LL not allowing us to repaint - advice required

lovebugfamilly

Hi , bit of background we have rented our current house for just over a year , rent always paid on time etc. I have contacted the letting agent who manages the property to ask if we could repaint in the same exact same colour and to confirm with LL that this was okay and to confirm exact shade we want to paint it in silk as it has been painted in matt and I have 2 children under 3 so everytime I wipe off their sticky handmarks paint comes off I do wipe their hands etc almost straight away but guess this sort of thing is evitable when you have a 2 yr old and an 8 month old.

Anyway he has said no and I really cannot understand why when we are painting it same colour and are paying for the paint ourselves , my concern is maybe he is looking to sell the property soon:( as the Letting agent said that of course there will come a time when it needs repainting etc and they will then ask LL again. I have asked to have this in writing as he is not allowing us to maintain property and I don't want to be in situation that I am blamed in anyway for it. Im now worried sick we are going to be evicted I have PND and this is not helping funnily enough the LL was happy for us to replace the nets in kitchen with blinds as we said we would probably leave them in situae when we leave.

G_M

Seems strange but does not necessarily mean the LL is going to sell. Do you have a fixed term contract or periodic monthly tenancy?

Was it the agent or LL who said 'no'? Might be worth talking to the LL direct.

poppysarah

Wear and tear - if the paint comes off when you touch it - put it in writing now to him.

If it doesn't clean then it's just wear and tear...

sooz

If you asked the LA, this is almost certainly a standard response to any requests by tenants to decorate. Ask the LL directly, in writing.

The LA/LL may be concerned that your painting skills are awful, & dispite saying you will use the same colour, their worry is that is may end up badly done, half painted, with perhaps a mural, & paint all over the skirting boards, furniture & carpets

ginvzt

I think the issue is painting it silk instead of matt. It might be difficult to repaint afterwards as new paint might not 'stick' properly to smooth surface of silk paint.

lovebugfamilly

Thanks all , the letting agent said it was the LL I did e-mail them with my request and they e-mailed me back the next day to say they would ask the LL and then a few days later another one saying no.

The thing is before we vacate property they come round anyway to inspect and tell you what you need to to property to bring it under scratch for them and get deposit back so if we ruined anything whilst painting we would have to replace anyway it is unfurnished I might also add. I did ask for exact shade if he had wanted it painted in matt then we would have done .

I do not have the LL's details to ask him direct and it is a 6 month renewable AST.

The thing is when we viewed property we were told we would able to repaint after we had been here at least 6 months and we have now been here a year. Im finding it unreasonable that we cannot maintain property for our pleasure too after all we pay to live here and do not want to be living somewhere with marks on walls etc.

Jowo_2

An agent is obliged to inform a tenant of the landlord's address within 21 days of receipt of a written request.

Perhaps you can then write a letter to the landlord assuring them that you will do the painting to a high standard and invite them to approve the type/colour of the paint ahead of purchase and inspect the work afterwards?

poppysarah

Ask for the LL address ... put it in writing... with a stamp and an envelope.

keep a copy yourself. As you will of all further corespondance.

You could ask the landlord to come and paint the walls as they are stopping you from "doing the maintenance" yourself...

MrsManda

I wouldn't be entirely happy with the idea of a tenant painting the house for a couple of reasons:
1. I wouldn't know whether the tenant was painting over something they're trying to hide - scribbling, water damage, cracks...
2. I'd be concerned about the quality of the painting. It is quite difficult to get edges between skirting board/wall, wall/ceiling neat.
3. Painting walls runs the risk of getting paint elsewhere and although you, the tenant would be liable to pay for any replacement carpets for instance the chances are the cost wouldn't be covered in the deposit so would require the LL to chase the money and plus its a faff having to sort all that out.

1. is obviously easy to deal with as the LL can visit prior to painting. But the others aren't. Plus You'll still have the problem of your kids having sticky fingers after repainting so perhaps the LL is worried about you wanting to repaint periodically?

However if you have it in writting that you were told that you could repaint after 6 months then the LL shouldn't refuse. It's probably best to write to the LL direct and ask if you can speak to him to discuss what his issues are and hopefully you can come to an agreement between you

N79

I would not allow Ts to paint but I am always happy for them to use (at their cost) my contractor to repaint rooms to new colours (within reason). This might be another possible compromise.

Slinky

I visited a colleague in a house they were renting where they had painted (with permission) the hall some weeks earlier. They hadn't bothered painting behind the radiator, so the old colour could be seen from the sides. Whether it was their intention to get the paint out again and finish it I don't know. But I can't imagine the landlord would have been happy getting it back in that state.

When I rented my house out for a while I wouldn't have been happy for somebody to redecorate simply because I've no idea what their standards of decorating would be.