We decorate rented homes in Creaton for landlords and letting agents, travelling about 7.8 miles from Northampton up the A5199. Most homes in the village are owner-occupied, so lets are relatively few, and the right specification depends on whether the property is modern or a heritage cottage.
A village where most homes are owner-occupied
The 2011 census recorded 155 of Creaton’s 196 dwellings as owner-occupied, so lets make up a fairly small share of the housing. We have no more recent figure, and we will not guess at one. What that means in practice is that a landlord or letting agent with a property here is often dealing with one house rather than a portfolio on a single street, and the decorating plan has to suit that particular building.
The likeliest rental homes are among the newer stock: the post-1950 houses on The Jetty, Court House Close and Brixworth Road, the 1980s homes at Home Farm Close, and the 13 houses created in the early 1980s from the former Creaton Hospital at Highfield Park. Where an older cottage in the conservation area is let, it needs a different approach.
Specifying a turnaround by house type
Modern houses. A void repaint here is about speed and durability. One neutral, washable wall colour throughout makes the next round of touch-ups simple, and woodwork gets a non-yellowing water-based satin that stays white between tenancies. Ceilings are usually standard height, so a typical house can be turned round without heavy access equipment.
Ironstone and cob cottages. If the let is one of the older properties round The Green or High Street, the walls may be lime plaster or cob. A standard vinyl emulsion can trap moisture in those walls, and the result is flaking or damp patches that come back as a complaint from the next tenant. A breathable paint suits those walls and tends to see out the tenancy. If the building is listed, as several in the village are, changes to finishes may need listed building consent.
Converted buildings. Highfield Park homes are conversions, so we look at each one rather than assuming the walls and joinery match the house next door.
Making a void visit work from Northampton
Because Creaton is a drive out of town rather than a walk round the corner, we try to arrange void work so the house can be finished in one continuous visit: key collection, a walk round to agree the snag list, then decorating through to a final clean. Letting agents can send photographs or an inventory beforehand so we arrive with the right paint. Narrow lanes and limited parking on High Street mean we confirm where the van can stand before the first day.
Exterior items on a let deserve a separate thought. Creaton’s ridge-top position leaves front doors, frames and lintels facing east and north exposed to wind and rain, and mature trees round The Green shade some frontages and drop debris, which encourages algae. If a front door or lintel is close to bare wood, it is far less work to re-coat it in settled weather between tenancies than to deal with rot later.
What we can and cannot take on
- Walls, ceilings, woodwork and doors throughout, in one agreed colour scheme.
- Stain-blocking over water marks or smoke staining before the finish coats.
- Exterior joinery such as front doors and timber lintels, where conservation guidance on colours applies.
- We are decorators, not builders, so damp or plaster repairs beyond filling are flagged to the landlord rather than covered up.
More on how we work with landlords and agents across the area is on our landlord and letting agent decorating page. For the village’s housing in more detail, see the Creaton area page, and for what affects price, the cost guide.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
