Attaching things to walls and repairing

[Seancamden]

Hi all! I have recently moved into a property and the landlord/agency is being extremely difficult about allowing us to attach things to walls. In all previous tenancies we were simply asked to return it to its original state, ie use some filler, sand it down and paint over it. This landlord/agent is not just asking us to repaint the whole wall, but the entire room, meaning we would end up repainting the whole house. The house is desperately in need of a repaint, with multiple scuffs, marks and bits of flaky paint, all which should have been done before we moved in. Our contract states that the landlord cannot withhold this permission unreasonably, correct me if I’m wrong, but this does seem entirely unreasonable to ask us to repaint entire rooms because of some small holes?

[DPT57]

I'm not clear from your post whether you've damaged the wall and the landlord is now asking for that or whether this is just a clause in the agreement?

Filling a hole with filler and painting over it would be very noticeable on a wall and would not in my view be a sufficient remedy in most cases. I think that the minimum requirement should be to paint the rest of that wall. However, I suspect that the deposit schemes wouldn't agreement with me and may take your view, especially if the current state of the décor is quite poor.

[Seancamden]

No we have not damaged it already, we have only just moved in so were looking for permission before affixing things to walls. We even have the paint used for the walls downstairs so there would be no mismatch at all. The walls have sooo many marks and scuffs and they have stated that the paint has faded as it is so old, so I don’t see why we should provide some free painting and decorating for them?

[jpkeates]

It's almost impossible to restore a wall to its original state by filling a hole and painting over it,
But if the wall is already pretty shabby, you wouldn't be making it much worse.

What does the agent/landlord propose to do if you just go ahead and fix the wall as you suggest?

[theartfullodger]

Take LOADS of photos, ideally with date stamp, High quality images . (So they show every little blemish). Your requirement is to return the place -when you leave - as it was, less fair wear 'n tear. If you stay 20 years who cares, if you leave in 6 months maybe an argument.

Fix this to walls (carefully) tidy up when you leave. They can't evict you for 12-18 months anyway, no judge will evict you for a few tidy holes. When you do leave take another LOAD of photos (whole place), low quality images - they won't show defects so much and argue any deductions with deposit scheme

Deposit schemes only came in because landlords were ripping off tenants.

Others may hold alternative views.

Artful: landlord since 2000

[Seancamden]

Thanks all for your messages, it’s really useful! The agent/landlord hasn’t said what would happen if we do it our way as we are still trying to argue our case! It just seems to me that the landlord is trying to take advantage of us, cos the house really needs to be repainted, but they clearly don’t want to spend the money. What is the norm for this sort of thing?

[Lawcruncher]

More control freakery.

Adhesive strips and press-in hooks are available which do not damage walls. I have used press-in hooks and the minute holes they leave are barely perceptible.

[jpkeates]

What is the norm for this sort of thing?

Truthfully?
The tenant doesn't ask permission, puts up what they like and everyone argues about it when they move out and the landlord tries to redecorate the whole room from the deposit.

You could suggest to the agent/landlord that the state of the walls is so bad that they're asking for betterment, which they're not entitled to. But, if the landlord decorates now, you'd be prepared to redecorate again when you move out.
Otherwise there's not much you can do by putting things up to actually worsen the condition of the walls as they stand.

[cuttingman]

I've not used this myself, but there are hanging products on the market which don't damage walls.

https://command.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/co...ws/donodamage/

[Seancamden]

So adhesive hooks and such are fine, but we will need to drill holes for attaching shelves and mounting a tv. It is worth bearing in mind there are very little furnishings so shelves are borderline necessary to make it a home rather than 4 walls to live in.
that’s a really good point about asking them to redecorate now, I think we will ask that and see what comes of it. Thanks again all!

[cuttingman]

TV stand? Shelves, how about a bookshelves instead?

[Seancamden]

TV stand? Shelves, how about a bookshelves instead?

I mean we could do these things but that’s not really the point. We would prefer to mount the tv because of the shape of the room, and buying bookshelves is not really ideal as they take up a lot of space, and we already have our own shelves so don’t want to spend unnecessarily.

[AndrewDod]

Really OP -- you have a bit of a cheek thinking you can drill into walls that are not yours. What planet is this?

Find somewhere else to stay that is a better fit.

[Seancamden]

Really OP -- you have a bit of a cheek thinking you can drill into walls that are not yours. What planet is this?

Find somewhere else to stay that is a better fit.

Brilliant. Thanks for the help 😂

[DPT57]

Brilliant. Thanks for the help 😂

I think Andrew is right. Walls never look the same if they have lots of filler everywhere and so you can't really restore the property to its original state without re-plastering and re-painting the whole wall. I understand that you believe that its already shabby and shouldn't be an issue, but I wouldn't allow this in one of my properties because the deposit schemes don't really compensate the landlord properly for the damage. Its not reasonable to expect to be able to damage walls in a landlords property and if this was your plan from the start you should have checked whether it was acceptable before you rented.