Asking the Landlord to do stuff....

jethrothe2nd

Me and my fiancee have been renting a house in Maynooth since Feb. 2009. We intend on staying there for the foreseeable future. The house is only 3 years old, and is in pretty good shape, however it is getting to the stage where it could do with the inside being re-painted. In addition to that, the mattresses could do with being replaced, and the sofas (a 3 seater and a 2 seater) although perfectly serviceable, are getting a bit scraggy.

Obviously, if we don't ask, we don't get, but I before I do approach the landlord, I am looking for peoples opinions on whether these are reasonable requests.

bertie1

You have been living there for over 18 months , I would think that if the walls needed painting already it would be your responsibilty as it is your wear & tear.
Again there is nothing stopping you buying your own matress & leaving the one that is there in the spare room until you move out.

I cannot see the landlord changing the matress or painting the inside for you.

convert

My OH has been in an apartment in Dublin for three years. Although the apartment is in very good nick (it's only about 15 years old) and well kept, the landlord recently suggested that the place would be done up - painted, new curtains, mattresses, and anything else they wanted - as they've been there for three years.

Were the mattresses and sofas new when you moved in? If so, asking for replacements after three years mightn't be entertained by the landlord. Do you think the sofas would look better if you got some sofa covers instead?

Re painting, I don't see why the landlord wouldn't agree to that. Would you be willing to do it yourself? If so, maybe suggest to the landlord that they supply the paint, brushers and rollers, and that you and your OH would do it, if you're in a position to do so. That way you wouldn't be inconvenienced by having painters or the landlord coming and going. When I was renting, my landlord used to come up and paint the rooms every two years. If a new tenant was moving in, the room would be painted before they arrived.

It really depends on your landlord, but if the sofas and mattresses were new when you moved in, I'd be wondering what had happened to them to make you want replacements after a relatively short period of time. If they were second hand, however, that's a little different.

jethrothe2nd

Guys, thanks for the responses.

bertie - firstly, the house was not re-painted prior to us moving in.It is most likely that the house has not been re-painted since it was built 3 years ago (although I am not sure of this). While I accept that some of it will be down to our own wear and tear over the past 18 months, it is by no means all. Based on that, I don't see why we should have to shoulder the full cost of repainting. In relation to buying our own mattress,we rented the house with the mattresses in it. If they are no longer in a condition that is acceptable, I feel that the landlord bears some responsibility to replace them.

convert - we would certainly be willing to do arrive at some compromise with the landlord in relation to the painting - we are not looking for something for nothing. The sofas and mattresses were all second hand when we moved in.

HarryPotter41

The leigislation covering the landlords obligations can be found here http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2004/a2704.pdf , it would seem to suggest that the house should be kept in the same condition as when the tenancy agreement was made so that would suggest that the paintwork would be included.

BostonB

bertie1 wrote: »

You have been living there for over 18 months , I would think that if the walls needed painting already it would be your responsibilty as it is your wear & tear.
Again there is nothing stopping you buying your own matress & leaving the one that is there in the spare room until you move out.

I cannot see the landlord changing the matress or painting the inside for you.

Are you just making this up or do you have a link to where you got it from?

BostonB

Personally I would think that its unusual for there to be that much wear in 3yrs. Even in a rented house. Maybe theres a perfectly reasonable reason for it though?

jethrothe2nd

Boston - there was a family living in the house before us, and they weren't particularly careful. The guy came round to collect some post after they had moved out, and he said that he had not got his full deposit back. I guess that was part of the reason why. To be more specific about the painting that we want to get done, most of the rooms wouldn't need to be done at all. The hall, stairs, landing, and the ensuite bathroom, however all have a lot of scuff marks on them, and in my view, it would be better to repaint the whole lot, rather than just touch up.

Harry - thanks for the link

BostonB

Well if you are good tenant, and most of the damage was done before I don't see why a landlord would not be open to something that would keep you there another year or more.

jimmycrackcorm

I think if you actually owned the house you wouldn't be repainting it after only three years.

HarryPotter41

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I think if you actually owned the house you wouldn't be repainting it after only three years.

I certainly would paint the more used rooms in my house every three years, particularly the hall and kitchen due to the hugher level of wear and tear so couldn't agree with that assessment

jethrothe2nd

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I think if you actually owned the house you wouldn't be repainting it after only three years.

That is neither here nor there. Parts of the house would benefit from being repainted. We are extremely careful tenants, and although I know you can't live in a house for 18 months and not be responsible for some of the wear and tear, I can safely say that the majority of what we would like to be done was not caused by us.

Maybe we should have asked for it to be done before we moved in, however at that point it was essentially a years lease for us. We are now looking at staying here over a much longer term.

BostonB

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I think if you actually owned the house you wouldn't be repainting it after only three years.

Rented houses get more wear and tear than your own house. So that not really relevant.

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

I certainly would paint the more used rooms in my house every three years, particularly the hall and kitchen due to the hugher level of wear and tear so couldn't agree with that assessment

I wouldn't say that was usual either.

silja

I can see how the often used areas of the house may need repainting after 3 years.

I don't really think the sofa and matress should have to be replaced after such a short time, unless they were the cheapest of the cheap, they should last longer than that, even with a family in there for the first 18 months. I would see that as beyond reasonable wear and tear, but maybe you can work something out with the landlord, such as he gets new stuff in return for you signing a new 2 year lease orsomething.

jethrothe2nd

I don't really think the sofa and matress should have to be replaced after such a short time, unless they were the cheapest of the cheap, they should last longer than that, even with a family in there for the first 18 months. I would see that as beyond reasonable wear and tear, but maybe you can work something out with the landlord, such as he gets new stuff in return for you signing a new 2 year lease orsomething.[/QUOTE]


I am pretty sure that the sofas were used somewhere else long before they were in this house. Our main reason for asking for them to be replaced is that they are now getting pretty scraggy, and are not particularly comfortable, however, as I said in my first post, they are still servicable, so I would understand if the landlord said no.

The matresses- they were without doubt the cheapest of the cheap.

HarryPotter41

BostonB wrote: »

I wouldn't say that was usual either.

What do you consider a usual time period then?

convert

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

What do you consider a usual time period then?

Easily 5 or 6 years. I'm trying to remember the last time the walls were painted at home - it's at least 6 years. Obviously grubby patches (such as around light switches) are washed quite frequently, and the walls dusted down regularly so that they're kept in good condition so don't need painting every 3 years.

Walls needing painting every 3 years seems quite excessive to me.

HarryPotter41

convert wrote: »

Easily 5 or 6 years. I'm trying to remember the last time the walls were painted at home - it's at least 6 years. Obviously grubby patches (such as around light switches) are washed quite frequently, and the walls dusted down regularly so that they're kept in good condition so don't need painting every 3 years.

Walls needing painting every 3 years seems quite excessive to me.

And if you noticed I said hallway and kitchen, areas of heavy usage and kitchen particularly because of cooking. Never mentioned bedrooms.

convert

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

And if you noticed I said hallway and kitchen, areas of heavy usage and kitchen particularly because of cooking. Never mentioned bedrooms.

Can you please point out where did I mention bedrooms in my post??

The kitchen in my house hasn't been painted in more than 3 years and it doesn't look grubby, nor does the hallway or the wall by the stairs. They're dusted and wiped regularly which prolongs the life of the paint. Granted there are no children or dogs or other pets in the house at the moment, so that helps, I suppose.

Xiney

If it was my own home I wouldn't have put in the cheapest mattress and slapped on the cheapest water based paint either, as landlords are wont to do :P

Seriously, when the paintwork gets a mark and you try to wash it off and the paint washes off? That's just annoying. Why bother painting it with that crap? Just going to have to redo it between every tenancy...