We decorate rental homes in Hanslope, MK19, for landlords and letting agents, about 8.9 miles south of our Northampton base. Dean works between tenancies and specifies paint to suit the building, whether that is a flat in Vicarage Court or a house on one of the estates.
A small rental market
Hanslope is a largely owner-occupied village, and we have found no published figures on how many homes are privately let. That means there is no single typical rental here. Instead, landlords and agents tend to have one or two very different properties. The sources we used point to two places where managed or let homes are known to exist: the flats at Vicarage Court on Park Road, converted from a 19th-century vicarage in the 1990s, and the affordable homes on the Hayfield estate, which are allocated to people with a local connection. Beyond those, any let in the village could be a 1960s estate house, a home in one of the later closes, or a cottage in the conservation area.
Vicarage Court and other converted buildings
Vicarage Court is brick and stone, part rendered and painted white, with a slate roof. Decorating a flat in a building like that between tenancies brings a few points to plan for:
- Shared halls and the white-painted exterior are normally the freeholder’s or managing agent’s job, not the individual landlord’s, so check the lease before booking anything external.
- Walls in converted older buildings can be a mix of original solid masonry and later partitions. Solid walls do better with a breathable emulsion that will not blister if a little damp comes through.
- Kitchens and shower rooms in compact flats suffer from condensation, so a mould-resistant paint is worth using there.
- A 2018 review considered extending the conservation area along Park Road as far as Vicarage Court. If you plan to change anything outside, check its current status with Milton Keynes City Council.
Turning round a let on the estates
Houses on Western Drive, St James Close and Eastfield Drive date from the 1960s. Closes such as Carriers Close and Harkness Court came later, and Hayfield, Hanslope Fields and The Wheatfields are recent. For lets of this kind the priority is a hard-wearing, easy-to-match finish. We suggest one neutral wall colour throughout, recorded with its make and code so the next touch-up matches, a scrubbable matt or eggshell in halls and kitchens, and a waterborne satin on woodwork that will not yellow between tenancies. On the newer estates, settlement cracks often show in the first few years, so filling them properly at the first change of tenant pays off. Old gloss on the 1960s houses usually needs keying and spot priming before it will take a new coat.
Cottage lets in the historic core
A let in one of the yellow limestone cottages around Market Square or the main street needs a lighter touch. Solid stone walls with lime plaster should not be sealed with wipe-clean vinyl paint. If they are, damp can push the paint off in patches, and that can be mistaken for tenant damage at check-out. We use breathable paints on the old walls and keep the more durable coatings for the joinery. With 31 listed buildings in the village, it is also worth confirming whether the property is listed before any change of colour or finish outside.
How we work with landlords and agents
We can collect keys, work in an empty property and send photos when the job is done. Dean is fully insured and gives a written quote that sets out each room. Hanslope is reached from Northampton via the Salcey Forest roads, and we time travel to miss the rush-hour build-up on Long Street Road and Park Road. See our landlord and letting agent decorating page for the full service, the Hanslope page for other work we cover locally, and the cost guide for what drives the price of a void-period repaint.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
