Tenant wants new kitchen and bathroom?

[Lalaland234]

Wasn't sure to put this so feel free to move if necessary, mnhq.

We recently moved house and circumstances meant we decided to rent the property out instead of selling. New tenant moved in two weeks ago. They recently requested to change the flooring in the bathroom and Hallway (agreed to this, within budget and with our approval on colour etc). They've now mentioned about changing the kitchen and possibly bathroom.

The bathroom was redone two years ago and in good condition. It was done by a relative but who is a qualified builder/carpenter so done to a high standard. They just want something new?? We are happy for them to paint though. As for the kitchen, it's perfectly functional and in a decent state. It might not be to everyone's taste (white doors/black counters) but it's neutral and clean.

Where do we stand? The tenant works somewhere that sells bathrooms and kitchen so could probably get trade prices. However, for us, we're not exactly swimming in money. We have two young kids (one with emerging additional needs) so we are currently on one wage. It's not their problem I know, but the bathroom and kitchen are fine, it seems they just want it changed for aesthetic appeal. Do we have to change it?

We rented out our house for 5 years. We had lived in it for 4 years. When we lived in it we did up the kitchen (1 year before we left to move abroad). Put in a downstairs bathroom, kept the original carpets (they were fine. Smartened up the bathroom- tiles but kept the fixtures.
We had three sets of tenants in the 5 years. We made repairs when there were problems - the shower broke, there was a leak in one of the bathrooms. Painted a couple of rooms every two years
At no point would I have considered pointing in new flooring - it can be cleaned or new bathroom/kitchen.
They are tenants and as long as the fixtures they are using are in good order that’s fine. If you improve the fixtures then of course the rent should increase.
They are trying it on if your fixtures are fine. I think you were possible generous with replacing the floorings.

@Lalaland234 is your tenants initials G and S? Sounds like grabby friends of ours, the man also works for an interiors design firm.

Just say no. In our house we have a peach bathroom suite, its fucking horrendous but we've lived with it nearly 6 years now, we will probably tell the landlord we'll replace it at some point.

If they want new kitchen/bathroom they have to pay for it and put it back to the original condition for when they move out.