We decorate rented homes in Guilsborough for landlords and letting agents, covering the village, which lies about 9.3 miles north-west of our Northampton base. Work is mostly repaints between tenancies, with the specification set by whether the house is a period building or later housing.
What we know, and what we don’t, about letting here
We have not found published figures for how many homes in Guilsborough are rented, and the village is small, with 692 people recorded at the 2011 Census. So we won’t describe a rental market we can’t evidence. What is well documented is the housing itself: listed 17th to 19th century houses in lias stone and brick along the High Street, an 18th-century cottage at Nortoft, and later housing at Church Mount on the site of the former Guilsborough Hall. Any let property here will be one of those types, and the type decides how a repaint should be done.
Two kinds of let, two specifications
A later family home. A house in the newer part of the village usually has gypsum plaster and modern joinery. For a let, that means one neutral, washable matt across the walls, a matching ceiling white and satin or gloss on the woodwork. Keeping every room in the same shade lets the next round of marks be touched up from one tin.
A period cottage or house. Older lias and brick houses often have lime plaster. A tough vinyl that suits a rental elsewhere can trap moisture in lime and lead to flaking or damp patches, which then becomes the next tenant’s complaint. Here we use a breathable matt instead, and accept that it marks a little more easily in exchange for walls that stay sound. Old sashes and leaded windows need attention too: painted-shut sashes get forced, so we keep the running parts clear.
Whichever type it is, we leave a labelled tin of each colour used, with the room written on the lid, so a mid-tenancy scuff can be patched by you or by us without guessing the shade. On a period house that matters even more, because breathable paints are sold in fewer ranges and are harder to match by eye.
Listed rentals: colour stays put
If the house you let is one of the twelve listed buildings in the parish, the outside is not the place to freshen things up with a new colour. Changing the colour of listed doors or windows may need listed building consent from West Northamptonshire Council. A like-for-like repaint is maintenance. The Old Grammar School is worth singling out: its five homes share one listed frontage, so the front joinery of any one of them should match its neighbours.
Managing a village let from a distance
Guilsborough is a country drive from Northampton, out past farmland on roads such as West Haddon Road and Coton Road, and many landlords and agents won’t want to meet us there for each visit. We can:
- collect and return keys from you or your agent;
- send before and after photos of each room;
- note anything we spot that is not decorating, such as a dripping tap or a sash cord gone;
- plan the work to fit a fixed move-in date and tell you early if drying time threatens it.
On the older High Street houses there is often no off-road space and the front door opens close to the road, so we arrange times when we can unload without holding up traffic, and we work to the dates agreed at the quote.
Our main landlord and letting agent decorating page covers how we handle tenancy turnarounds in general, and the cost guide explains what affects the price of a repaint. Other services for the village are listed on the Guilsborough village page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
