Rental house paint colour

[hopeishere]

Would you rent a house where every room was just painted plain white?

I rent out a house and it’s currently pale grey on the walls but it will be so much easier if between tenants we could just refresh it with white paint. But would that put tenants off?

I'd prefer white if I was renting! Grey is so depressing especially in these Northern climes!

Stark white might… back in the day before the trend for grey, the default neutral was magnolia which was meh but inoffensive.

I’d hate grey too. White is a bit bland and can feel quite cold and stark. It would cost a bit more but could you use an off white?

I'd prefer white to grey.
But one of the softer whites, rather than brilliant white would be my preference. But for a rental, brilliant white probably saves a load of hassle when parts need repainting.

To be honest, where I live people are so desperate for a rental property that I don’t think the colour of the walls would register in the slightest!

But I’m sure white would be perfectly pleasant

I tell my tenants they can paint it however they want as long as they return it to the original colour when they leave

I do exactly the same and put in contract it must be restored to white paint. I take photos of all rooms too.

Have a look at Dulux Timeless which is a nice soft white and available in massive trade tubs.

DH did this when he rented out his DMs house when she had to go into a care home, with the proviso that he approved the colour so they didn’t use something very dark or bright that might be difficult to paint over.
iirc he didn’t make them repaint it if it was still in good nick and reasonable colours when they left.

Ditto to Timeless.

I certainly wouldn’t want a house painted entirely in Brilliant White. OK on ceilings IMO though.

I’d prefer an off white to PBW but that would be a million times better than magnolia or Grey 🤮

The tradies doing my flat at the moment use Dulux Trade supermatt white, its softer than pure brilliant white.

I am a property manager, my go to shade for landlords is typically almond white, it can be bought in the larger 5L tubs.

The rented house I'm in right now is brilliant white all over and they've left us the remains of the massive tub of trade paint for us to do touch ups. I don't mind it at all, all my furnishings and curtains bring the life and colour to the place.

I find magnolia and white boring, grey depressing.

Most of the walls in my home are painted with Dulux Natural Hessian. It's a warm light brown/dark cream which suits any colour accessories. Got browns in my lounge and red/pinks/purple in my bedroom.

I'd like white.

I would kill to find a rental house all in white, everywhere I've been looking recently has red/blue/purple walls with equally revolting carpet colours and it puts me off completely! As a renter I just want something neutral, that way all my furniture etc fits in. But not magnolia!

Thanks everyone. Food for thought!

Another vote for Dulux Timeless! Definitely not grey.

Plain matt washable white is lovely.
Always popular with the residential and holiday lets I manage.
Easy to touch up, always looks clean and bright.
It doesn’t look stark, the curtains and flooring add colour, plenty of picture hooks and the tenants’ own furniture and soft furnishing (or pictures & furniture already in the holiday lets) add the colour
And it comes in 10l tubs, and is much cheaper too.
Once you start with off white, it’s more expensive and someone inevitably tries to touch it up with the wrong shade requiring a full repaint.

Landlord here and I let my tenants decorate however they want as long as they keep gloss white and don’t paint walls black

they keep the place nice and we are all happy

Just another question for landlords - do you do a welcome meeting with your tenants? Show them how to work stuff etc or do you expect them to figure it bout themselves? Or do you have a booklet with info?

I manage a few for clients, but also have a couple of my own. I try to meet tenants and show them round and how stuff works, but also let agent do it if unavailable as do my clients (me!)

We provide a full instruction folder on every property with a copy of every single instruction booklet in full (printed, keep originals), quick guides (as who wants to actually read the full 40 page oven manual?), emergency numbers, safety and annual certificates, how to rent guide (as well as sent by email for proof), bin day and other useful info, quick guide to boiler & how to bleed radiators (with photos & you tube link), top up boiler pressure (ditto), fire risk assessment, parking info, plant guide for garden, how to use inline isolator valves, and any other property quirks that you cannot change for English heritage reasons or otherwise.

It’s very comprehensive, all scanned in the event they or movers pack the folder when they move out- happens more often than you’d think possible.