Question for Landlords and Tenants

catewithers

In your rental contract, do you have a clause that says "The tenant must not damage the walls with fixing nails, screws or adhesives"?

I'm assuming that this includes hanging pictures in the property. Is that right?

Tenants, do you stick to this absolutely? If not, what do you do about the walls on vacating the property?

Landlords, do you expect tenants not to hang any pictures? If so and the tenant does, what reparations do you expect? etc. etc.

MJMum

Yes, yes, and errr...yes.

wifeforlife

I havent got that in my contract. Although I will say in my contract it said for no decorating and I have completely changed every room, actually adding value to the property and my landlord is grand with it. I think it depends on how well you get on with your landlord, if you's are friendly and you keep the house in good nick they'll be more than happy for you to hang things up and make small cosmetic changes

Cath

MJMum

if you's are friendly and you keep the house in good nick they'll be more than happy for you to hang things up and make small cosmetic changes

UNTIL you fall out, and they wave the contract in your face. IMHO, it's best to stick to the contract to the letter.

sooz

the agreements i use state no blue tack, selotape, nails or screws, but that pictures can be hung with proper picture pins and hooks, and these should then be left in place.

Guy_Montag

apparentky toothpaste is good at hidng small marks

MonkeySaving?

MJMum wrote:

UNTIL you fall out, and they wave the contract in your face. IMHO, it's best to stick to the contract to the letter.

You mean when you fall out, they wave the contract and you do a runner without paying the last months rent?
If I was renting and wasn't allowed to put pictures up that is how i'd end my tenancy.

wifeforlife

I think I'm one of the lucky ones I'm in my house 3 years and get on very well with my landlord. We have a kind of gentleman/womans agreement, whereby I do a bit and he does a bit. I decorate and replace things and he does the big things like got me a new kitchen (even let me pick what I wanted).

I understand there are horror stories but I guess it's luck of the draw

Cath

zar

Pictures are important to me so I always put them up. How would the landlord like being told to live their life in a souless magnolia box? As tenants we might not be able to express ourselves with wallpaper and carpets, but surely the odd print or family photo is not unreasonable? The peach coloured walls I'm surrounded with atm aren't to my personal taste but my 3 Monet framed prints (cheesy I know), red-rumped swallows print and nuthatch watercolour make me feel much more at home. :j

I'm always very careful and haven't yet had any of my deposits held for damage to the walls or anything. When my student tenancies said no bluetak I used whitetak and took a lot of time in taking it off very carefully. In the student house that said no adhesives I used a couple of hundred drawing pins (it was a 3 storey house and I had a lot of posters!) which left quite a few dots in the wallpaper but it wasn't that noticeable. I think in my last couple of houses I've tended to leave picture hooks up so the next tenant can use them, and where I am now there was quite a few hooks already, I hope the LL doesn't mind the extras as she will be moving back in here and she's a good friend so I'll feel guilty if she does!

sooz - your clause sounds quite fair. I'm still not convinced anything needs to be written though, as surely if you've wrecked the walls with posters etc it will be noticeable damage anyway and come out of your deposit, and if you are a good respectful tenant and are careful with what you do to the walls then I don't see the problem? I think these clauses just come across as needlessly controlling.

OP - go for it, just be sensible and find out from the LL at the end if they'd rather you left them up or not. If the walls are pale it will be fairly easy to hide any marks, if colouful wallpaper more difficult.

seven-day-weekend

We say to our lodgers - no decorating that can't be put right with a coat of paint. I wouldn't mind if they put pictures/posters up, as long as it was a small neat hole. It's their home whilst they are renting it and if I was renting a room/house/flat I would want it to look homely. Any small holes in the wall can soon be filled in with Polyfilla.

MJMum

You mean when you fall out, they wave the contract and you do a runner without paying the last months rent?
If I was renting and wasn't allowed to put pictures up that is how i'd end my tenancy.

But why would you have signed a contract with that clause in it, if you didn't intend keeping to it?

We have that clause in our tenancy agreement, but it's not as bad as it sounds, because there are existing picture hooks to use. OK, it's not perfect but I'd quite like my deposit back at the end of the day.