We decorate rented houses and cottages in Harlestone, NN7, for landlords and letting agents, about 4.3 miles north-west of Northampton. Rental homes here are a mix of old solid-stone cottages and later brick houses, and each needs a different approach to a quick, hard-wearing repaint.
What a rental in Harlestone is likely to be
We have not found any published figures on Harlestone’s letting market, so we will not pretend to know how many homes here are rented. What we do know is the housing. The Althorp Estate is still the major landowner in the parish, although it sold many village properties to private owners in 1990. A rented home in Harlestone could therefore be anything from a 17th-century thatched cottage in Upper Harlestone to a 19th-century estate cottage in Lower Harlestone, a Victorian terraced house on Port Road, one of the 1940s Swedish timber houses, or a 1950s brick semi.
That variety matters, because the quick, wipeable vinyl finish that suits a typical town buy-to-let is not right on every wall here. Our main landlord and letting agent decorating page explains how we run turnaround jobs in general. This page covers the Harlestone-specific points.
Old stone cottages: durable but breathable
A landlord wants walls that survive a tenancy and can be touched up. A solid lias stone cottage wants paint that lets moisture out. In older cottages with lime plaster, a heavy vinyl emulsion can trap damp, and the result is blistering and flaking that looks like tenant damage at the check-out. To avoid arguments over the deposit and repeat call-backs, we suggest:
- a breathable mineral or clay-based paint on the solid external walls;
- a scrubbable, washable finish on modern partition walls and in kitchens and bathrooms where the plaster is newer;
- recording the exact paint names and colours for each room so small marks can be patched between tenancies.
Where a tenant reports mould on a north-facing wall, it is worth looking at ventilation and the wall itself before repainting. Tree cover and the brook valley make north faces slow to dry in this village, and paint alone will not fix condensation.
Listed rentals and estate conditions
If a rental is one of the parish’s 49 listed buildings, repainting in the same colour and the same type of finish is usually straightforward, but changing historic joinery, stripping old finishes or altering plaster inside a listed building may need Listed Building Consent. Some Harlestone properties may also carry estate covenants. If your lease or title includes decoration conditions, send them over before we quote so the specification matches.
Exterior touch-ups between lets
Turnaround jobs often include the front door and windows, because they are the first thing a viewer sees. In the conservation area, painted window frames are expected to be white or a sensitive colour, so repaint in the existing colour. A proposed Article 4 Direction would bring significant exterior colour changes under control, so a landlord should not take the chance of switching to a bold front door between tenants without checking with West Northamptonshire Council. The six Swedish Houses near the green have dark timber cladding that needs a consistent dark stain, not paint. On older cottages with cast iron diamond-pane casements, flaking paint on the metal is worth dealing with at turnaround, because rust spreads under the film and is harder to treat a year later.
Keys, access and timings
We can collect keys from a letting agent in Northampton and work while the property is empty. Lower Harlestone cottages sit tight against the A428 with access often at the rear via small alleys, so we confirm where to park and unload before the start. For an idea of budget, see our cost guide, and for more on the village, the Harlestone area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
