Should tenants paint back wall to magnolia?

HappyMJ

paddyrg wrote: »

Absolutely!! I am SICK of having to live with my landlord's bland tastes, not able to use blutak, not able to hang picture hooks, and tall walls with acres of cheap magnolia.

It has been determined at some point previously that picture hooks left at the property are not a cause for a deposit deduction. They can very easily be removed the tiny hole filled with filler and painted over the next time the wall is repainted. No damage has been caused..so be reasonable and put no more than one maybe two picture hooks on each wall leaving the picture hooks there when you leave. A landlord can only deduct something if there are excessive picture hooks in the property so don't go mad and put too many up...that would look really awful....and don't drill into the wall to put a very large heavy painting up..just a tiny little hole for a fairly medium size light framed picture will be all that will be accepted.

bouicca21

This may be a silly question but does turquoise cause any problems? Is it a particularly ghastly shade? Is it hideously badly done? I can't help but think that your next tenants might quite like it. Has the dog caused any damage? That seems like a more serious issue.

Better_Days

Personally I would hate a turquoise lounge, a more neutral colour is more likely to appeal to more tenants if you intend to re-let.

I agree with the point that others have made re the dog. You will need to check for the condition of the property and garden against the condition on the inventory. The carpet may need professionally cleaning. Also I would definitely treat the whole house for fleas, whether or not they are apparent initially. Indorex (http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/indorex-household-flea-spray-500ml.html) is good stuff but hold your breath when spraying! If you are re-letting you don't want your tenants to be complaining they are getting bitten by fleas. It has been another bad year for fleas and unfortunately the 'spot on' treatments aren't as effective as they used to be.

Guest101

kissprudence wrote: »

I became a landlord a year ago after needing to move for work but being unable to sell my house (4 viewers in a year, no offers). I went through a lettings agent to market the property, credit check the tenants and draw up all the contracts/ paperwork but I manage the property myself. The property was renting out within a week of it appearing on rightmove. My first tenants signed for a year but are moving out on 1st Oct.

It stipulates in the tenants contract that they may re-decorate only if discussed with myself first and my explicit agreement given. I also had the same clause for pets (the house is in a family area and I thought 'pets considered' would be more attractive to potential tenants). The tenants have never discussed any of the above with me but have painted the lounge turquoise and are keeping a massive dog. I have no idea what they have done to the upstairs of the property as I haven't been up there for a year.

My question is: should I ask the tenants to paint the lounge walls back to magnolia before they leave? (the onus being if they don't, then some of the deposit will be withheld). My lettings agent has advised against this saying that they will throw cheap paint on it and do a crap job. He reckons I should just suck it up and get in there the day after they leave and repaint myself (it's a 22ft through lounge so quite a job). Friends have said that I should withhold their deposit anyway for being in breach of contract what with the massive dog and the unsanctioned turquoise walls but personally I think that's unfair. Opinions please?

Friends are always lawyers until it's their business.

Walls: let them do what they like, you can retain some of this deposit, to repaint the walls (it would be reasoable to hire a decorator for this), assuming you have a: protected the deposit in a registered scheme and b: have a dual signed inventory. (if you do not have both of these, it will be alot trickier)

Pets: Unless you have proveable damage from their keeping a dog, it may be harder to deduct for this. You cannot retain money for 'breach of contract', there must be a proveable loss to you.

grifferz

HappyMJ wrote: »

Forget about the walls...it's normal to repaint between tenancies so they could just claim normal wear and tear especially if you were to paint other walls at the same time....and what's a tub of paint cost? £15...not worth it in my opinion.

There's a fair bit of difference in terms of effort required between repainting a room in the same magnolia it was in originally, or having to paint over something bold like turquoise.

If we really are talking £15 and an afternoon then absolutely, let it go. But if we're talking a lot more effort then a deduction would seem reasonable to me.

Also, for those saying "just leave it", "more interesting than magnolia", etc.: I find in general that even at the best of times some people lack imagination for making cosmetic changes. Even when trying to sell your home to people who are going to make it their own, a certain percentage of viewers will be unable to mentally get past a bold choice of decoration. I can only think it would be worse when looking for tenants as they are less likely to want to carry out any decorating to begin with.

It really depends if the turquoise was done nicely and actually works in the property.

Soot2006

Might look OK ... Have a look before you worry too much. Could also look awful and garish!

I am a fan of the one-wall colour approach - can really brighten up a room. . No point in putting it back to magnolia if next tenants are likely to want it bright pink ...

~Chameleon~

Soot2006 wrote: »

Might look OK ... Have a look before you worry too much. Could also look awful and garish!

I am a fan of the one-wall colour approach - can really brighten up a room. . No point in putting it back to magnolia if next tenants are likely to want it bright pink ...

I agree. A single wall painted in a bright/contrasting colour can really add warmth and depth to a room, along with a few coordinating accessories.

poppysarah

What does your inventory say?

I've seen one that lists holes in walls and all sorts of slightly OTT details that probably make tenants weep with despair.
It didn't list the huge bundle of mains wires going up a wall, or the extension lead powering a socket under a carpet...

kissprudence

Just to update everyone on what happened. It turns out that the tenants had painted the rest of the house all sorts of weird colours (poo brown landing, anyone?). I asked them to paint the entire house back to magnolia for everyone wall that they had changed. They agreed. Upstairs was done to a high standard but downstairs was shoddy - they were either running out of paint or time or both. When I went to do the formal inspection with the letting agent, the LA told me to give the full bond back to the tenants (in front of the tenant). After the tenants left the LA said "you have got the house back in a reasonable state, I have seen much worse". So I gave them the full bond back. When I did the inspection, the house smelt of paint. Now, a month later, it smells of DOG (previous tenants had a massive dog). Consequently, my new tenant who I had lined up said she will not be moving in until I have replaced all the carpets which I have refused to do. I missed a trick, I should have asked the previous tenants to have the carpets professionally cleaned. Who would be a landlord, eh?

BitterAndTwisted

If they did a shoddy job of the repainting downstairs why on earth did you accept the agent's opinion? You had film of the original colour and it would have been fairly straightforward to have filmed their bodged painting job and claimed redoing it properly from their deposit.

As to the carpets, you should have had a clause about cleaning of the carpets before check-out. Most especially if the tenants have been keeping a dog. And MOST ESPECIALLY if they'd been keeping one without your formal, written permission.

Lessons learned. Amend the tenancy agreement. Get the carpets cleaned properly. Move forwards