Rental Property - decorating before moving out (if some rooms weren't painted before)

Faldinio

Hi

When my girlfriend and I moved into our rental property (private landlord, not via a letting agent), a number of rooms had just been replastered and weren't painted at all. Others had really old anaglypta wallpaper that the landlady had started to strip in some rooms. We advised the landlady that we would finish stripping the walls and paint them, as we were keen to move in - to which she agreed as long as the walls were not gaudy and extreme. I never actually got this in writing as it is a very relaxed and friendly relationship we have with her, although the emails back and forth do mention me decorating.

That was 2 years ago and recently we were discussing moving out or re-signing for a further term, and she mentioned that she would like the walls painting white or magnolia (they're not extreme at the moment, they're grey or shades of beige) before we move.

The tenancy agreement says the property should be left in the same state of repair and decoration as when we moved in... Can she actually ask us to re-paint the walls that were not already painted (as technically to leave them as they were would mean stripping all the paint off) and where do we stand on having to repaint the walls that had the old wallpaper on, which we understood she was going to strip anyway?

Thanks,

MF

Red-Squirrel_2

Is your deposit protected?

AdrianC

Faldinio wrote: »

The tenancy agreement says the property should be left in the same state of repair and decoration as when we moved in... Can she actually ask us to re-paint the walls that were not already painted (as technically to leave them as they were would mean stripping all the paint off) and where do we stand on having to repaint the walls that had the old wallpaper on, which we understood she was going to strip anyway?

She can try to make a deduction from your deposit, but an appeal to the arbitration should see it returned - in the unlikely event she has check-in and check-out photos, they'll see that she's being unreasonable.

Faldinio

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Is your deposit protected?

Yes it's in a DPS

macman

What planet is your LL living on? I'd be charging her for the value you have added to the property.

saajan_12

What was the agreement at the time you painted? Was the LL paying you for this in some way e.g. by providing materials / reducing rent?

If yes, then arguably the LL paid for the initial painting of the property which should have been done to their specification. They would still need to prove the agreed colour was different to what you chose.

If no, and you painted entirely at your cost with market-rate rent, then you only need to return to the condition you received it, ie needing to be painted. If the current colour is darker and so would need more coats to repaint to white than needed had you left the walls, then the LL may be able to claim for the additional coats, but not for the entire job.

evsieplum

Do you have an inventory? This should show the state of the property when you took it on and it's aim is to allow a comparison on the check out report when you leave. The answer to your question is no, the Landlord should not be charging you for this / expecting you to complete the decoration unless you had agreed this in writing (even if you did agree in writing, I still think she would be on shaky ground if you took it further!) Your inventory is an important document if she tries to charge you though.

When tenants request to decorate, usually an agreement will be made regarding any responsibility to return the property to it's original state. As your walls were not painted however, if nothing was stipulated, I'm sure that any DPS adjudicator (if you wanted to dispute any charges for decoration to your deposit) would agree that you should not be responsible for "betterment" (betterment is a big word with the deposit schemes, they do not like landlords charging tenants for bettering their properties!