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have gone wrong then been patched up along the years, it badly needs redecorating, the carpets are tatty, the boiler is outdated and inefficient - the list goes on.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?

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

One of my DC lives in another European country and its really reminded me of just how much of a free for all the UK rental market has become. Tenants there do invest in maintenance and improvements of properties because both tenants and landlords see them as secure homes/long term investments.

I would never encourage DC here to expend much on rental accommodation beyond keeping it clean, tidy and in good order simply because of the lack of security.

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have gone wrong then been patched up along the years, it badly needs redecorating, the carpets are tatty, the boiler is outdated and inefficient - the list goes on.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.

The thing is, the person actually living in the property is always going to be best placed to know what is looking like it needs maintenance. If the boiler is serviced once a year, as it has to be by law, then it’s unlikely it’s inefficient to the point it needs replacing. Most people only replace boilers when they really need it.

If the kitchen and bathroom needed decorating, I’d expect a tenant to say so. Have you? If you’re expecting a fully refurbished kitchen rather than a lick of paint I think your expectations are too high. However if cabinet doors are hanging off then you’ve a point.

Carpet replacement almost no landlord will do mid tenancy as the expectation is that after a fairly long let you’d do them when the house is empty. Most tenants would prefer this too! Carpets aren’t something that should need replacing urgently and again, if there was a particular issue I’d expect you to raise it.

If the property is maintained I.e. you inform them of an issue and it is repaired promptly then the rest is just aesthetics and if you want the nice-to-have doing you need to ask.

We have had a foot square hole in our kitchen ceiling since Jan. In May a 'maintenance man' came and hammered a 2 foot square piece of board over it. Leaving a 2 inch gap on one corner.. We have a leaky chimney dripping into my sockets... Mouldy bathroom ceiling I sand and paint twice a year... Been here 6 years now. Nothing gets done. Listed building going to ruin.
I could fill a thread with complaints tbh...

30degrees that's really shit

Ultimately landlords want the property in as good condition as possible, but they also -

(1) Often find it hard to get good access during a tenancy (eg to repaint the whole house or replace a kitchen)
and
(2) Want to spend zero money

To a large extent, in this disgustingly under-regulated country, it is almost inevitable that the longer the tenant remains in place the worse the property will get. It is down to the tenant to weigh up the cost and hassle of moving, how much they like the place, how bad the condition is getting and how good the rent is.

Meanwhile the landlord is likely to be weighing up the extent to which they are able to keep pushing the rent up without maintaining to a good standard, and the extent to which they need to refurb to get the best rent.

Ultimately, OP, it is down to you to tell the landlord what you want in terms of rent and condition, and move out if she fails to live up to what you want. You might be happy to live in a scruffier place in return for a rent reduction. You may be happy to live in a building site for a month and then pay a higher rent for a better place. Make your requests and move out if the landlord is failing to give you a fair deal.

There are some really crap landlords around who as long as they get their cash they don't care
As there are tenants who treat the property very badly. I was shocked at the state of what had been brand new carpets 2 years before, and not the cheapest ones. Stains absolutely everywhere. They kept saying they'd clean it but it was obvious the damage was done. Indeed, they left a year later and didn't bother to clean.

I got some money back from the deposit, but nowhere near what it cost to replace it. Of course you should be able to claim new, but if they'd looked after the carpets as you'd expect people with care to do, I would have been able to rent the house again without changing it. Sadly, it really was bad and I had to strip it all again.

This the problem, bad landlords make tenants not care, bad tenants make landlords do the strict minimum.

My previous tenant had been in for 4 years. In that time there had been a new boiler and fire fitted and redecorating in some rooms. After they left the whole house was repainted, carpets cleaned or replaced. Ready for the next people. House is clean and tidy and in nice condition.
I am thinking that the kitchen may need replacing at some point though.
Not all landlords fleece their tenants but some people are putting up with poor living standards. A friend of mine rents a house very cheaply but the landlord does the bare minimum. She can't afford somewhere better though.

YANBU

Renters are not getting anything “for free”. They’re often paying off their landlords mortgage for them. They shouldn’t be expected to replace kitchens and bathrooms in a property they don’t own. Three beds near me are about £750 a month to rent.

Landlord here.
I would not expect tenants to paint, our properties are repainted at the end of the tenancy before the new people move in.
One of our two houses had a consultant paediatrician and family living in it for 18 months.
When they did a flit last year, we had to have the whole house repainted, a wall plastered and 5 out of 7 carpets replaced. We had a gardening company come in and chop down the brambles etc.
The agency we used to use were shite

@30degreesandmeltinghere

We have had a foot square hole in our kitchen ceiling since Jan. In May a 'maintenance man' came and hammered a 2 foot square piece of board over it. Leaving a 2 inch gap on one corner.. We have a leaky chimney dripping into my sockets... Mouldy bathroom ceiling I sand and paint twice a year... Been here 6 years now. Nothing gets done. Listed building going to ruin. I could fill a thread with complaints tbh...

@30degreesandmeltinghere

Do we have the same landlord .

It is such an exhaustion.

@MissyB1

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.....

oh my... thank goodness you moved out before you got injured.

I rented for a long time, in several countries. I have never had a landlord willing to do more than the absolute minimum that they can get away with.

I agree with you that there should be at least a yearly check.

That said, there are other threads with tenants highly offended that the landlord or agency are trying to book a visit too often, so really people can't win.

Renting a house is like leasing a car. You are paying for something that you can’t afford to buy. With the security that you can leave fairly easily at the end of contract should you not like it or whatever reason. And you are paying to not have to deal with the aggravation and cost of dealing with things that go wrong.

I don’t understand on mumsnet why all landlords are vilified.

There are some good ones and some bad ones same goes for tenants.

Most people in longer lets are delighted to be left to get on with it. And there should be communication. If you think things need doing write an email outlining the reasons for this without making demands. If you are planning to stay long term this may be an incentive for them to improve things. And check your contract to see what both your obligations are.

My last landlords were the same. Did the bare minimum, our carpets were 20 years old and the place hadn’t been painted in 10 years. If something broke they’d insist on coming to see it and see if they could fix it themselves first even if we sent photos and it was clearly a complex plumbing/electrical job which needed a professional. So everything took ages because we had to wait for them to see it before they’d even call someone, and refused to let us organise it ourselves with them reimbursing to save time.

We moved out last month and of course they’re doing a full refurb now with no expense spared so they can let it again and probably for higher rent. From speaking to friends/family that seems a common approach - no work during the tenancy but then a bit blitz at the end.

@Orf1abc

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.

Well my carpets have been down for 15 years and not replacing in a hurry, beyond if something happened.

Perhaps the owner doesn't believe that there should be such extensive wear and tear of the property.

It is only now that I have had to touch up any walls....

So much landlord bashing on Mumsnet. I rent out a flat, it's well maintained and looked after, most things are newer than my own home and repairs are sorted much more quickly... I prefer to leave bigger jobs to time between tenancies to minimise the inconvenience though.
The rent doesn't come close to covering the mortgage plus other expenses (agent fees, insurance, ground rent and service changes, tax - only business I know of taxed on income not profit, maintenance) especially since the tax position changed - we've made a loss every year ... we're very much accidental landlords and will sell in the short term.

Private renters are treated like serfs in the UK. YANBU.

If you are in UK
You are supposed to have
A yearly gas inspection by a certified gas engineer
A 5 yearly electrical safety inspection by a certified electrician

Raise it with the LL and see what they say. You say they repair things when you raise the issue so they clearly are doing what they are supposed to do. Maybe they can't just know that things are no longer to your liking and need you to actually tell them?

We’ve never inspected our property as the tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment and the haven’t had any need to disturb this.

We do expect to be told if there’s any issues, and if they said the decoration / furnishing was getting tired we’d be more than happy to take a look and rectify it. We have promptly fixed any issues raised with us. I don’t see it as my responsibility to go into someone else’s home to tell them it should be smarter / better maintained. It is my responsibility to make good anything brought to my attention though.

We largely left our tenants to it beyond the annual boiler service and gas safety check and relied on them to tell us when things needed sorting as they found that less intrusive and they were mostly very good. We asked if they'd like it repainted after 5 years and came to an arrangement where they sorted quotes and chose the colours and we paid the guys they chose (who were family members of one of them - but did a great job!). I have never repainted my own house after just 5 years....
A lot of tenants would complain about the disruption of having a new kitchen installed or windows replaced, which is why landlords wait to do it between tenancies. Much easier to do substantial work on any property, rented or otherwise, if it's not being lived in.

I think there's a distinct difference between necessary maintenance and decoration. Most landlords aren't going to spend money to decorate every few years just because the tenant wants a refresh, nor are they likely to take on big jobs like kitchen/bathroom renovations whilst a tenant is in situ (unless there is a genuine need) so it makes sense to wait and do it between tenants, especially if they aren't long term tenancies. Most people don't replace their kitchens/bathrooms every few years so why would a landlord?

If you are in a long term tenancy, say around 10years, and have no intention to move out any time soon then I don't think it is unreasonable to have a discussion with the landlord about a schedule of work for updating larger things like bathrooms/kitchens if they need it but equally I would think nothing of buying a tin of paint and refreshing the paint job in my living room if it was looking a bit tired. I'm not going to spend thousands on a new kitchen but £20 for a tin of paint and a roller is a small price to make my home feel better while I'm there. Your landlord might be more than happy to paint/decorate regularly but if not then you have to decide if you would rather live with the current decor or spend your own money to change it - which will usually depend in how long you have/intend to live in the property as to whether any investment is worth it.

I live in a HA flat so have security of a long term secure tenancy and no fears of being turfed out with minimum notice, so I have had no issue investing in spending some money on my flat (painting, putting down carpets etc) but I couldn't afford to replace the kitchen/bathroom even though both were pretty worn out when I moved in. Fortunately the HA has a schedule if works where kitchens and bathrooms are updated every 10 and 15 years respectively but any general decoration is the tenants responsibility.

I got lucky and the kitchen update happened this year so I only had to deal with my old kitchen for about 15 months as it was definitely in need of an upgrade, but before that I made do with covering the ugly orange laminate worktops and cupboards with stick on vinyl; taking the doors off two of the upper cabinets and leaving them as open shelves because the hinges we're almost beyond the repair so they kept dropping and I was tired of tightening them every week; painting the chipped and cracked 80s style tiles white and refreshing the sealant around the sink; covering the stained and worn flooring with a durable kitchen rug; replacing the face plates of the sockets/light fixtures to new white ones rather than the slightly off white, worn ones. It cost me about £50 for all of the materials but it was worth it to me as it made the kitchen look 100 times better.

I've rented for years and years, several different properties. I've always done my own decorating, just like I would for my own home. My current place I redecorated when I moved in....painted all walls, ceilings, gloss etc. Put my own curtains up and replaced one of the larger carpets, which was dirty and a horrid colour. I also replaced the washing machine with one of my own choice; I will have to leave it behind when I move as the place came with a machine in situ, but that's fine by me.

I tend to leave places looking much better than when I arrive, I'm happy because I've lived in surroundings I like and the landlords have never complained as they gain too....

I've never had a landlord inspection and I'm glad, I would find it intrusive. If you have a good landlord they will act if you tell them something needs doing. If you have a bad landlord they won't do anything even if they inspect and see it for themselves.

I've been lucky with good landlords, although I've also lived somewhere very run down and accepted it as the rent was lower than usual and it was my choice to live somewhere grottier and bigger rather than nicer but smaller.

It's not always easy to vote with your feet though. There is a huge shortage of rentals in some areas. We need the 'accidental landlords' who provide homes, not holiday lets.