To not put the house back to what it was?

[QuantumDog2]

I've rented the house I live in currently for nearly 9 years. When I moved in it was a new build and we were the first to live here, so obviously a buy to let. The walls were all trade paint magnolia and the carpets were cheap, exactly the way new builds are presented as standard.
Over the years I've decorated it and made some improvements like extending the patio and I spend £1400 on new flooring for the lounge because the carpet was worn out by that stage and looked grotty.
Now I'm leaving as I've bought somewhere with my partner, but contractually apparently I have to return the property the way I found it. I'm 6 months pregnant now and don't fancy donning my overalls and climbing ladders to paint. What would you do? I feel like after 9 years here and the time and money I've spent on the place (although my choice totally) I shouldn't really be penalised, but I expect I will lose my deposit?

Personally I think the colours sound lovely. I looked up denim blue too

I think the nicer flooring and extended patio make up for the non neutral walls, especially as the landlord has not had to pay for any decorating in 9 years. Good luck in your new home. Enjoy choosing whatever colours you like!

I can’t imagine the hallway is that big although there’s always a lot of cutting it. But personally I’d rather spend a weekend doing that than lose a ??? £1k deposit AND risk getting a bad reference.

Cutting in a hallway! Jesus I would pay many Ks to never do that again.
Hallways are the devil

But Denim Drift! Bit much for a rental OP.

Having said that when we were in student halls we superglued a load of shoes to the ceiling after dipping them in coloured paint and 'walking' them all over the walls and ceiling. Looked very cool.

We repainted, pryed the shoes off and made good. Very proud.

However Landlord was devastated we had removed our Tate modern piece. You cant win.

Your LL has been clear about what they expect from you then and now. You painted with your own colours on the agreement you’d re-paint with theirs. It would probably be cheaper for you to hire a local decorator to re-paint than have the cost of redecorating deducted from your deposit. I was charged £50 once to change a few light bulbs.

IF the existing colors can be repainted easily, you have a good case since it has not been repainted in nine years. "Normal wear and tear" will cover you on that. For the more vibrant room, if they take more than one coat to cover, you deposit may well be forfeit, and you might be charged for repairs "Over and above."

I still can't believe you ripped up the carpeting and put in flooring - in a rental property.

The fact you were there nine years is irrelevant. It is a rental property, and not yours to 'redecorate' as you please without express permission from the landlord.

@LemonSwan

I can’t imagine the hallway is that big although there’s always a lot of cutting it. But personally I’d rather spend a weekend doing that than lose a ??? £1k deposit AND risk getting a bad reference.

Cutting in a hallway! Jesus I would pay many Ks to never do that again.
Hallways are the devil

But Denim Drift! Bit much for a rental OP.

Having said that when we were in student halls we superglued a load of shoes to the ceiling after dipping them in coloured paint and 'walking' them all over the walls and ceiling. Looked very cool.

We repainted, pryed the shoes off and made good. Very proud.

However Landlord was devastated we had removed our Tate modern piece. You cant win.

My apartment has every door off the hallway So front door, bathroom door, 2 bedroom doors and living room doors. Oh and it's angled to add to it I am never, ever painting it again. These pics are just part of it, and it's the first thing I had ever painted too

Did they do an inventory when you came in? I am pretty sure paint is every 5 years and carpets every 10 years so I would contest the deduction of painting as it should all be repainted anyway.

The LL is profiting here I think! If you’d been there a year and had repainted I can understand him wanting you to repaint it on leaving but in this situation surely he’s now just saving himself the job of repainting it for the next tenant which he would surely need to do anyway.

I suppose the only caveat is it’s going to take more than one coat to cover Denim Drift (which I love btw!)

I used to be a landlord. Tenants were not allowed to paint. We painted it top to bottom every couple of years. Although if it needed new flooring or carpet we would have done that, I would have been furious if the tenant had decorated without asking especially if it was a bright or dark colour. Think you have to put it back or accept you’ll loose your deposit.

They can put what they want in a contract. It doesn't mean it's enforceable!

It is enforceable though, @fucketyfuckwit and @Iamthewombat. Here is the TDS guidance on redecorating. They give an example where a tenant redecorated in a different shade of yellow. They found for the tenant because the colour was similar but state that they may not have done if the colour had been significantly different (as in OP's case).

www.tenancydepositscheme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Case-studies-on-disputes-involving-redecoration.pdf

On the other hand, the TDS considers the lifespan of paintwork to be 5 years so the landlord would be expected to need to redecorate anyway. However, the landlord may argue (correctly) that painting over dark colours will require more coats, paint and man hours than would be needed for magnolia walls and there may be loss of rental income while the work is done, so they might have a claim for some of the costs. The paint won't cost much but the labour will.

Fingers crossed that the person that viewed it and likes it will take it as it is.

I'll keep you all updated on what happens with the check-out and my deposit. Definitely not hopeful I'll see any of that money again, but I will contest it if any charges seem unfair or grossly inflated.
Thank you all for your advice and your viewpoints. x

I think you're a bit confused because you keep saying the LL would have to repaint after 9 years anyway. No, he wouldn't. It's always the leaving tenant's responsibility to return a property to neutral and regardless of what PPs said, the deposit scheme will allow your LL to keep money for repainting.
The only other option you have is to try to contract your own painter to return the property to magnolia but tbh that becomes more complicated if they make a mess of it.
It's probably best to put in writing to the LL that you're not returning it to neutral and that you expect them to pay for repainting from your deposit. You could include quotes from 3 painters for what that would cost so both you and LL have an idea of what kind of sum will be kept back.

I would think that after 9 years, a one coat repaint throughout would be a cost the landlord would have to bear, but if it costs more to paint over deeper colours, you may have to pay that extra.

It's difficult when dealing with agents because they tend not to have the authority to apply discretion. So you might be better talking to the landlord, sending some photos and asking if s/he'd like it left as is. You won't be losing out be doing that.

Another possibility is to try to leverage the improvements you've made that they do want to keep (the patio and the flooring, anything else that's been mentioned in the Rightmove listing) in order to be let off the things they don't want to keep. So, for example, tell them you're prepared to leave the patio and not return it to the handkerchief it was if they'll assume the cost of any additional paint needed to neutralize the colours you've left on the wall.

After 9 years the LL would have had to replace the floor covering and repaint anyway. In your place I would not agree to any deductions.

However I think you should have consulted with LL about the improvements. In one rental I offered to go 50% with LL to add a fence which made it more private and secure. However she pointed out it was against the covenant for the estate which had to remain open plan. Although a few other owners had added fences she did not want to take that chance, So if I had gone ahead and put one in without asking she could have charged me to take it down.

@simitra

After 9 years the LL would have had to replace the floor covering and repaint anyway. In your place I would not agree to any deductions.

However I think you should have consulted with LL about the improvements. In one rental I offered to go 50% with LL to add a fence which made it more private and secure. However she pointed out it was against the covenant for the estate which had to remain open plan. Although a few other owners had added fences she did not want to take that chance, So if I had gone ahead and put one in without asking she could have charged me to take it down.

Yeah, it's annoying to think that I've put down premium quality almost indestructible (chosen because I didn't want it to get dinted or knocked by my children) hard wood flooring, thus saving the landlord the cost of having to recarpet, not just now but for years to come, and I'll still lose my deposit. Grrrrr.

I've also checked back through my message history with the landlord and I did ask permission for the patio, painting and carpet removal. All approved, provided the walls are returned back to magnolia. But they don't want me to take the floor or the various other improvements.

The paint is absolutely fair enough. It was rented to you like that so you should leave it like that. If you're 6 months pregnant get your partner to do it or pay for someone. I don't think it's an unreasonable request from the landlord.

@Crimsonripple

The paint is absolutely fair enough. It was rented to you like that so you should leave it like that. If you're 6 months pregnant get your partner to do it or pay for someone. I don't think it's an unreasonable request from the landlord.

But it was the really watery undercoat type paint they put on newly plastered walls. Magnolia coloured and marks so easily. Plus after a few months there were plaster pops everywhere which I fixed. So it could be argued that the house had never been painted to begin with. I just feel a bit resentful at having to redecorate the house for the LL when I've spent so much making it nice when it was shit to begin with.

Regardless of the quality and whether it was to your taste, it's not your property and the landlord stipulated clearly their requirements.
If you don't want to paint it fine. The letting agent will arrange a quote room by room including labour for returning it back to neutral and then that will be outlined to be taken from your deposit. You can dispute it but I really think that would be taking the piss. As a former landlord it used to drive me mad when tenants made their own improvements - contact me via the letting agent and I'll approve it or arrange for someone of skill to do it.

@Crimsonripple

Regardless of the quality and whether it was to your taste, it's not your property and the landlord stipulated clearly their requirements. If you don't want to paint it fine. The letting agent will arrange a quote room by room including labour for returning it back to neutral and then that will be outlined to be taken from your deposit. You can dispute it but I really think that would be taking the piss. As a former landlord it used to drive me mad when tenants made their own improvements - contact me via the letting agent and I'll approve it or arrange for someone of skill to do it.

They did approve it and I did do it skilfully. I'm okay with being charged reasonably to put it back to magnolia I think, and if it wasn't for the fact I'm struggling to get about right now I'd do it myself.

If you rent a tux, you don't get to take it in to fit your partner's figure more accurately.

You have made structural changes, and altered the clearly stipulated paint colour in a way that will take multiple coats to rectify. It doesn't matter if you or half of MN thinks denim or pink is nicer than magnolia.

The floorboards you say you may not have sought permission for. If I was your landlord, 'nicer' though they may look, I'd be gobsmacked.

The paint, the floor and the patio are different things. I get the vibe that you feel the painting should be accepted because the floor and the patio have added value. But you decided to add value to their property at your own expense, I understand why you did it to improve your home, but you need to see that almost as a gift you gave them.

Look at it the other way, if the flooring and patio were poorly done they'd have to pay for those to be replaced/removed from the deposit as well as pay for the painting over of the darker walls. In those circumstances, its likely your deposit wouldn't cover those three things and the landlord would be at a loss. So one doesn't cancel out the other unless the landlord is feeling particularly generous.

As a landlord, it's not just the cost of redecorating that I'd be cross about. It's the time it takes to arrange and having the property empty. If he can't show it till it is painted that could easily run to a few weeks or months.

I've rented many properties (and still do) and I always decorate. I've never had any problem with handing it back and have never put a property back to cream walls. It usually has that wording in the contract, it's standard wording, but I've never had it enforced and always got my deposit back.

Like you, I have always added value and the properties always look lovely when I hand them back. They are always spotlessly clean, and my decorating is fine....no dark black or purple walls!!
Assuming the place is light, bright and perfectly clean, really they shouldn't be charging you for anything. But if you think they'll use it to keep your deposit you might decide it's worth it not to have to go to all the bother of repainting.....

@Turangawaewae

As a landlord, it's not just the cost of redecorating that I'd be cross about. It's the time it takes to arrange and having the property empty. If he can't show it till it is painted that could easily run to a few weeks or months.

If this were the end of a 12 month contract that might be a valid concern. But after 9 years of the LL doing no decorative maintenance, the OP will not have caused a larger gap between tenancies by painting some colour on the walls than the LL would have had if she’d done nothing.

Yes, YABVU, and even if they approved your changes to the paint, patio and floor they can request everything back to the way it was.

If you don’t, not only can they take your deposit but they can charge you additionally for any work they may have to do to get it back to how it was before you changed it (even if they go on to keep some changes).

So if your deposit was, say, £500 but it’s going to cost them £1000 to make good, they can take the £500 and then charge you £500.