Would you ever pay to do up your landlord's property?

Lily-Rose_3

James_Morgan_McGill wrote: »

Good to hear so far that this is something that does happen, and I'm not being a patsy!

A few of the double-glazing seals need replacing, I'll probably pay for that myself. I want to get better curtain rails (wooden, rather than plastic rails) and better curtains. I've also spent a lot of time in the garden planting a lawn (it was just scrub), flowers, shrubs, etc.

I feel like I get *some* of the benefit of home-ownership: a sense of secure tenure, and the freedom to do what I like. Though of course I don't get the benefit of increasing capital value, and the rent I pay is still dead money, I couldn't actually afford to buy a property around here, though.

I have to ask, how do you know the LL isn't going to suddenly sell-up when you have paid potentially multiples 1000s on his property? You say you have a sense of secure tenure, and you intend to stay there for many many years etc, but things change for people in their life, and your LL could just decide to sell. Probably when you have made the place all shiny and nice.

I would make it pleasant and comfortable for yourself, but don't spend much. I would definitely refrain from assuming you are staying there for many many years. It's private let; that is never a certainty.

macman wrote: »

By all means refurnish and redecorate with your LL's permission, but I think it's crazy for you to pay for jobs such as replacing sealed double glazed window units. That is clearly structural maintenance and is the responsibility of the LL. Otherwise, where do you draw the line? For example, if the boiler breaks down, are you expected to pay for it's repair?

The fact that you pay less than market rent is not strictly relevant, as paying for this kind of work yourself does not improve your security of tenure one bit.

This 100% - with bells on. :T

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Small things I'll fix myself, like the cracked shower hose, but larger things, hell to the no. If I had a secure tenancy it would be different matter.

This ^^^ :T

clark24

We were on a 6 month fixed tenancy, which went onto rolling for a year but we felt that didn't give us the security of knowing we wouldn't be definitely staying here and the landlady wanted the security of knowing we would definitely be staying here (and it also gave all of us time to prove ourselves to each other) so we just signed a new fixed term tenancy for another year. Now we can all relax and get on with mutually improving the place knowing we are here for at least the next year and she doesn't have to worry that we are going to be leaving anytime soon.

I would be much less inclined to spend money on the place knowing I could be asked to leave within the next few weeks, and therefore not get the benefit of our labour.

cyantist

Talk to the landlord and say you're wanting to make some more significant improvements but would like a more secure tenancy and maybe you can sign a 2 or 3 year agreement.

This is what we did with the tenants in our house, and they aren't doing any major improvements but they are putting a lot of time an effort into the place.

franklee

The decorative order of the property affects the rent it's worth. So if you do it up you will be making it worth more rent so expect a rent rise for your efforts. If you object then it'll be easy to get a new tenant in when it looks all shiny and new.

James_Morgan_McGill

macman wrote: »

By all means refurnish and redecorate with your LL's permission, but I think it's crazy for you to pay for jobs such as replacing sealed double glazed window units. That is clearly structural maintenance and is the responsibility of the LL. Otherwise, where do you draw the line? For example, if the boiler breaks down, are you expected to pay for it's repair?
The fact that you pay less than market rent is not strictly relevant, as paying for this kind of work yourself does not improve your security of tenure one bit.

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I have to ask, how do you know the LL isn't going to suddenly sell-up when you have paid potentially multiples 1000s on his property? You say you have a sense of secure tenure, and you intend to stay there for many many years etc, but things change for people in their life, and your LL could just decide to sell. Probably when you have made the place all shiny and nice.

I would make it pleasant and comfortable for yourself, but don't spend much. I would definitely refrain from assuming you are staying there for many many years. It's private let; that is never a certainty.

Thanks for the dose of reality, Macman and Lily-Rose.

He did pay for a new boiler a few years back. But I have been thinking about paying to get the gutters cleaned, a section of downpipe repaired and some roof tiles replaced! I got a quote of £300 for this, but didn't go ahead with it at the time. It causes damp in one of the bedrooms (the one with the broken double glazing seal), which is currently dealt with by a dehumidifier, but it would be good to get a longer-term solution.

Similarly the washing machine is showing signs of packing in - there's often water in there after a wash, and most recently white slime coating the drum. And I was thinking to pay myself for a replacement and installatation, given as it's had heavy use over the past three years since the landlord replaced it.

The crazy thing is, I'm thinking of spending this money of my own on the property, but the landlord is always totally chilled about anything I tell him I need to spend his money on. He doesn't even ask for receipts! He's never queried anything. It's all okay so long as I sort it out myself and take it out of the rent.

I just feel I am on to such a good thing here, I don't want to push him any more. I'm happy to accept that the property is rented on an "as-is" basis. I won't find another property or landlord like it, not in this location for this price. The initial contract I had was written on the back of the proverbial fag packet, and there was no inventory.

The landlord is director of half a dozen companies, and is happy for this place to run itself (he also owns the two upstairs flats). But of course at some point this will change and his focus will return to the flat. When this does happen, it will be decided by the property market (it's already gone up 50% in value in the past 5 years), and his own private financial concerns. Whether I do or don't make him pay a few hundred quid for repairs in the meantime won't really have anything to do with it.

James_Morgan_McGill

cyantist wrote: »

Talk to the landlord and say you're wanting to make some more significant improvements but would like a more secure tenancy and maybe you can sign a 2 or 3 year agreement.

This is what we did with the tenants in our house, and they aren't doing any major improvements but they are putting a lot of time an effort into the place.

That sounds a good idea. When I did mention getting a new contract to him a few years back, however, he said he'd rather not.

I think he wants to keep his options open. He doesn't have any thought to sell it for the time being, but doesn't want to be tied down, either.

clark24

James_Morgan_McGill wrote: »

Similarly the washing machine is showing signs of packing in - there's often water in there after a wash, and most recently white slime coating the drum. And I was thinking to pay myself for a replacement and installatation, given as it's had heavy use over the past three years since the landlord replaced it.

How often do you do a deep clean of the machine and its pipes. Those things don't sound like you need a new machine, more that the sludge from detergent is clogging things.

James_Morgan_McGill

franklee wrote: »

The decorative order of the property affects the rent it's worth. So if you do it up you will be making it worth more rent so expect a rent rise for your efforts. If you object then it'll be easy to get a new tenant in when it looks all shiny and new.

That's why I've decided not to even bother telling him about the new carpets, the repainted bedrooms, etc. There's no advantage to me, and a possible disadvantage.

James_Morgan_McGill

clark24 wrote: »

How often do you do a deep clean of the machine and its pipes. Those things don't sound like you need a new machine, more that the sludge from detergent is clogging things.

Ah, I've never done that! I do remove the filter and clean that, but I've never done anything else. Thanks, I'll Google it.

stator

If you're going to spend money get yourself a fixed length tenancy. I wouldn't dream of spending more than the cost of a paint can if I was on a monthly periodic.