Hello Everybody,
At the risk of sounding like a whinging Pom
I wonder if I could ask for some advice.I'm in the UK and have a very good real estate manager taking care of a house in a small town in south west WA. The back garden is approx 2000 sq metres, mainly grass and some shrubs and it also has 5 or 6 big eucalyptus trees.
The neighbours have complained about all the accumulated tree bark and other old vegetation in the garden, so the real estate manager got a quote to clear it up. He was advised that the best option would be to rake it all up and burn it – at a cost of $AD1000 plus a possible charge for the firebrigade to attend.
I'm not a local, so I could be wrong, but it seems a bit costly…. at the current exchange rate I could almost fly there and build the bonfire myself for that price!
Also, the house has a wood burning stove, is there a reason why the tenant doesnt just help himself to all the free fuel in the back garden?
Apologies if these are really dumb questions.
Many thanks.
Tangata,
I'm no expert, but wouldn't this be a tenant responsibility??
JLHello Tangata
I don't know how long your current tenant has been in the property but if the garden was in reasonably good condition (cleared/mowed/cutback) when they moved in and the lease states (usually does) that they are responsible for keeping the garden in the same state then your PM should be asking the tenant to fix it.
Check the lease with your PM and ask him to send the tenant a letter about maintaining the garden.
Cheers
Elka
Are back yard burn offs still legal in WA?
For $1k you'd get 3 men for a day plus rubbish removed – how many acres do you have?
its a bit under half an acre
I may be wrong, but my understanding is that you can't require a tenant to do any garden work – either that, or it's unwise to do so in case they hurt themselves and decide to sue you. (Can't remember, the issue came up years ago.)
In any case, I wouldn't have thought that garden tidying was essential work, but probably a good idea to reduce risks of snakes and other vermin. I reckon with 2000 m2 that if you get somebody to rake it all into one corner out of the way, that would be more than reasonable. Let it compost; burning is very environmentally unfriendly. And I would have thought that it could all be raked up for well under $500.
Tangata, in this case I agree that $1K is too much, but for future reference do bear in mind that tradesmen are much more expensive in Australian than in the UK! Watching "Property Ladder" and similar I can't believe how cheap builders, electricians and plumbers are in the UK.
HI there,
In summer in Western Australia these types of clearing particularly in the south West are necessary for the huge bushfire risk. As it is the middle of summer it is likely that there needs to be a professional do the burnoff which would include the need for permits etc. probably a revenue raising exercise for the local Govt but also to ensure the safety of all the neighbouring properties. The Local councils can require people to get rid off this type of debris if it poses a significant fire risk which if left undone can result in fines or Liability should a fire be fuelled by debris of this type. $1000 is probably a small price to pay and I would guess it is illegal at this time of year to have a DYI burn.
Natalie
Hi Tingata
You would be truly surprised at the amount of bark and branches that gum trees shed, particularly large ones.
Another option would be for the rubbish to be removed.
Perhaps your manager could obtain another quote to rake up and remove the rubbish.
Your neighbour will be concerned because of the bushfire danger.
Margthanks for all the advice folks.
The RE Manager emailed me today, its an extra $300 for the fire brigade permit. Luckily a friend in Mandurah has offered to go and take a look and see if he can clear the back garden for me.
I wonder if I could ask for some advice.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
