How much "in house maintenance" do you as a LL expect or as a tenant give?

FBaby

So no the level of maintenance the LL does is often not reflected in the price. Market rate is market rate the input of the LL is down to whether he is a prat or not.

Well that would be the view of the tenant

My neighbour (and friend) rented his mother's house after she passed away. It's a dream house, 3 bed in great location, 5 minutes walk from train station, 3 minutes from great school, quiet neighbourhood, large garden etc... However, although the house was perfectly functional, it was oudated, old kitchen and bathroom, old boiler (but in perfect order) etc... My neighbour rented it as such for 18 months. When the tenants left, she decided that it was the right time to do a large refurbishment, new windows/door/bathroom/kitchen/carpets etc... Difference in rental income: £150 a month (and had 3 families fighting for it), that's how the market rate can fluctuate.

So yes, if her first tenants had call to say that toilet seat was wobbly, she probably would have told them to try to fix it. With the new tenants, and a brand new toilet, she most likely would want to go and have a look to understand why it got loose in the first place.

aneary

FBaby wrote: »

Well that would be the view of the tenant

My neighbour (and friend) rented his mother's house after she passed away. It's a dream house, 3 bed in great location, 5 minutes walk from train station, 3 minutes from great school, quiet neighbourhood, large garden etc... However, although the house was perfectly functional, it was oudated, old kitchen and bathroom, old boiler (but in perfect order) etc... My neighbour rented it as such for 18 months. When the tenants left, she decided that it was the right time to do a large refurbishment, new windows/door/bathroom/kitchen/carpets etc... Difference in rental income: £150 a month (and had 3 families fighting for it), that's how the market rate can fluctuate.

So yes, if her first tenants had call to say that toilet seat was wobbly, she probably would have told them to try to fix it. With the new tenants, and a brand new toilet, she most likely would want to go and have a look to understand why it got loose in the first place.

The two flats I was talking about were built in 2008 they only difference other than outside space was one had wooden flooring and a better hob the one I didn't chose so in this case neither were dated.

WibblyGirly

My views are similar to other tenants, I'll change bulbs and fix minor issues that I know I'm capable of. The sink tap in our old house started coming loose but I didn't bother the landlord, I just found the screw underneath and kept tightening it every so often. A bigger issue was the boiler losing pressure when the heating had been used but we knew how to twiddle the knobs under it to fix that. If I can sort something to avoid people trampling in my home I will do.

Hutchch0920

WibblyGirly wrote: »

A bigger issue was the boiler losing pressure when the heating had been used but we knew how to twiddle the knobs under it to fix that. If I can sort something to avoid people trampling in my home I will do.

We had a boiler that used to do this often, and like you we'd also just twiddle the knobs

One day the timer broke. The agency refused to get anyone to replace it saying "plenty of people live without a timer" anyway next time the pressure dropped out I rang them and said in my most innocent voice that the boiler had broke, then asked the engineer to get us a new timer and voila :rotfl:

chappers

WibblyGirly wrote: »

. If I can sort something to avoid people trampling in my home I will do.

I think that along with the £10 rule holds up, many tenants will do minor jobs to keep their LL at arms length. But I can tell you there is nothing worse as a landlord than finding your tenant has had a go at something and not quite fixed it properly and as a result has caused longer term damage, or even worse not reported a minor issue that has resulted in more damage.
When I was renting property I always used to make it clear to my tenants that I would prefer them to let me know of any issues no matter how trivial and in return I always tried to fix things in a timely manner, regardless of fault.

parkrunner

Speaking as a tenant, I'll do anything within my skill set if it takes less than an hour and doesn't cost me anything other than a few bob.