Securing furniture to wall when renting?

[SouthLondonDaddy]

We'll probably sell our property and rent for 6-12 months.
Is there any law / regulation wrt to securing furniture to walls when renting, to make it safer for toddlers?

I am yet to learn of a landlord who explicitly allows you to drill in the walls, so I am 99.99% sure all contracts will have some clause forbidding it (this was the case when we used to rent). However, can they really forbid it when it is to do with health & safety? Specifically, if we do it, how much could we be charged when we leave the property? The question is not what will landlords do (most will try to retain as much of the deposit as possible) but if you know of any binding case law, ruling or whatever on this.

I found an old discussion here, but it didn't say much:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/1035315-How-to-secure-furniture-to-wall-when-renting

Of course it all becomes a moot point if the little one will make all the walls so filthy that we'll need to repaint everything!

I let my tenants secure furniture but have said if they're their for less than 3 years I'd ask them to fill the whole and paint the wall (I have matching paint) before they leave. If they are there more than 3 years I'll repaint the place anyway.
I wouldn't want any child to be in danger in order to prevent a few tiny holes in my walls.

Take your copy of the guardian and use it for its proper purpose. Most landlords do not try to retain as much deposit as possible, there are laws.

Kids do not make walls filthy if properly parented. And except for the tv, what furniture needs securing ? The world is not child proof. Still , a few competently drilled holes should be fine.

I am sceptical because, out of the 7 landlord I have had over the years, only one was fair and didn't try to overcharge me for non-existing damage. Most of my friends and acquaintances have similar experiences. One even stole my deposit (before deposit protection existed) and I had to sue him through the money claim online service. One wanted to charge me £70 (yes, £70) for a tiny plastic bin I had lost and which cost no more than £5 at Argos. OK, let me rephrase: not all landlords are like these, but previous experiences have alerted me to the possibility.

Also, the question was not "do you agree furniture should be secured to the wall?".
I'd rather secure tall wardrobes and bookcases against the wall; it's definitely safer, especially if you have little kids around.

Kids don't make walls filthy if properly parented? Ha ha ha... Then we must be lousy parents, because our little one threw a fair amount of food all over the place, including onto the walls.

When I rented my property out I agreed to let the tenants drill holes as long as they were properly filled on leaving.

Thanks. In your experience, is some kind of polyfiller typically enough, so that repainting is not required?

Would depend on the colour of the walls a little bit.

I agreed to let my tenants fix the tall furniture. I treat them as i would want to be treated. Not all LL's are the same though.

Ask the question at the viewing stage.

if you drill holes in the walls, tap the plasplug below the surface of the plaster before screwing into it. This will reduce the risk of cracking, and means that when you want to fill it, you only need to take out the screw and apply a small blob of filler into the hole (no big crater, and no big blob) and smooth it flush. A neat little hole is not much trouble.

Never try to pull plugs out of a wall.

I'd suggest brown plugs about 50mm long. Ignore the first 15mm because it will just be in plaster which has no strength. The central rectangle in the block of plugs contains information about drill and screw sizes, and sample holes of the correct size. A short or inadequate plug will pull out.

If the plug is loose in the wall, hoover out all dust and fill the hole with no-more-nails or own brand equivalent. Press the plug into it (use a screw as a handle) and wipe off the excess. The next day, when the glue has hardened, you plug will be firmly held and will not rotate or come loose.

We've made good and used paint from a sample pot, colour matched from a paint chart. It's likely to be magnolia or some sort of cream.