Forum spotlight: Decorating and your tenants

Our members only forum is the ideal place to share experiences with fellow landlords and see how others have dealt with common tenancy-related matters.

A landlord recently took to our forum to ask a question about redecorating. The landlord wanted to give several areas of their rental property a fresh lick of paint and they had approval from their long-standing tenant, however the tenant had asked if they could choose the paint for the bathroom downstairs.

The landlord said they had a good relationship with the tenant, who always paid their rent on time, so they were initially minded to accommodate the request.

However, our landlord was slightly worried their tenant would choose a very expensive brand of paint, of a shade not in keeping with the rest of the property. They took to our forum to ask if anyone had had similar requests from tenants and what they did.

The responses on our forum

The first person to respond on the thread suggested it would be wise for our landlord to offer the tenant some choice when it comes to paint, but within reason.

This landlord suggested the member provide the tenant with a colour chart so they can select which colour they want. If the tenant wants a different, more expensive brand to get a different shade, an option could be for the landlord to charge the difference in cost.

Another regular user said they agreed with the landlords’ overall approach to allow the tenant to pick the paint within reason, especially with them being a good and longstanding tenant.

This landlord said they would simply explain to the tenant their budget for the paint. This user also recommended that the landlord in general avoids dark paint as these can make rooms look smaller. They also advised to buy more paint than is needed for the repaint job, so its quick and easy to touch up the paint later down the line.

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