Been Renting for 3 years... Redecorating?

ronson49

No Longer With Us
Thanks.

Jowo_2

You need to seek permission to decorate. It is not a landlord's responsibility to pay for any kind of improvement, including decoration, during a tenancy but you could chat with the landlord to explain the problem and reach a mutual agreement. Some landlords will happily give consent and chip into the costs. Others will be worried about the potentially poor standard of the decoration or the tenants use of daft colours, for example.

However, fair wear and tear is approximately defined as natural deterioration under ordinary usage and I would think that the darkening of paint above a heating unit would be classed as this, and not chargeable to a tenant. Have a chat with Shelter about this. After all, it wasn't caused by accident or through negligence. Also, a landlord has to take into account the condition of the item and its age when calculating a deduction from the deposit.

Do you have a signed inventory/schedule of condition? Are you worried about the landlord deducting your deposit for the condition of the paintwork?

There's some brief info here about decoration which again makes clear that a tenant isn't responsible for something that's damaged through normal use.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets/responsibility_for_repairs#6

tbs624

Write to the LL - you should always report staining from fires or other gas appliances, and most Ts are required to seek their LL's consent before redecorating a property let under an AST.

When was a gas safety check last done at the property?