Landlord wants £15 pm contribution towards decorating?!

**dancingbutterfly**

Hi everyone,


We're due to move into a private rented property next month and I've been looking over the agreement and the landlord wants a contribution of £15 pm towards decorating when we leave? Which he will then take out of our deposit.

I have never heard of this? Does this seem fair?

We asked if we were allowed to strip 70s wallpaper and paint which he was happy for us to do. So we could pay to decorate ourselves and then he wants money too?

What if it doesn't need decorating?

If we live there for 4 years that's £720, nearly all our deposit.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

moneyistooshorttomention

Oh yeah! So he's so concerned with the d!cor that he was quite happy to see 1970s d!cor still there:eek:. Excuse me - the 1970s was forty years ago!!!!! (unless you are in an old-fashioned part of the country - ie where people might possibly put in something new that is in a style of 30 years ago even at the outset - says she looking at a part of my house I haven't been able to afford to bring up to being contemporary yet.....).

It's a try-on.

Guest101

Tell him that's what rent is for.

jjlandlord

How is the rent with and without this £15 extra?

I'd try to negotiate an acceptable overall rent (i.e. taking the 'contribution' into account) and an undertaking from the landlord that since you pay for redecorating I won't have further liability for damage in that regard. Or at the very least no further liability up to the total paid through that 'contribution'.

G_M

and any negotiated agreement you reach confirmed in writing.

mrginge

Presumably since you are paying for redecoration there would be no issue with you writing 'this landlord is a tight arsed moron rip-off merchant' in big letters all over the walls.

Would be especially useful when they want to show future tenants round.

stator

Have you already paid a deposit?

If not walk away

**dancingbutterfly**

Landlord has said he does this with all of his house as he re-decorates every 5 years. He has said he'll cap it at £360, so if we're there for 10 years it'll be £360. And said no rent increases for two years.

I'm just going to save the £360 and put it away somewhere. At least the house has solar panels so we'll save £30+ pm. Not the point though is it.

Thank you for all you replies.

anselld

There is no way solar panels will save you £30 per month. More like £10. You only get the saving on electricity consumption, the landlord gets the generation tarrif.

Hopefully the L is declaring his FIT income and his top-up scheme to wear and tear allowance correctly to HMRC.

FBaby

What a stupid way to do things! If he wants to build a budget for redecorating, then he might as well increase the rent by £15 a month and then not increase the rent until the family moved and a new one comes in following redecorating. He now has you questioning the whole thing (and rightly so!!)

goodwithsaving

Landlord says this, landlord says that.
Don't agree to it. The cost of re-decorating is presumably to get around 'betterment' when it comes to getting your deposit back. Does it go into a proper scheme (it should)?
Sounds like he's pulling a fast one.