To expect maintenance on a house I’ve rented for 7 years?

[Finallybroody]

I’ve had one inspection in 7.5 years of living in my private rental, which happened a year after I moved in. If I have informed my landlord of any problems or issues they have been resolved and the said item patched up or repaired. However there has been no ‘general maintenance’ or checking over of the house the whole time I’ve lived here. The bathroom and kitchen are very old and tired after things have gone wrong then been patched up along the years, it badly needs redecorating, the carpets are tatty, the boiler is outdated and inefficient - the list goes on. Yet again this morning I’m having to get in touch with my landlord because something has broken which now inconveniences me. However if it had all been checked over regularly and problems spotted this could have been avoided. I feel like when I move out (which is hopefully fairly soon) a lot of money will need to be spent to make it marketable again. Why don’t some landlords appear to want to maintain their investment? If I was a landlord I’d want to do regular checkups on the place to avoid bigger bills further down the line, or months of no rent because I’m having to refurb the whole place.

AIBU? Is this normal landlord behaviour?

Some landlords are just happy to have regular income and don’t see the point of changing stuff when a tenant is in situ. I own now but when I’ve rented I’ve never had anything done beyond essential maintenance.

It is to some extent. Landlords much prefer to refurnish before getting a new tenant because it attracts more offer and the rent can be set higher.

Your landlord probably expects you to raise any issues. Did you ever asked about redecoration at any time.

What was the state of decoration when you moved in? If everything was new, 7 years is not outrageous. If everything was already 7 years old, then yes, it's reasonable to ask for updating, but why would he do so when you don't mention it?

Also, was you rent increased annually each year? Because if it wasn't, there is a risk of a significant increase after any updating if current rent is below market rate.

It's normal in my experience although obviously crap.

We had 1 inspection in 12 years. Things only sorted when they completely broke down, & cheapest replacements used so they inevitably broke down again, & again… it cost them a fortune to refurbish it after we moved - I looked at the marketing photos, they tried to sell it but couldn’t find a buyer. No sympathy as they made us homeless. I pity their new tenants.

You could always move somewhere where the decor suits your current tastes.

It's not like homeowners do an entire refurbish every few years, so I'm not sure why renters expect one for free.

It's not like homeowners do an entire refurbish every few years, so I'm not sure why renters expect one for free.

She pays rent, she's not expecting anything for free! Most homeowners would replace tatty carpets etc, because it's nice to have a decent home.

Redecorating is usually down to the tenants. If anything else needs to be done, like carpets or kitchen, you need to tell your landlord.

Your landlord sounds just like mine! Been in my house for nearly 11 years now. Things only get fixed when they're in a terrible state.
I have very old rotten sash windows that all need replacing, you'd think I was asking for the moon on a stick. They're literally falling apart.
On the one hand I like that my landlord leaves me alone, but not definitely comes with downsides.

I have a mortgage. My house has only been decorated once in 14 years...

We just fix and repair as things need it.

She pays rent, she's not expecting anything for free! Most homeowners would replace tatty carpets etc, because it's nice to have a decent home
It comes down to reasonability. Most owners do tend to look after paint and carpets better than tenants because they have to pay for it. There is no incentive for tenants to try to make things to last longer.

The rule for me would be around 7-8 years to change carpets and repaint, about 10-15 years replace kitchens and bathrooms, but it does also depend on when tenants go as indeed, I would rather wait for tenants to go to do it all to attract top new tenants at a higher rate. I never increase rent during a tenancy though.

The last property we rented the landlord rented to his friends before us so no issues raised & they sorted bits themselves. When we moved we raised some issues such as bathroom window broken, damp walls, broken power switch.... landlord got the hump because we were raising issues.
We were good tenants & decorated throughout & kept property very clean & tidy. We were only raising issues that landlord should have sorted.

The landlord should arrange a gas safety check every year, surely? And if they provide electrical appliances, PAT as well?

Ah, I've just realised you might not have gas in the property.

I've never been offered general maintenance.

We rented a house where no general maintenance had been done for years. The original bathrooms and kitchen were still in - the house was 30 years old. On moving in we pointed out the stair carpet was worn badly to the point of being slippery - we insisted it was listed on the itinerary that we signed.
We moved out a year later (slippery stair carpet still not replaced) and new tenants moved in. A week later the bathroom appeared to have had a slow leak over time, and suddenly the kitchen ceiling fell in as a result. The workman who came to sort it slipped on the stair carpet and broke his arm!!

The landlord had to totally refurbish the kitchen and bathroom, and also pay compensation to the work man.

Might have been easier if he had just looked after his property over the years.....

Squeaky wheel gets the grease OP. Sounds like your LL fixes problems that you tell them about but what is out of sight is out of mind and that is fine by your LL.

I just wrote out and deleted a suggested course of action whereby you negotiate with your landlord for them to do a renovation with you still in-situ but writing it out I have realised its not really in the LLs interests to do that. What works best for them is for you to stay for as many years as suits you, and then you leave and they get to do the renovation on a completely empty property with no need to consider the wellbeing of the family living there as floors are taken up, water abd electricity supplies disrupted etc etc as all the different tradespeople do what is needed. They then have a pristine property to market to find the next tenants.

If you stay put during the renovation then yes they get to keep collecting rent, but (a) the constraints on how the renovation project can be managed if there's a family living there at the same time as work being done is a huge issue, and (b) once all the work is done and you are still living there, it's not going to look pristine for long and if you then move out 2 years later it's going to need redecorating again anyway so they have to do that work twice. That doesn't seem attractive frankly. I think your LL would rather you moved elsewhere when the current property's state of delapidation gets too much to live with comfortably, leaving them free-rein to refurbish it once you are gone.

Some landlords do. My old landlady wanted to do a “painting refresh” annually and was forever offering to have professional carpet cleaners etc brought in. She was probably too nice as a landlord but I also had a landlord who inspected annually and repainted every 2 years.

I've lived in my rental for 8 years now, never had an inspection and pay landlord directly so no real estate agents involved who would usually do these things.

It was newly renovated when I moved in and it's certainly looking a bit tired, the carpets need replacing (awful cheap rental carpet)

However I know that while I've had an occasional rental increase it's probably less than market value.

Whenever any significant works need doing they put the rent up, we had the balconies redone on the whole building to bring in line with regulations.

I'd think about whether any of the maintenance is long term and weigh it up agains how long you think you will stay. My owners will almost certainly never sell so I'd be happy to negotiate repainting for example where they pay cost of paint and I do the work.

If you have a potentially long tenancy and don't expect to have to leave some things I'd just sort myself

Are they at least completing their annual compliance checks? (Gas etc)

If the kitchen wasn't fit for purpose then I would replace it while the tenant was in situ, but not because it was tired or old looking.

But you're completely right, I would completely refurb before it went out to market for a new tenant because it would likely get higher rent.

I guess that doesn't seem fair, but you do have the choice to move to another property.

but you do have the choice to move to another property. Not always the case CornishGem.

I live in Cornwall and absolutely cannot afford to move. My rent has never increased, but the house is in a shit state. I don't kick up too much fuss because I cannot afford to move. There is no housing for local families, so I shut up and put up with it.

I've been renting my house for 12 years, the kitchen is literally falling apart, the carpets are all threadbare plus any work the landlord does do is the cheapest fix ever.
It's so frustrating sometimes.

When I rented - although that for as long as the OP the landlords didnt do checks, just responded to calls for repair. Both were furnished flats and the second landlord did a replacement "programme" every year as it helped towards tax, so between viewing and moving i they did windoe replacements and decorating and then while I was there she got a brand new bed and sofas.

There are some really crap landlords around who as long as they get their cash they don't care. They sometimes refer to themselves as accidental landlords like this absolves them of any responsibility. And forget about the legalities on the tenants side, and then when you leave try and keep the deposit to replace their already worn out property like the slippy carpet.

Redecorating is usually down to the tenants. If anything else needs to be done, like carpets or kitchen, you need to tell your landlord

Depends on the contract surely? Long term protected contracts - yes it makes sense. However why would tenants expend money decorating and increasing the rentable value of a property when in so many contracts they can be given 28 days notice to quit?

Yes it depends on the contract but usually it's the tenant's responsibility.

We refused to sign the iteniery we are supplied with on moving into the place we now live in, having moved in quite recently.
Our reasoning to the agent, was that if we had been using eBay, the items description (lightly used) in no way reflected the actuality of the state of the property.