Does this sound fair?

lbeadl

I'm a landlord with a family renting my property who seem keen to stay long term, and so far all seems good.


They've requested permission to re-decorate a fairly large proportion of the house, it's plain cream in all rooms at the moment, so possibly a bit bland & cold as the rooms are quite large.


I was considering offering to contribute towards the cost of the paint if they choose neutral or subtle shades again, but if they want anything more bold/unusual just to let them know that I'd like to 'OK' the colours and if they're nothing too out of the ordinary then I won't look to ask them to re-paint at the end of the tenancy.


This isn't my 'home', it's an investment property so I'm really not bothered what colours they have to a large extent, but just don't want to give them completely free reign, in case their choice ends up being purple with green spots!!


Hopefully they'll be in the house for a few years so any paint colour will be a moot point as it'll need a going over anyway at that point, but I just wasn't sure if it sounded fair - I'll pay towards neutral paint colours, but would like some input into anything bolder?

Guest101

The simple answer would be - "Absolutely, just make sure you paint them a neutral colour when you leave."

bob_bank_spanker

It isn't your place to OK it - as long as they return the property in the condition it was received then that is all that matters.

lbeadl

Fair points about the 'as long as they put it back to how it was', but I suppose that's kind of what I'm trying to avoid the tenants needing to do in a way.


Basically if the colours they choose are pretty plain or subtle, I'm not going to expect them to put the house back to how it was, but don't know how best to word this .


For example, the lounge is currently cream, if they paint it neon pink, I would want it putting back to neutral, if they paint it pale blue for example, then it can stay as it is when they leave.


Oh blimey I'm doing my usual thing of over overcomplicating everything!!! Haha!


I'm going to email them with this;


'I'm happy for you to redecorate the house, if the colours you choose happen to be neutral there's no reason to put the walls back to cream at the end of the tenancy'


The last conversation I had with them they were talking about wanting to stay for 3+ years and by then I'd be expecting to redecorate the whole place top to bottom anyway, so whatever colour they choose won't matter. I just wanted to cover myself & them in case they leave in a few months, but then they wouldn't be re-decorating now I suppose if they had plans to leave.


Chronic overthinker here!!!

Guest101

lbeadl wrote: »

Fair points about the 'as long as they put it back to how it was', but I suppose that's kind of what I'm trying to avoid the tenants needing to do in a way.


Basically if the colours they choose are pretty plain or subtle, I'm not going to expect them to put the house back to how it was, but don't know how best to word this .


For example, the lounge is currently cream, if they paint it neon pink, I would want it putting back to neutral, if they paint it pale blue for example, then it can stay as it is when they leave.


Oh blimey I'm doing my usual thing of over overcomplicating everything!!! Haha!


I'm going to email them with this;


'I'm happy for you to redecorate the house, if the colours you choose happen to be neutral there's no reason to put the walls back to cream at the end of the tenancy'


The last conversation I had with them they were talking about wanting to stay for 3+ years and by then I'd be expecting to redecorate the whole place top to bottom anyway, so whatever colour they choose won't matter. I just wanted to cover myself & them in case they leave in a few months, but then they wouldn't be re-decorating now I suppose if they had plans to leave.


Chronic overthinker here!!!

Sounds good to me.


I guess I'm just working on the basis that if you want to be 'involved' in the choice of colours the tenants might feel you are being overbearing.


But if you have a good relationship I think you'll be fine

SuboJvR

As a tenant, I think what you have proposed sounds fair to a reasonable person.

If I wanted to paint a room something like dark red or purple I would expect to either ask the landlord's permission first or simply return it to neutral at the end again. Indeed if neutral colours I would still ask before doing but when things improve the overall look of the property then it's for the benefit of both parties so I think it's very fair of you to contribute to the cost.

Not quite the same but in a previous property we paid to have a number of overgrown shrubs removed from the front of the property. We cleared it with our landlord first but didn't expect anything toward the cost - we were doing it for our own benefit really as it was lavender which my husband was allergic to.

We finished the front really nicely with stones. When she next came around, she remarked with how nice it looked :-)

t0rt0ise

Your suggested wording sounds reasonable to me. It does give them the option of being colourful but they then know that they must change it before leaving.

lbeadl

Thanks for the feedback I'm glad it makes sense & doesn't sound unreasonable.


I don't want them to think I'm interfering about colour choice (I'm not), but also don't want to be left with a rainbow of dark colours to possibly cover up!


I'm really lucky with them on the whole, they're a lovely family and on the couple of occasions they've asked me to come round and take a look at / fix something, have been really welcoming and seem to be making a home out of the place, which bodes well for them staying long term

[Deleted User]

Also bear in mind that dark bold colours will be more trouble to paint over. I am moving into a house with dark brown walls. I am not even going to bother painting it out (going to need several coats of paint), I will put thick lining paper up and then wallpaper on top.

Rosemary7391

Do you care about the quality of painting? The last people who painted my flat didn't do a brilliant job - spots of dark pink paint on the skirting and drips of paint quite evident even where they got the right colour in the right place.

G_M

How long is their tenancy? If they are spending money improving your property, give them the security of a long tenancy (12? 24? 36 months?) to make it worth their while.

As for th colour, there are 2 options to give them

1) you see and agree the colour, and they can then leave the property that coloyr when they leave (you get an 'improved' property, they get a place they like living in)

2) they use any different colour, and either return it to the original when they leave (though bear in mind 'betterment'!), or pay you to redecorate.

Yes, bear in mind the quality. Make sure they know (confirmed in your final letter agreeing whatever you agree) that if the quality of the paint job is not as good as the existing paint job, then redecoration will be required (at their cost) at the end irrespective of colour.