My tenants have been in my property for over 2 years. They recently informed me that the garden fence had fallen over. I went to the property and took photos and the fence has pretty much collapsed. When the tenants moved in, the inventory stated that the fence was in good order. I feel that the tenants should have been maintaining the garden as per the letting agreement and that they should have never let the fence get to the point of collapsing. I’m wondering whether this is neglect by the tenant or considered reasonable wear and tear? I’m potentially looking at having to put in a completely new fence rather than replacing a few fence boards if the deterioration had been noticed earlier and maintained properly.
I can’t imagine a fence ever collapsing within 2 years due to poor maintenance of garden.
The fence must have been failing when they moved in.
Wooden posts rotten I assume?
It’s your job to inspect regularly and to highlight these types of issues.
Thank you for your reply. You are right. I don’t want to wait until the inventory check out to find out that the property hasn’t been maintained. I do inspect the property regularly but I find it hard to find the line between what the tenant is expected to do in respect of maintaining a property and where the landlord fits in with regards to inspecting the property and raising issues.
The tenants can live as they want when they rent a property and I cannot legally tell them to clean or maintain anything as far as I understand. Of course, they are liable for any damage not deemed fair wear and tear at check out, but where then does the cost of repair fall to me or fall to them if they don’t maintain the property inside and out during a tenancy? If you have any suggestions, I would be grateful if you could share. The fence is just one issue.
You would be lucky to get any headway with a tenant and deposit scheme with a garden fence !
Too many things ie was the condition of the fence examined in detail at the inventory?
And many consider fences Ll responsibility.
Thank you. The letting agreement says that they have to maintain the garden and fence and it was in good order when they moved in. But really, it’s more to do with the fact that I am constantly fixing things at the property that I feel have broken from heavy-handedness or poor maintainance and I don’t know how to argue that I shouldn’t be paying all the time to repair things (unless, of course, it is a mechanical failure) The fence is just a long list of things but probably not the best example or the problem I’m trying to solve.
I think you may need to list further examples in detail if you would like opinions of what is and isn’t reasonable wear and tear.
Are the posts wood or concrete (or metal)?
How deep was the inspection of fence before move in?
Does AST state that tenant must paint/treat fence? (This would probably be classed as unfair or betterment)
A landlord is not usually obliged to maintain a fence so you could just tell them they have to fix it or live with it. Of course, if they leave you will probably have to fix it before you can re-let.
never use those pointed drive in spikes type metal post “starters” for fence posts as they just keel over in high winds. Best bet are concrete posts
Thank you for your response.
Thank you. That’s good to know. 
Excerpt from legal website;
“Making sure the property is secure
This means the whole property, including the boundary. The housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) has a list of 29 hazards that it’s your duty to protect your tenants against, and one of those is ‘danger by intruders’. So, for example, if a fence panel has blown down in the wind, it’s your responsibility to fix it, even if the tenancy agreement says that the tenant is responsible for maintaining the garden.”
The posts are wooden. The inspection was of the garden and fence at check in - not overly thorough on the fence specifically but noted that all was in good order. The AST does not state that the tenant needs to paint/treat the fence - it states that all areas of the garden are kept in the same condition as at the commencement of the tenancy.
Other examples:
The trellis in the garden has fallen off the wall and is now just lying in th flower bed.
Inside the house - there is a skirting board around the bottom of the shower unit - newly painted and treated on check in. The tenants have let water drip off the bottom on the shower door and the skirting board is now rotten with peel paint and has had to be replaced.
The loft door has broken because it was left hanging down when it was hot last summer and the hinges have been pulled off.
The blind has fallen down in the lounge.
The chord pull light in the bathroom has been pulled off and needed to be rewire and a new chord put up.
Bedroom door handle got stuck and had to be replaced.
Window handle came off in tenant’s hand.
The door lock on the washing machine has had to be replaced twice.
I’ve had none of these issues with other tenants. I keep fixing things but most of the time, I feel that the tenants are very heavy-handed and negligent and have caused the damage.
They definitely sound heavenly handed.
Washing machine door handles only break under force, especially when impatient tenant is trying to open before the water has drained away.
The shower one is more of a grey area in my opinion, sounds like more of a poor design.
some people are just clumsy , even if it were their own house they would be the same. But still the fence is down to yourself as landlord
Thanks everyone. Good to know your thoughts. Thanks for the help.
Its not usual for a garden fence to be regarded as an essential security measure. The security requirement usually just applies to the house/flat.