Landlord wants £15 pm contribution towards decorating?!

missprice

If LL redecorates 5 yearly, why is the place you are moving into have 70s decor, surely it should have noughties big pattern feature wallpaper at worst. A big fat lie then.

**dancingbutterfly** wrote: »

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.

HappyMJ

**dancingbutterfly** wrote: »

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?

That is very odd. If I were LL I'd just add £15 a month on to the rent. Although it's in the tenancy agreement I can't see the LL being able to enforce that in court. What if you were in occupation for 10 years and the landlord never came around to paint and never changed the carpet in that time you'd be liable for more than the cost of repainting and replacing the carpet which would be expected after 10 years of occupation. LL's build that into the cost of the monthly rent when figuring out if an investment property is worth it or not.

LL says he redecorates every 5 years. Is LL going to seek possession or redecorate whilst you are in the property. Most LL's redecorate between tenancies whilst waiting for a new tenant.

dgtazzman

On another note, what guarantee do you have he will cap it, it's just his word, there's nothing about capping it on paper...

If the rent with the extra 15 quid is still a fair market rent, I'd just forget about it and think of it as part of the rent, just a very roundabout way of doing things...

jbainbridge

I very much doubt the landlord would be able to claim this from the deposit. Surely that would be betterment? (Assuming the deposit is correctly protected)

Pixie5740

It seems a very odd way to go about things, especially since the place hasn't been decorated since the 1970s. Why not just charge whatever the current rent is plus £15?

It would put me off renting the place as I'd be wondering what other kookie ways the landlord would have of going about things.

vuvuzela

dgtazzman wrote: »

On another note, what guarantee do you have he will cap it, it's just his word, there's nothing about capping it on paper...

If the rent with the extra 15 quid is still a fair market rent, I'd just forget about it and think of it as part of the rent, just a very roundabout way of doing things...

I certainly wouldn't - the landlord wants to take it out of the deposit. What if the OP needs that deposit for their next property ?

HappyMJ

vuvuzela wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't - the landlord wants to take it out of the deposit. What if the OP needs that deposit for their next property ?

Then they should save £15 per month in another account.

When you move properties you need to pay the deposit as you move in. It's highly likely you haven't got your deposit back from your current home as firstly you still live there and secondly there is no guarantee of getting it back quickly. It's supposed to be returned within 10 days of requesting it but if the LL believes the property has been damaged and you deny it then it's going to be longer.