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Asking Landlord/Agency For Home Upgrades--Any Tips?

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Comments

  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    Smedders11 wrote: »
    I'll probably just keep quiet rather than risk an excessive or fruitless rent increase. I understand the points with regards to saving now and putting up with it, and the rational finance part of fully agrees, but the family side thinks, 'we could certainly live in a more pleasant home'!

    As for the suggestions to do it myself with permission, I really don't fancy the idea of throwing away my own money for someonesomeone else's benefit, and not least when I'd bet the very improvements I'm tempted to suggest will be carried out once we leave!

    I feel that some have got the impression I intended going to demand these. That's not the case. Rather, I wondered if any landlords or tenants have experience with trying to get something similar by offering a genuine request, one based on a reliable and respectful tenant and a landlord who will certainly want to do the same work when we leave.

    I'll just keep my cards close to me now. Wait for him to suggest a rent increase (which we think we're overdue, even in the current climate) and barter for the improvements or just leave to somewhere closer to work, or just pocket the money for a mortgage.

    Thanks again.



    There are literally millions of Landlord and Tenants, asking a small sample for their experiences is a fruitless process.


    You either have a legal leg to stand on, or as in this case, you don't.


    The LL 'COULD' decide to carry out the requests, or could decide to evict, or could be as mad as a hatter...
  • Smedders11 wrote: »
    I'll probably just keep quiet rather than risk an excessive or fruitless rent increase. I understand the points with regards to saving now and putting up with it, and the rational finance part of fully agrees, but the family side thinks, 'we could certainly live in a more pleasant home'!

    As for the suggestions to do it myself with permission, I really don't fancy the idea of throwing away my own money for someonesomeone else's benefit, and not least when I'd bet the very improvements I'm tempted to suggest will be carried out once we leave!

    I feel that some have got the impression I intended going to demand these. That's not the case. Rather, I wondered if any landlords or tenants have experience with trying to get something similar by offering a genuine request, one based on a reliable and respectful tenant and a landlord who will certainly want to do the same work when we leave.

    I'll just keep my cards close to me now. Wait for him to suggest a rent increase (which we think we're overdue, even in the current climate) and barter for the improvements or just leave to somewhere closer to work, or just pocket the money for a mortgage.

    Thanks again.

    Sorry just seen this so ignore my last reply.

    Hope it goes ok for you and if not then two years will fly by!
  • Guest101 wrote: »
    There are literally millions of Landlord and Tenants, asking a small sample for their experiences is a fruitless process.


    You either have a legal leg to stand on, or as in this case, you don't.


    The LL 'COULD' decide to carry out the requests, or could decide to evict, or could be as mad as a hatter...

    What an unnecessary answer. It's not fruitless, in fact the point of forum is to ask questions and gain insight. If the majority advise against it (as they have) I'd be better informed. On the other hand I could be pleasantly surprised at the experience of others, and may be able to glean the best approach.

    Tired if iterating this, but I'm not looking to demand improvements, and so the legal footing is irrelevant.
  • Landlords:

    How soon would you want a non-essential improvement to pay for itself in increased rent, in order to be worth it?

    Or to put another way, if your tenant, letting agent, best friend or whoever suggested a new bathroom, kitchen, flooring etc; would you be dividing the cost up by 12 months? 24? 36?

    I know none of you can predict what Smedders' landlord would say to such a request; but I would like to know how would you approach it?
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    Smedders11 wrote: »
    What an unnecessary answer. It's not fruitless, in fact the point of forum is to ask questions and gain insight. If the majority advise against it (as they have) I'd be better informed. On the other hand I could be pleasantly surprised at the experience of others, and may be able to glean the best approach.

    Tired if iterating this, but I'm not looking to demand improvements, and so the legal footing is irrelevant.



    Right, I'm going to make this clear then bow out, as this discussion is proving fruitless.


    Even if every single person on here posted that they had all asked their LL for improvements and in every case the LL had been happy to do so. It would have zero relevance to your situation. Your LL could refuse to do so and without any reason - his refusal would still be 'reasonable'.


    Equally you could get all the tenants registered on the forums saying their LL never did anything for them, it would still be worth asking yours as they just might decide to break the mould.


    Absolutely you should ask questions and gain insight - which has been provided, but the important bit is whether you can legally enforce any of it, that either strengthens or weakens your position immensely.


    If the legal footing is irrelevant, you are basically asking strangers on the internet what they think the chances are of your ll (someone none of us have met, or if we have, are not aware of it) doing some refurbishment. - in my opinion it's 50/50.
  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,354 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Smedders11 wrote: »
    Problem is we're saving for a mortgage now, and it'll probably cost about £1,000 to move to another rented house.

    It's a two-bed semi-detached, and at a glance average rent is between 480-525 for something comparable.

    To be honest, this is kind of the response I'd have expected. Was mostly hoping for some experiences of good will for reliable tenants :/ Moving may well be the best choice. I currently commute 50 miles each way to work, but we had a child last year so it's thrown a spanner in the works!

    I would stick it out and continue to save with the cheap rent.
  • I'm well aware that the anecdotes of other forums users will have no direct bearing on my landlord's decision, and nor am I asking others to guess the landlord's response. But, genuinely helpful answers include offering it as a business case, or gaining insight into how landlords budget the costs, can change how I approach the issue to increase my chances. Even if that advice weren't given, and I just had a list of success or fail stories it could still have proved helpful despite it having no causal impact on my landlord's response. Done arguing an aside anyway.

    Thanks everyone for the helpful answers. I'll stick with it for now.
  • ognum
    ognum Posts: 4,879 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Landlords:

    How soon would you want a non-essential improvement to pay for itself in increased rent, in order to be worth it?

    Or to put another way, if your tenant, letting agent, best friend or whoever suggested a new bathroom, kitchen, flooring etc; would you be dividing the cost up by 12 months? 24? 36?

    I know none of you can predict what Smedders' landlord would say to such a request; but I would like to know how would you approach it?

    As a LL I would not look to do non essential improvements except minor things like putting up shelves etc.

    I would look to maintain the fabric of the property so paint, gutters roof etc.

    I use 20 -25% of my gross rent on expenditure, this includes agent fees, repairs and updating. I have several properties that I let so expenditure is not the same on each property each year but it does even out.

    Replacing kitchens/ bathroom/carpets depends on the property and the usage.
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