To ask those of you who rent

[SpillTheTeaa]

What you're allowed to do in your rented flat/house? By this I mean decorating etc.
Been stuck in my flat a bit too long and bored at staring at such plain boring magnolia walls. Not even allowed to hang pictures up and a lot more things we are not allowed to do but the list will go on and on would like to know if my landlords are a bit strict or if this is normal ha!

My tenancy agreements have always had a clause that says nothing can be 'affixed to a wall by any means', or something along those lines. I have ignored it in every house I've lived in (about seven in all) and none of the landlords have ever cared, even the shit ones who tried to screw me out of the deposit in other ways. As long as you use a method that doesn't leave marks or obvious holes in the wall it should be fine. Bit shit that they won't let you paint a room white though!

Our landlord has never carried out an inspection in the 2 years we've been here, only been round to inspect repairs that she needed to fix for us. When we moved in the place hadn't been decorated for a while and was pretty run down so any decorating we have done ourselves has massively improved the place. Three month inspections are unnecessary.

We can't change anything or hang stuff on the walls etc. We get inspections every 3 months as well. I think it boils down to the fact our landlord owns the entire building, plenty other properties and another business, so it's easier for him to just have a blanket policy of 'don't'. I don't mind because we intend to buy soon, but it would be depressing if we were never in the position to have our own place.

Housing association here so we have almost free reign. They have their official rules like no structural changes which makes sense but their other official rules (like 6x4 sheds only or we have to get written permission for everything we do) is pretty much ignored. Nice Neighbour had a huge summerhouse built. "Nosy Norma" neighbour complained (as she does with EVERYTHING) because she could no longer see into our and other neighbours houses and gardens.
Housing association came out for maybe 30 seconds and nothing ever happened.

It's a lovely summerhouse.

@Crystal87 do you rent through estate agents or through landlord direct?

Through a direct landlord. My current landlord's business is buying and renting houses though and she has lots of properties. So I think as long as we're paying the rent that's all she's concerned about.

I've also rented a flat in the past through an estate agents and was there four years and they only inspected it when I left.

Rented here.... We have painted /wallpapered /reorganised the outdoor space /painted wood cladding - ll been out and praised our work!! Been here 5 years and it was /still is - old and delapitated!!
Old listed building and we love it!!

We rent and we're not allowed to do anything. No painting, not even if we put it back to magnolia whenever we decide to leave, no putting tacks in the walls to hang photos etc so it's costing me a fortune in command strips! We're really limited unfortunately. Would love to be able to paint!

When i rented privately the agent told me he'd recently done a check on a property and the tenants had emulsioned over wallpaper that was £100 a roll, that was 12 years ago. Don't know how they resolved it. In a council house now and with their permission have replaced the bathroom and kitchen. Only thing they didn't like was the light I put in the bedroom but said so long as we changed it when we left, no probs

I wish I had a landlord/estate agent where they didn't do so much inspections and weren't so picky

Sounds like my LL's are just a bit uptight tbh.
The 3 month inspections are a pain in all honesty!
In don't plan on staying here as would really love a garden but not in the position to buy either .
Just would love to be able to decorate DS's nursery.

I’ve lived in 5 different rentals since leaving uni and never been allowed to redecorate any of them and only allowed to hang pictures in 1 (provided we made good at the end) so I feel your pain! Never been allowed pets either.

Just moved into our first bought flat and have painted and hung pictures EVERYWHERE to make up for it.

I've always been able to hang pictures up. I feel really bad for people who can't even do that. It's so bad to say that!

I would seriously question whether 3 monthly inspections constitute quiet enjoyment of your home. They are, but are (hopefully) being revisited in the raft of other changes going on in the rental sector at the moment.

I disagree with many of the changes in the law (mainly because Shelter pushed a lot through that will disadvantage everyone but keeps them legit as all go to hell) but the regularity of inspections isn't one of them!

We use command strips for pictures. They're great and we have lots up.
You can get removable transfers for tiles and removable wallpaper too.
I got a book called Home Sweet Rented Home on Amazon which has lots of ideas.
I think your landlord sounds unfairly strict re the blackout blind. I'd push to have that if I were you. Good luck!

I've lived in rental properties (private) for most of my life, 8 different houses all together. And I don't think this has ever been a rule for any of them. I was 9 when we moved into the first after my parents separated and can definitely remember my mum painting there. She was a stickler for the rules too so I don't think she would have done it if she wasn't allowed. Have never had inspections either, at least not in the two houses I've rented as an adult. Which does have its pros and cons.

We use command strips for pictures. They're great But do check in an unobtrusive place first. I see lots of places at Check Out where the command strip removes the paint or just doesn't lift off.

And I mean lots... when I am working full time I do 4 or 5 check outs a week and see command strip damage every week. It must be really bloody scary when you come to remove them only to find they are worse than picture hooks would have been!

In lieu of a blackout blind, could you build a lightweight frame to fit the window aperture covered in blackout fabric that you can lift ii and out at bed time. If you chose some nursery friendly pattern it could double as decoration if lent up against the wall between use.

I loathe LL who are so anal about things like this. There are tons of You Tube videos from renters in the USA who have lots of strategies for rental friendly decorations. In all cases they put the property back to its original state on moving out with no loss of security deposit.

Good luck with your search OP

We’ve asked and been given permission for picture hooks providing we fill holes and paint over when we leave. We never have inspections though!

Our landlord doesn’t seem to care (we run by all changes we’d like to make first but we’ve never been told not to).

We’ve also never had an inspection (only safety checks).

Pastel colours only here. So I'll keep staring at the white walls instead.

I remove the picture hooks after each tenant (only had two others), make good and touch up. New tenants are then welcome to put up all the pictures they want on the understanding that if they nail through a pipe or cable, they will be paying for the fix.

if they wanted to repaint...tricky one, have allowed that before and previous tenants made a real mess of it. It was repainted (yes, magnolia, doesn't offend anyone) about 3 years ago and is still smart. If they are there long enough that it needs redoing we'll discuss colours.

I used to ask to visit one month in just to answer any questions (and check if the people I expected were actually the tenants I had) but don't even do that now. If they have a problem they call and I'll get it sorted. Apart from that, just annual boiler service and gas safe.