Gardens

Our gardening contractors work to seasonal schedules to visit some of our properties to maintain the outdoor space. Poor weather can affect their visits and create a backlog, but we do our best to let you know when gardening visits are due.

Gardens - common questions

The gardening budget can only be used for general maintenance of the garden, such as:

• Grass-cutting
• Hedge and shrub maintenance
• Leaf and litter collection

The gardening budget should not be spent on garden furniture, ornaments, or barbecues. If the tenants want these items in their garden they will have to pay for these themselves.

We want to hear more about how you feel the gardening services are working so that we can make sure they meet the needs of the tenants and provide value for money.

If you wish to provide feedback on the service, good or bad, or you have a question that is not answered above please contact us in whichever way is easiest for you:

• Use the Live Chat function at the bottom of this page
• Email us at RWPContracts@progressgroup.org.uk
• Phone us on 0333 320 2675

If you wish to make a complaint about the service provided you can also find out more about our policy on our feedback page.

How do I request additional gardening works to be carried out?

Any request for work to be done to trees must be sent to your housing officer so that any restrictions such as Tree Preservation Orders or boundary issues may be investigated.

If a tenant wants to install a garden shed, greenhouse, pond or other permanent
structure they will need to get written permission from us before doing so.

These items will remain the responsibility of the tenant(s) to maintain in future. If the tenant moves out, they may come to an arrangement with any remaining tenants for them to take over responsibility for the item. If this is not possible the item must be removed and the area returned to its original state.

If there are any permanent structures within the garden which tenants want removed for example fences, hedges or sheds, please contact your housing officer to obtain written permission before these are removed.

Small-scale environmental improvements can be carried out to the external areas around tenants’ homes when needed. The tenant, or you, should contact your housing officer in the first instance to discuss if the improvement will qualify under the scheme.

Environmental improvements are generally works that are over and above repairs to external areas as part of routine repairs or planned maintenance. So, for instance, a repair to existing fencing would not qualify under this budget.

Environmental improvement work must:

• Improve the tenant’s quality of life by helping them to use the space around their home more easily or safely
• Be relatively small-scale.

Here are some examples of the type of work we can do but this list does not include everything:

• Additional fencing or gates
• Moving a bin store to a different place
• Small-scale garden landscaping projects
• Contributions to larger-scale garden landscaping projects
• Improving access in a garden for wheelchair users.