Dean decorates rental properties in Long Buckby for landlords and letting agents, about 9 miles north-west of Northampton. That covers turnaround painting between tenants, repairs to scuffed woodwork, and exterior joinery that has to stay within the village's conservation area guidance.
What lets in Long Buckby tend to look like
We have not found published figures for the rental market in Long Buckby, so we will not guess at numbers. What the village’s buildings do show is the range of property a landlord here might own: Victorian and Edwardian red brick terraces such as Holyoake Terrace, Sanders Terrace and Holmfield Terrace in Salem; flats on Station Road, including those on the site of the demolished South Place shoe factory; homes in the converted Castle Factory on King Street; and post-war and modern houses on estates such as Lime Avenue, Grasscroft and the Salem closes.
The railway station on the Northampton Loop Line, with services to Birmingham and London Euston, and the M1 just to the west make the village practical for commuters. A tenant who travels by train is likely to view after work, so decor that looks clean and neutral under artificial light matters as much as how it looks on a sunny afternoon.
Turnaround between tenants
The gap between one tenancy and the next is when decorating gets done, and it is usually short. We work from the check-out report where there is one, dealing with the marks the agent has flagged instead of repainting rooms that are fine. Typical items are scuffed hallway walls, picture-hook holes, stained kitchen and bathroom ceilings and chipped door frames. In the older terraces, condensation on the inside of solid walls can leave mould spots in corners and behind furniture; we clean and treat those with a fungicidal wash before painting, and point out where better ventilation would stop them coming back, since paint alone will not fix the cause.
We keep colours consistent and written down, so later touch-ups match. One durable neutral across the property, a washable finish in halls and kitchens and a mould-resistant paint in bathrooms make the next turnaround quicker. Leftover paint can be labelled by room and left at the property.
Older buildings, different rules
A Victorian terrace or a converted factory flat is not the same as a new-build let. Inside, older homes may have lime plaster, cracked ceilings and many layers of paint on doors and skirtings, and those layers can contain lead, so they are tested before sanding. Outside, the 2021 Long Buckby Conservation Area Appraisal covers much of the historic core. It asks for timber windows and doors to be kept rather than swapped for uPVC, and for painted frames to be white or a colour based on the originals. For a landlord, that means exterior joinery needs repainting on a regular cycle to stay sound. If the property is one of the 37 listed buildings in the parish, a change of exterior colour also needs listed building consent.
The Victorian brick terraces were built as bare brick, so exterior work there is joinery, sills and front doors, not the walls. On the estates outside the conservation area, standard masonry, fascia and soffit systems apply.
Access, keys and parking
Many terraces in the historic core front straight onto the pavement, and parking is on-street or around Market Place. Some rows, such as Holmfield Terrace, have alley access to the rear. We arrange key collection with you or your agent, agree which route to use for materials, and can send photos when the work is finished. For the wider approach to rental work, see our landlord and letting agent decorating page; for how jobs are priced, the decorating cost guide; and for the village itself, the Long Buckby page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
