Renting - who is responsible for decorating?

YoungBlueEyes

Silvertabby said:

lookstraightahead said:

user1977 said:

lookstraightahead said:

I didn't think you had to request permission to decorate, you just need to ensure it's changed back to how it was (wear and tear excepted)? Or am I wrong?

EDIT - looks like I'm wrong. So you could rent a property for 20 years and you're forbidden to decorate (potentially)

What remedy would the landlord have? Make you un-decorate it?

Yes, make sure you decorate it in a way that could get it back to magnolia, fill in any shelving holes etc. 

We could paint our Armed Forces married quarters, but they would have to be returned to the approved magnolia/pale blue/pale green/all holes filled in  before march out, or we would be charged for a full re-decoration. 

The pale blue was exactly the same colour as a certain brand of tooth paste, which made a very handy hole-filler. 

That made me laugh. I once freshened up the bathroom grout with a cheapo tube of white toothpaste. Got away with it too   

Grumpy_chap

CurlySue2017 said:

I have to say, you sound like a great landlord for someone to have!  I just wish there were more like you out there
That said, our current landlord is excellent and after being in this place for over seven years, we approached to ask about the decorating situation.  We were basically told that as far as he was concerned, it is our home and we can do what we like (within reason of course - no painting the walls black or anything like that) as they would always redecorate after a tenancy ends in any case.
As you have said above, it's a relationship and the landlord trusted us to do the redecoration, so we returned that trust by doing it properly and both parties were (and still are) happy with the outcome.

Thank you.
It sounds like your LL is very fair also.
I suspect there are many more, but the fair LL's won't ever make inches in social media or the Daily Fail headlines.

Having said that, we were approached by another tenant in the same development asking if we had any more properties to let as they liked their location but not the LL and our tenant had told them how they had no problems.  That was nice to hear.  We didn't have another property and could not help.

caprikid1 said:

I guess the question is do you put the rent up frequently, there is often a trade off.

Yes, that is a trade off.
Our current tenants moved in Dec 2019, so just before COVID.

They paid the full rent throughout COVID - they did ask for a reduction which we rejected in a qualified way that if they had evidence they had been financially impacted by COVID we would consider a possible review and whether that should be recovered post-COVID.  We felt that was a proper "business like" way to manage things.  The tenant reverted a couple of weeks later to say they were not impacted and could pay the rent in full.  Unfortunately, the  various press reports at the time did suggest less responsible "just don't pay".

We did broach the subject of a rent review from the beginning of this year but agreed to hold the rent as the tenant claimed challenges for Cost of Living.  We set the expectation that the rent will be reviewed from the start of 2024.

A good tenant, looking after the property and paying rent in full and on time is actually in quite a strong position.  Had we pushed the rent uplift at the start of the year, that has to be considered against the possibility of a void period or a less-good tenant.

Very much a trade off as you say.

Returning to the question of decorating. 
Someone I know has had the tenant request a new kitchen.  The LL is not particularly keen as this would require some rent adjustment plus it is rather difficult to undertake this type of upgrade with a tenant in situ.  Their tenant has then asked if they can supply and fit a new kitchen themselves (but no change to rent).  On the face of it, that sounds generous, but quite a lot of damage / detriment to value can be done with a poor kitchen.  Not the same as poor painting.  It does indicate that the tenant plans on staying for the long term though.
Rather more complex.  I'm glad it is not a question I have to answer.