good shape, as it does help to give a better impression – especially if you’re trying to sell or rent a property. But ultimately I think encouragement is a better course of action than punishing people. After all – they may not know that the council will take things for free, or it may well (as in my case) be their neighbours’ rubbish!
dieseltaylor
If you live in a flat your lease should be clear who owns the garden space so I am a loss to understand what is happening. Either they are dumping it on your garden or it is their garden anyway. It is conceivable that it is communal but that is rare if we are talking a two flat house.
wavechange
Keeping the place reasonably tidy is simply being considerate to neighbours and others who live in the area. Some council estates have many gardens over-run with weeds and I feel very sorry for those who enjoy gardening and put in a lot of effort to have an attractive garden.
Eleanor
I think it’s about finding a balance, as well as collective action.
We put a lot of effort into our garden and we also help our neighbours (one of whom is disabled and one who is elderly) to keep on top of their gardens by cutting their hedges, mowing their lawns and weeding.
We live on a estate (part private housing and part housing association). There is some Council owned “green” land at the end of our road that was left to overgrow and look unsightly which we, along with some other neighbours on our street, now look after ourselves and have planted nice shrubs and bushes (those who can afford to have donated one plant each). Collectively this is cheap, relatively easy and non time consuming.
Dumping rubbish in your garden (old bits of wood, broken toys and furniture, and – yes – the obligatory manky mattress) is altogether different and those responsible should be fined if they don’t do anything about it.
I think that housing associations in particular need to take more responsibility and support and encourage their tenants not to dump rubbish. They also need to bring persistent offending tenants to account. Certainly where we live it is the housing association who neglects its responsibility to ensure that its properties are well maintained and kept clear of rubbish, despite repeated requests for it to do so.
wavechange
That makes a lot of sense, Eleanor, and it is considerate to help out neighbours.
John Ward
I think a lot of the problems stem from the refusal of local councils to take away bulky refuse free of charge these days. Most make a charge and set a limit plus other restrictions. My council charges £27 for up to five items then £5 per item up to a combined total of 15 items in any one collection. People on council tax or housing benefit or with pension credit pay a reduced charge but can only have one collection per twelve-month period. Then there are rules about how, when and where the waste should be presented. More enlightened authorities, in order to encourage a better streetscene, make no charge or organise six-monthly community collection schemes, provide skips in designated places, and have roving dustcarts clearing people’s frontages. I’m not condoning messy gardens but I think any council that wants to start fining people must first offer a reasonable service. In my experience there is some connexion between financial hardship and front garden junk and in many areas the community is just not cohesive enough to help people with their bigger waste. As for landlords, social or otherwise, instead of helping they just seem to abdicate all responsibility and then wonder why, when a tenant has quit, they have to clear a mountain of stuff from the property.
I could go on about civic values and the failure of schools to instil any sense of social discipline but that’s for another day or another topic.
Jack
My house is the only one left in our street that still has a front garden, All of the rest have been flattened & turned into car parking areas? some legal some illegal.
Jean
I live in Townhill Swansea some of the gardens here are a disgrace, what people do not realise is that the front of a house shows what sort of person you are, a neet tidy garden shows that you take pride in your surroundings and yourself, I had a horse get into my garden due to the local council turning a blind eye to animals kept in back gardens, the animal caused approx £100.00 damdage to plants the owners of the animal just laughed and the Council and police did nothing not even a response to the complaint. How can people who keep their property looking nice hope to win when the councills do nothing about untidy gardens and animals kept in unapropriate conditions.
rich
hi people i have approx 3 ton of garden waste in my front garden as i have recently set up my own gardening business and do not yet have the income to pay the council £35-£50 per half ton at my local tip.half the rubbish is from my garden itself and the rest from customers gardens.my neighbours and landlord are threatening me with fines if i do not clear it. I want to no if im legally obliged to do so.i understand it does not look amazing for the rest of the road but i currently cant afford non essential things such as tipping fees and council fines.any help would be amazing thanks rich.
Maz
Rich,
You are entitled to take your own garden waste to a local tip and it should be free of charge. If you enquire locally you may find that there are other free ways of getting rid of garden waste.
You should not risk turning your front garden into a mini tip as you will incur the wrath of neighbours, local Environmental Health officers, etc.
If you have any wood, e.g. logs then you could try selling on E Bay or give away on sites like Freecycle.
Good luck with your business.