We decorate rented properties in Brixworth for landlords and letting agents, a 6.5-mile drive up the A508 from Northampton. Most work is a neutral, hard-wearing repaint between tenancies, planned around the age and construction of the house.
Rented homes in Brixworth, honestly described
We have not found reliable published figures on how much of Brixworth is rented, so we will not pretend to know. What we can say is what the housing looks like, because that is what decides how a repaint between tenants should be done. The village has three broad groups: the brick estates built south and east from the 1960s onwards, an older band of red brick terraces and cottages from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the stone houses of the historic core.
Matching the repaint to the house
Each of those groups needs a different specification if the paint is going to survive the next tenancy.
| Property type | Where | What a turnaround usually involves |
|---|---|---|
| Post-1960s brick estate houses | Fields south of the original village; Pytchley Close | Fill and repaint walls in one neutral, washable matt; refresh MDF woodwork in satin |
| Victorian and early 20th century red brick | Northampton Road, Spratton Road, Broad Street | Crack repair to older plaster, care around original doors and sash windows |
| Stone cottages | Church Street, Silver Street, Newlands | Breathable paints on lime plaster; lining paper where walls are badly cracked |
On the estate houses, keeping every room in the same shade is the main time-saver: the next set of scuffs can be touched up from one tin without a visible patch. In the older terraces we pay more attention to the plaster, which often has fine cracks that reopen if filled with the wrong material. In a stone cottage, a sealing vinyl paint over lime plaster can encourage damp patches, and that becomes a complaint from the next tenant, so we use a breathable finish there.
When a let property is in the conservation area
Landlords of older houses need to know about Brixworth’s Article 4 direction, made in October 2019. On the named addresses, which include parts of Northampton Road, Spratton Road, Station Road, Newlands and Kennel Terrace, painting the front or a road-facing elevation in a new colour can need planning permission. A like-for-like repaint of front joinery is normally maintenance. If an agent asks us to brighten up a front door or windows on one of those houses, we check the address before suggesting anything other than the existing colour.
Organising work at a distance
If you manage a Brixworth let from Northampton or further afield, we can work from a key collected from the agent, send photos of the rooms before and after, and give a written list of anything we notice that is not decorating, such as a dripping overflow or a sticking sash. Keyed access matters on the narrow roads of the old village, where parking outside the door is not always possible and unloading has to be quick.
Woodwork in the older lets deserves a mention. Victorian doors with glazed upper panels and timber sash windows survive on some of the red brick houses, and tenants tend to force sashes that have been painted shut. We ease them and keep paint off the running surfaces, which saves a call-out later.
Work is done in normal daytime hours, planned around a set move-in date, and we tell you early if drying time on fresh plaster or a damp wall will push it. For how we approach rental work in general, read our landlord and letting agent decorating page, and for what affects the cost of a turnaround, see the decorating cost guide. Our other Brixworth services are on the village page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
