Rental property tenants moved out...

[PassiveAgressiveQueen]

And the entire nouse needs redecorating.
These people have been in 2.5 years so we didn't charge them put it down to wear and tear.
but i was wondering how long do you think is reasonable for a house to remain nicely decorated, would you charge them if a full redecoration was needed after 6 months, 1 year etc?

Why does it need redecorating?

We are tenants and have also been in this house for exactly 2.5 years. If we were to move out tomorrow there is nothing that would need doing, bar filling small holes where things have on the walls and we would do that ourselves before leaving. Carpets and walls are in good condition.

after 2.5 years I would expect to have to repaint everywhere and to give carpets/flooring a deep clean. plus clean of all soft furnishings.

if it is damage, raise a deposit claim. If it is wear and tear, don't.

damage; scribbles, tears, food or worse thrown on walls, smoke, burns, that kind of thing.

this does of course assume you are ok on your legals and protected the deposit. There are guidelines from the deposit schemes about how long carpets and decoration are expected to last in rentals. And of course you can only claim for a percentage if you can claim at all.

I think it depends.

I'm in rented and it's really noticeable that the painted walls are in much better condition than wallpapered bloody feature walls. Paint i can wipe down, touch up etc. Wallpaper snags- even when we moved in getting the furniture upstairs caught the corners. Then once a bit starts, it catches more and more, its very noticeable as the pattern breaks, and it's almost impossible to patch up or fix.

When we leave i will do my best, and i feel incredibly guilty that the place will likely need repapering, but it's just been impossible to keep good in high use areas.

I think maybe the clue is in the phrase 'nicely decorated'. I would have walls in a plain emulsion and have a back up can of each colour. You just set to, covering any marks that need it and deep clean the carpets.

this does of course assume you are ok on your legals and protected the deposit. There are guidelines from the deposit schemes about how long carpets and decoration are expected to last in rentals. And of course you can only claim for a percentage if you can claim at all.

for crying out loud can't a landlord ask any question without somebody mentioning deposit protection?

Too many unscrupulous landlords and people who don't treat it as the business it is still fail to protect deposits and don't realise the ramifications. special is a landlord herself.

I would say you need to paint maybe every 5-6 years to keep it nice. Day to day marks on walls would not come out of deposit. I have charged tenants for not filling holes and making good when they decided to put mirrors ALL over the chimney breast. And some tenants haven't used the right colour paint to touch up when the leftover paint was on the premises). If you need to get a decorator in anyway and these things happened in previous tenancy, I wouldn't bother tbough.

Go try landlordzone, op. The first thing you will be asked to demonstrate is that you have a clue.

Diva strops and business not a good match really.

Why does it need redecorating?

There were coloured pencil marks, scruffs scraps. Stuff i wouldn't redecorate for in my own house, but stuff i wouldn't want to move into.

Coloured pencils marks aren't normal wear and tear. If there was an inventory from when they moved in and you have an inventory now, definitely look at a deduction from the deposit for that. It might buy the paint.

Before thinking about re-decorating, or deposit claims, have you tried a Magic Eraser on the marks? I've had great success with these, removing marks when I thought I was going to have to repaint.

Every couple of years I'd be re painting. Walls are easily marked when moving in and out.
I wouldn't expect to repaint after 6 months and if it was needed I imagine it would be down to their lack of care so would potentially be looking to recoup some costs.

The op says didn't charge them? I assume its now too late to change your mind and raise deposit claim?

Personally, after 2.5years I wouldn't, I'd want to redecorate before putting it on the market. That's just me. I got out the LL game a while ago.

Second the Magic Eraser, it tackled a variety of dcs' redecorating efforts in our rented house. Except the bunion pad they stuck to the wood chip. It does have limits.

Scruffy
Far to late.

My hall needs redecorating every 6 months and I own my house.

It is narrow so constantly gets scuffed. The keys also make a pattern of dents on the wall when we lock/unlock the front door as it sits in a recess. I fill it and repaint it. So I do touch ups of paint but paint the whole thing every 2 years.

I am painting the hall with Dulux endurance paint next time round.

I would think redecorating every 2 years plus deep carpet clean every 2 years. That should be calculated into your costs of being a landlord.

Rental houses need redecorating more often than a mortgaged house with one occupant. Moving belongings in and out causes wear and tear. If you would redecorate your own house every 6 years then a rental needs doing no less than every 4 years, more if you have a lot of turnover in that period.
Children's scribbles on the wall isn't wear and tear exactly but it's part and parcel of renting to families. Also be very careful you aren't trying to 'better' the house at the tenants' expense. Betterment includes expecting the property to be exactly as it was when they moved in without accounting for wear and tear.

Gallavich I wish someone would explain betterment to the Belgians. No concept of wear and tear here, and the property has to be exactly the same as when you moved in, unless you are lucky enough to encounter a reasonable landlord.

Stuff i wouldn't redecorate for in my own house, but stuff i wouldn't want to move into.

And that's why rental places need decorating more than somewhere you just live in.

If you rent to families (and agree to pets) you have to expect more wear and tear that if you rent to professional couples or singles.

If you do claim, the DPS (or whichever) will only award a percentage anyway.

This thread is interesting, can't help with your question op but we've been in our rental property for 7 years. It wasn't newly decorated when we moved in and hasn't been decorated since. We aren't allowed to and landlord says it should only need redecorating every 10 years or so.

Glad to see others realise it definitely needs a touch up more often than that!

Actually, op, you say there are pencil marks. That is not wear and tear. I would expect to be charged for that.