Dispute with landlord over painted rooms

System

danm wrote: »

Talk to the LL/invite them over.




Explain the improvements you have made and gauge the reaction.


If it is negative, explain your next step without some reasonableness on their side will be to put the holes back in the wall.

Your improvements may make the LL to increase the rent by £25-50 pcm for the next tenant!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I would state you've painted it "Magnolia Dawn" using some end of line stuff that was on offer, sorry you've lost the receipt and don't have the old tins left.

Make sure the property is left spotless, take dated pics and submit your claim.

chili_pea

Hey guys,

Thanks for everyone's responses. They were so helpful when I sent the LL an email stating the colours are not that different in the hallway and the living room has improved drastically.

However she has replied with good and bad news.
This was the response:
would like to point out to the tenants that it was originally agreed they could paint the brown walls in the living room and the walls in the hallway magnolia, not grey. No the rooms were not freshly painted when they moved in but they knew this when they viewed the property, twice, and they still chose to move into the property.

I agree the pale grey is a neutral colour so I am happy for that to remain. With regards to the feature wall in the living room that they did not ask permission to decorate I am willing for that to be left as it is as I am going to have that wall re papered.

With regards to the bedroom that they did not ask permission to decorate I am happy for that to be painted magnolia.

I would like to add that I myself rented several properties before I was able to buy. I would never have changed decor etc without permission as it was not my property to do so.

benjus

Right, so her position has not changed, she wants magnolia.

What she did and didn't do when she was a tenant is really of zero relevance here.

So you now have to choose whether you want to bow to her demands and paint the place magnolia, or refuse and dispute any attempted deductions from the deposit with the deposit protection scheme. Both options have a certain amount of hassle for you, but personally I think you have a good chance at winning a dispute based on what I've read on this thread. Will you need to ask her for a reference or anything?

chili_pea

No reference needed, just every penny back preferably haha

FBaby

So what colour are the bedroom walls? Your issue here is that she has compromises she does have point ( unless you can refute it) that you didn't flask for permission so it is very possible that she could get something if goi g to ADR. Saying I would bet no more then the cost of the paint if that so if I were you ans you are happy to wait a couole of months or more to get your money back I'd take the chance.

benjus

Asking for the rooms to be painted in magnolia is a clear case of betterment, something which landlords are not entitled to use the deposit money for.

She has admitted in the email that the place was not freshly decorated when the tenancy started (the point about the tenant accepting it and moving in anyway is completely irrelevant here).

She is entitled to receive a property that is in the decorative condition it was in when the tenancy started, minus reasonable wear and tear for the duration of the tenancy. Asking for a freshly painted place in her chosen colour is betterment. No reasonable deposit adjudicator is going to say that a place freshly painted in a neutral colour is in worse condition than a place that has not been decorated for some time.

FBaby

Betterment can be argued though when you 'better' the place without permission. The ADR do consider terms of the contract. If there was no clause I would say no chance but there was and OP chose to ignore them. On this basis they can expect some sum to be granted but how much is likely to depend on the adjudicator.

benjus

I think the specific point about painting is that it's something that needs to be done periodically, and unless you use a very strong colour you haven't made it any harder for someone to redecorate by doing some decorating yourself. This logic would not necessarily apply to other types of change to the property (e.g. removing a lawn to put down decking).

Look at it from a financial loss perspective. If the tenant had returned the property in its original condition + wear and tear, the landlord would have to pay to have it repainted if they wanted it to look decent. As it is, if the landlord wants it in magnolia they have exactly the same job on their hands. So no financial loss. The adjudicators are not there to punish tenants for breaching the contract, they are there to assess the financial loss.

Lokolo

"As a tenant I am required to leave the property in the same state as when I started the tenancy minus fair wear and tear. As pointed out by the landlord the walls were not in a good state when moving in. I have since improved this out of my own cost. Upon leaving the property the walls are now in a better state than when the tenancy started and therefore I do not believe the landlord is entitled to my deposit because she does not approve of the colours. When my tenancy ends, should the landlord attempt to use some of my deposit as part of redectoring I will happily take this to the adjudicator. There have been previous cases where it was then awarded to the tenant."

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/resources/files/Adjudication%20Digest%20September%202012.pdf

Example here.

Maybe write reference that rent was always paid in good time and the property has been looked after during your tenancy?