A homeowner has been threatened with legal action by the housing developer he bought his property from – after he paved over his OWN lawn.
John Twidale, 60, labelled the grass outside his two-bed home “a mess” so he decided to replace the turf with blocks costing £2,000.
But now, John has received a letter from Gleeson Homes saying he will have to change it back due to terms and conditions – despite owning the mortgaged property.
The company says it has restrictions on what residents can do “to maintain the attractive appearance of the development and property values”.
John, who bought the new build in Hartlepool, Tyne and Wear, almost three years ago, will now have to reinstate the lawn by February 28 – or will be taken to court.
Speaking about the incident, Mr Twidale said: “It is my house I paid for it – nobody has complained and all my neighbours said what a lovely job it was.
“It has been down nearly a year – other people on the estate have had theirs done and I just followed suit.
“The grass was against wall – you couldn’t get a lawn mower up against it and it just looked like a mess.
“I just can’t understand it. They never told me anything about this when I moved in, it’s all in the small print.”
After being in his home in Whistlewood Close for a year, and having problems with his legs, John thought the turf was too much maintenance.
So in March 2016 he decided to replace the grass at the front of his home with block paving because other residents had done the same.
Mr Twidale has also replaced a patch of grass in his back garden with artificial turf and the developer has allowed him to put down paving around his garage.
But the letter he received from Gleeson Homes’ solicitors says: ‘You are aware that the grass at the front of the property has been replaced with block paving and it has been requested that this be removed as it is in breach of the terms of your Transfer.
‘We are instructed to ask you to dismantle and remove the block paving and reinstate the grass at the front of the property by no later than the 28th February 2017.
‘If you fail to deal with this our client will have no other option but to take court proceedings against you and seek an injunction ordering the work to be done and also damages and costs.’
A spokesperson for Gleeson Homes added: “It is important that we have restrictions on what residents can do to their properties in order to maintain the attractive appearance of the development and property values.
“When an individual carries out unauthorised works we have an obligation to other residents to require the works to be reversed.
“Other residents who have removed their front lawns are also subject to attention from us.”
