Do I need permission to make changes to my front garden?

slinxy · 31 Jul 2020 at 14:26

Hi

The issue that I'm having is that I live on a corner plot and people tend to want to save 2-3 seconds of their lives by using my drive and front garden as a shortcut, which allows them to look straight into my open plan downstairs. My car has been vandalised once and dog walkers allow their pets to mark their mark their territory on my car.

Sorry if I get the terms wrong here, I'm the lease holder of a property which includes as fenced off back garden and the small open garden.

I want to place a low lawn edge fence and a bush to stop this from happening.. I've asked the freeholder management company, not the freeholder itself and they suggested that I place an alterations request in which would cost me £50 pounds for alterations that would cost less than that.

I'm going to have a look at the leaseholder/freeholder paper work later as it's kept in a safe place, but do you think I would need writen permission to make such changes?

Thanks

tom_e · 31 Jul 2020 at 14:39

In terms of permission from your freeholder no one here could tell you. Some of them have really weird conditions to stick to.

Hedge · 31 Jul 2020 at 14:49

I'd probably have just done it and not told anyone.

fastwunz · 31 Jul 2020 at 15:23

Hedge said:
I'd probably have just done it and not told anyone.

me to - it’s not like you are putting a permanent structure up and you are actually improving the property.

ik9000 · 31 Jul 2020 at 16:11

As others say JFDI and see what happens. The fact you've tipped them off isn't ideal but for something nice looking and not overly tall I can't see why they would object. so long as it doesn't prevent access to some vital infrastructure like a hydrant or manhole or something - and make sure you don't dig into any buried services. That's what that approval thing will check for you I guess. If you explain in your application why you are needing to do this it's hard to see them objecting.

As for written permission being reuqired? Legally I'm afraid it is. Unless specifically written in your lease you have right to erect and maintain fences on your boundary then usually works at the boundary do require consent. Now if it were within your boundary maybe not. But then you've giving away land for free once that line becomes established, and why bother doing that?

slinxy · 31 Jul 2020 at 17:27

I've tired looking for my lease contract and I just can't find it, odd as I have all the paperwork for the house all together in a folder. It may be a case of me signing and sending back the only copy of it.
I did find the property management paperwork, and it does mention the lease on that and it says they can't carry out any major work without my permission, so I assume it's likewise; so I the work is under £250 pounds (the amount that they are stated as major work), it's cool. Daft thing is that I and along with most of my neighbours have sheds in our gardens and no one has said anything.

Its odd as the company that owns the freehold farms off the maintence to one company and the ground rent to another company, but it says in the maintence contract that it's their responsibility that the lease agreement is upheld on both sides, so I'm going to give them a quick call, rather than the company that collects the ground rent as they are based in London and will likely never visit the place.