Tenant want to decorate...should I let him?

avancagrigoreal

You are almost right marliepanda. I agree with you: :-).

Guest101

Mela322 wrote: »

Whatever you do, get it all in writing for both parties. After renting for nearly 10 years, our landlord says we weren't allowed to do anything in the property, no pictures were allowed to be hung and no shelves put up.

Biggest lesson for us, get EVERYTHING in writing.

ignore him/her, you can

GobbledyGook

I always allow my tenants to decorate. The deal is they put it back to neutral at the end of the tenancy (or pay for a local painter to do it for them). I find tenants who are allowed to make the place their home (if you moved how long would you want to put up with the previous persons decor?) they treat the place better and stay longer.

upoiupou

I would make your decision without making assumptions, for example that the tenant is likely to stay longer if they can decorate. I have decorated as a tenant (with permission) and didn't stay very long. I also didn't do a very good job, just slapped some paint over the existing wallpaper. I did the woodwork white but I didn't bother to sand it first or anything. It looked fine for the few months I was there.

I don't think it really matters what you decide - decline the request, accept it with you agreeing some conditions about what's done, or accept it with written agreement about how it's left at the end of the tenancy. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, or that one option means you're too emotional about the property. There are plenty of tenancies where no decorating is allowed and the landlords seem to stay in business. There are plenty where decorating is allowed and it doesn't seem to be the end of the world.

I think just decide what works for you, put it in writing, and go for it.

pimento

ripplyuk wrote: »

OP, does your tenant know you're considering selling the place? They'll probably go off the idea of decorating if they find out the tenancy is shorter than they hoped.

This. I have a friend who let a flat, knowing she wanted to sell it, to an unsuspecting tenant. She's now told him she wants it back after six months and is wondering why he's annoyed and refusing to show potential buyers around..

Chelseafan237

Agree a colour scheme that you're happy with and let them do it ( you dont want something like a black lounge as its hard to cover if needed). Its nothing that cant be changed back and they have to live with it.

I once rented and asked to decorate, I improved the whole place, I have mega high standards, I was surprised that the landlord / agency would even rent out a property as they had but because I made it more how I wanted it, I stayed longer - which is surely what you want?

Honeylife

Pre marriage we rented a place, Garden Flat, where the landlady live in a separate maisonette upstairs. We redecorated completely - well painted, took up manky lino, sanded and polished wood floors put rugs down and really made the place look good. My father-in-law to be came and did most of the work and he was professional.

Landlady met us in the communal hall and went ape !!!! when she found out! Three weeks later she came into the flat to have a nose around. She looked and didn't say a word as we stood practically trembling that she was going to throw us out. She left without a word. We later heard (via her son) that she absolutely loved what we had done. Now we are older and wiser we recognise we should have asked/discussed it with her prior. We stayed for two years.

Let your tenants redecorate, they have to live in it.

ritz55

We have a house which we let out and redecorated the house with natural colours. When the tenant moved in, the first thing he asked was if its OK to redecorate the place. Was a little shocked as we had already spent weeks doing the place up.


Reluctantly I said yes sure. A couple of months later we went back to the house for something else and the tenant invited us in to take a look at what he had done.
We were surprised to find that he had re-plastered the walls and ceiling (which previously was a little rough) and then redecorated. Made the place look amazing. Three years on and the same tenant is still living there and they maintain it to a high standard. If the tenant does choose to move out then the place will rent straight away.

FBaby

Reluctantly I said yes sure. A couple of months later we went back to the house for something else and the tenant invited us in to take a look at what he had done.
We were surprised to find that he had re-plastered the walls and ceiling (which previously was a little rough) and then redecorated. Made the place look amazing. Three years on and the same tenant is still living there and they maintain it to a high standard. If the tenant does choose to move out then the place will rent straight away.

That's the thing, sometimes it turns out for the best, but sometimes not. Unfortunately, we experienced the opposite. Paid for professional painting before tenant moved in, and only a couple of months after moving in, asked to repaint with promises that they were going to be long term and would repaint when going. They then announced less than 6 months later that they were separating and therefore going, agreed to repaint....except that it was clearly a rushed and cheap job, paint all over the skirting boards, meaning that it had to be totally redone again. Didn't get much out of the deposit for it (did for other things) because as it was pointed out, the pictures of the walls when they moved in were not that clear (done by agency) and didn't show the high standard as much as the checkout pictures although clearly showing the marks on the skirting boards didn't show that well the poor quality of the repainting.