Advice required on tenants request to change carpets

roberta,this is good news for you,it shows that your tenant intends to stay longer than six months,the longer they stay,the better for you,as,as yet i've always had some expenditure between tenancies,even its just marketing and lease preparation fees.Its best to get off to a good start,so agree.But establish the value of your existing carpets,i'm guessing that they must be showing signs of age and not as fresh as they might be,agree that they can change them provided that they leave them when they vacate,and that they purchase carpets not less than the current value of yours.Request that they cover expenses of uplift and disposal of yours.I'd imagine that following on from carpets they'll be considering decorating too.My philosophy has always been to encourage my tenants to consider the property as their home,and thus allow decoration picture hanging etc,as my longest tenant has now been with me over ten years,with many others over 5 years,it pays to be accommodating. Remember to treat your tenants as your customers,after all they are paying you for a service.Get to know them and pre-empt any issues that you can foresee,this way your tenant will feel that you care about them and your property.Good luck

If this is causing you a problem, I think letting property is not for you.

Reach agreement in writing between you and the tenant, approve the colour and quality "to your entire satisfaction" and that the new carpets will be left at the property when the Tenant leaves.

That's just arrogant and unhelpful

I have been asked this twice this month. I look at this from a positive point of view. My reply is alway if they want to then yes, but with conditions,1, it must be a quality carpet and a wearable colour( digestive colour is my preferred . 2,must be fitted by a professional fitter and be left when they leave.
If they agree then photos will be taken a new side contract will be drawn up to reflect the new conditions. As far as I am concerned it all starts at the beginning with the move in, all condition of the property should be recorded on the inventory including the decor and signed for by all parties on the day, a video is recorded on the day and copies of both returned to the tenant with the deposit reg certificate. This keeps every thing neat and tidy. As a landlord and agent we must try hard not to find the negative in all the questions asked by tenants. I hope that by not being unreasonable the tent is likely to stay long term, if they leave I will have a good carpet for the next one or the deposit retained to redo.

Hi Joe, I was away on holiday when I got the
text from the tenant, and I texted her back to say I'd meet her when I returned
to discuss the matter. But then I started thinking about the options, and what
would be reasonable and sensible to agree with her. As I had a small window of
time I decided to pose the question on here. Asking advice on this forum
doesn't mean that I'm not going to discuss the matter with her, but it's useful
to hear what other LL have found works, or have experience of. Although I've
been doing this job for a number of years now it's always good to hear what
works for other people, and you never know, it might help someone else as well
as me!

Joe, some advice for you, maybe try posting messages in lower case next time,
it looks less shouty! I'm sure you didn't mean to come across as unpleasant.

Thanks to the many of you who have given me some great advice. I'll now tell you what happened. As I mention below, I texted the tenants to say that I'd see them when I returned from holiday and we met on Saturday when they were moving stuff in. They told me that they want to stay a long time and I said I was very happy with that. I asked if everything was ok for them and they said it was great but that they'd like new carpets in the bedroom. I explained that I wouldn't be able to store the existing carpets long term and they said that of course they'd leave their carpets down when they do leave. I asked what they are going to get and they said a darkish grey with a mottle which seems similar to what is there at the moment except mine are mid brown. They have a professional carpet fitter in the family who has agreed to lay them.

I agreed to all this and asked if it would be ok for me to take a couple of pictures of the new carpets when they are fitted for the inventory, and I'd also add something to the inventory about the change of colour and condition of the carpets and that the carpets have to stay there when they leave.They are happy with this. They are responsible for lifting and removing the existing carpets.

So I think I've covered everything, tenants are happy and so am I!

To Adrian who thinks I shouldn't be letting property - I've been doing this for a number of years, I like to think reasonably successfully. I can't see why you think that simply asking for people with more experience than me to give me a few pointers in the right direction on a question I've not been asked before means that I shouldn't be letting property.

Brilliant post Roberta and thank you for sharing the positive outcome 🙂

Agreed

I always say to tenants regarding decorating, carpets etc that they can't do anything within the first 6 months. Chances are they'll change your nicely decorated property then leave after a short time leaving you to sort it all out! You have no come back if you have agreed they can do it.
Following 6 months hassle free renting I am more flexible allowing the odd feature wall for example.
Always put these conversations in writing so you can go back to them later and submit them in case of dispute to the DPS or similar...

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