Was I unreasonable to redecorate?

[wlevrta]

We have been in our rental property for almost three years.

However, we will be moving out in January/February.

We have redecorated the rental and I'm just hoping the landlord is going to be okay with it.

For context. The landlord bought the property as it was and made no improvements himself when he purchased it. The dining room wall was bright green! There was gaps between the laminate and the skirting board in the hallway. The bathroom taps were rubbish and water didn't come out very well. The toilet flusher didn't work properly.

It's not his home that he rents. He has numerous properties he rents out and it's his full time job.

Everything we have done to the property, imo, has improved it and everything has been done neutral.

We have put in a brand new bathroom and flooring.

Painting in the rest of the house, etc.

Do you think this will be a problem? He seems like a reasonable guy

I'm a LL. If I were OP's LL I would take them to court for breach of contract and start eviction proceedings. Standard AST conditions will have such rules in place, I know I don't know what is in the OP's AST but if she was given implicit permission she wouldn't have to worry about asking. I think it's ridiculous that the OP thought this was suitable. Also a guarantee for work is typically for the person who had the work done so the LL may not even have a guarantee.
First it's replacing a bathroom and then it's Fallon, glitter walls and CD pieces, everywhere.

*fablon not Fallon.

Does Fablon actually exist any more?

Fablon does exist still! The military are obsessed with it.

Wtf is fablon, glitter walls and CD pieces everywhere, is this exclusive to the rental market, obviously fablon is sticky back plastic but why would a tenant use that.

DS is a tenant, though he is buying a house, I didn’t realise tenants were so different to homeowners, maybe he will know what glitter walls and CD pieces are

There are groups on Facebook that advocate for painting their walls with glitter, cutting up cds and sticking them on fireplaces and stairs, putting fablon on everything and using zoflora in oil burners.

If a tenant did that in my property without asking, I'd hit the roof! It's not your property. What if you'd hired a plumber who didn't know what he was doing and something starts leaking? Who will pay for the repair? Is the bathroom under guarantee?

He may have had plans to do it up himself.

I hope for your sake he's happy with it, but most landlords would be furious at painting/new bathroom etc being done behind their back. Legally he could keep your deposit and refuse to provide a good reference.

You've done him a MASSIVE favour. Landlords hate spending money on rental properties and he'll gain money thanks to you investment. (But you should have OKed it so he doesn't have any come back in case he's an arsehole..)

Going against the grain here. I’m a landlord/ lady and actually wouldn’t have a problem with this. Yes, ideally they would ask but as long as changes are neutral colours etc I can’t get worked up about it when you think of actual shit things that tenants could do eg trash the property, stop paying rent etc.

I’ve been a tenant too and when you think you’ll be staying somewhere a long time and your home environment really isn’t to your taste (especially if it isn’t in neutral tones) it’s understandable that you’d want to make it a nicer place to live in. Sounds like you’ve done them a favour if it’s been updated too.

Hope your landlord was ok about it OP.

You were wrong.

As a tenant you are not entitled to make changes without permission, in your mind, they may be improvements? But he'd be MAD not to keep your deposit, you broke a contract. (Unless you put it all back)

Reason has no place in this situation.... unfortunately,

How do you know the OP has done him a massive favour Leapfrog44?

Unless you've seen the quality of the work in the new bathroom you have no idea.

If the original bathroom was very old all the measurements are going to be different with new bathroom furniture and pipes if they've gone from imperial to metric so there could be all sorts of gaps and even potential leaks because of it.

It's very unlikely it would just be a case of slotting a new bathroom into place. Did the OP hire a fully qualified plumber who knew exactly what he was doing? Did they do it themselves? The whole thing could be a complete mess that might cost a lot of money to put right.

Not everyone who undertakes DIY knows what they're doing or does it to a decent standard.

That apart, the OP had no right to make alterations to a property she doesn't actually own without the permission of the owner. The fact that she might like the way it looks or thinks it was a good idea is irrelevant.

I've been thinking that this thread has taught me a valuable lesson. That most landlords will be petty and spiteful and vindictive, and will react to any wrongdoing by a tenant by trying to fuck said tenant over.

If I have to deal with private landlords in future, I'll keep that in mind.

Yes this thread has also taught me that most private landlords think they are a cut above and also think that anything a tenant does is shit

Rubbish. Plenty of LLs on here saying they would are reasonable about requests, redecorating etc.

What this thread has taught me, however, is how incredibly ignorant some tenants are about the contract they have entered into. In future, I will be going through some of the key points with them face-to-face and confirming by email afterwards when they sign a tenancy agreement.

*would be reasonable

It's not a case of LL thinking they are above tenants and being petty and spiteful.

If you sign a contract, whatever it's relating to, you're signing a legal document that requires both parties to adhere to the terms of the contract.

If you take out a mortgage and the mortgage company gets funny with you because you don't pay back your mortgage would you conclude that the mortgage company are petty and spiteful and that they think they're above you?

Of course not. You've signed a legally binding contract that nobody forced you to sign and you have to stick to it.

If it says that no alterations may be carried out with the consent of the owner of the building, and almost all tenancy agreement will say that, then why is it petty or spiteful of the owner of the building not to want alterations to be done on his/her property.

Yes CornflakeMum, I do that. And I make them sign dated photographs showing each part of the house in its current condition to say they accept that is the condition and there are no faults.

Mind you, since the deposit scheme I no longer take deposits. The tenants have to provide references and be in longish term work. They have to provide 4 guarantors who are property owners. They know that if they misbehave the guarantors will be contacted and tapped for whatever it costs me.

Other than that I am pretty laid back. The properties are not my home so it doesn't matter what is done to them providing they are still lettable when the tenant leaves. And remember that they need revamping every so often anyway. Most of my tenants stay long term because I prefer to charge slightly less than going rate and they know that they are onto a good thing.

Sorry, posted too soon. That should be alterations to be done on his/her property without permission.

It's possible if the OP had asked her LL the LL would have said that it's fine and offered to pay for the whole thing to be done or to pay half of it.

Any repairs or alterations that have to be done on the house I let out I pay for. It's my responsibility as the owner of the house to pay for all repairs and updates. As I said in a pp I've recently spent several thousands on updating certain things in the house. I most certainly wouldn't expect a tenant to pay for things like a new bathroom.

we've just had to have the whole house repainted and carpeted because our previous tenant 'redecorated' in lovely deep mauve. it looked as is a child had done it - paint all over the carpets/ceiling/tiles/sinks/electric sockets. Previously we have always allowed tenants to repaint but i doubt we will in future. its cost us over 2k to put a 2 bed house back to pre-tenant level

And she didnt ask.....not that she ever spoke or responded to us ever.....

Have you not had an inspection?! That's madness. I asked my landlord permission to fit a fireguard and a stairgate.

Good lord

When we replaced the carpets (old, worn and full of dog hair) we did so with the landlord agreeing. He gave us the place he went, we found better quality, same colour. He agreed to pay half of it. He only stated he wanted neutral colour so we stuck with a silvery grey which is quite practical given we have a toddler and seven year old (stuff gets spilt, dropped etc, grey isn’t a colour that quickly looks dirty).

That said, our landlord is reasonable if not somewhat remiss sometimes.

Congrats on new house OP. Xx

I don't think a landlord paying half the cost of new carpets is reasonable, I think he saw you coming. You do know the cost of improvements is tax deductible for landlords? You paid 60%.