Moving out soon - do i need to fill holes in walls?

[morelovetogive]

We have sold our house and are moving imminently. We had quite a few pictures on the walls and some shelves and a small cupboards that we are taking with us. Some of the pictures were on proper picture hooks others were on simple nails. All of these are obviously still in the walls, plus the holes left from the screws that were securing the shelves and cupboard. What are we obligated to do when we move. We are happy to fill all of the holes but we don't have any paint to cover them and it would probably mean painting the whole house or the freshly painted bits would look odd. Is it ok to leave everything as it is?

[minipie]

Is there a "make good any damage" clause in your contract - either in the contract itself or in the fixtures & fittings list which forms part of the contract? Often there is one in the fixtures & fittings list.

If so, then in theory you do have an obligation to make good. But most people don't IME. When we have moved we've usually found the previous owners' picture hooks still in the walls.

I would say, if you've made any big holes in the walls, you should fill those, but any small picture hook type holes are probably to be expected so no need.

[chandellina]

yes, it should be in the contract to do so. Our vendor did some but not all though - and they used a lot of nails.

[morelovetogive]

Eek, not too sure what to do now, we don't have left over paint for all of the rooms and i'm not even sure some of them are still available! I guess we will just make it look as neat as possible .

[minipie]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Most people don't bother - even if their contract says they "should".