We decorate rental properties in St Crispin, the NN5 neighbourhood about 2.6 miles west of Northampton town centre, for landlords and letting agents. Jobs here range from compact apartments to converted Victorian hospital flats and three-storey townhouses, and Dean prices and plans each one around its layout.
The kinds of rental home in St Crispin
We have not found a reliable figure for how many St Crispin homes are rented, so we will not guess. What we can say is what the housing looks like. The neighbourhood is mostly modern: apartment blocks such as St Georges House on St Crispin Drive, terraces, and three-storey townhouses built since the hospital closed. Alongside those are flats converted from the Victorian asylum buildings, including Keystone House and the former superintendent’s house, with more heritage apartments consented in the clock tower and administration block.
Each type brings its own decorating job between tenants, and the right plan for one would waste money on another. Our general approach for landlords is on the landlord and letting agent decorating page.
Modern apartments: quick, durable turnarounds
A flat in one of the newer blocks, such as St Georges House, is usually the simplest void. Walls, ceilings and woodwork are modern, plaster is in reasonable shape, and the job is mostly filling picture-hook holes, washing down, touching up or repainting walls in a durable neutral, and refreshing the skirtings and door frames. Kitchens and bathrooms get a moisture-resistant finish.
Practical points for these blocks:
- Parking is allocated or communal, so we agree a space with the agent before the start date.
- Materials go up through shared entrances and stairs, so we protect those and keep them clear for other residents.
- Keys and fob access are arranged with the agent, and Dean confirms when the flat will be ready to photograph for the listing.
Converted hospital flats: more wall to cover
Flats inside the old hospital blocks look good in listings because of their height and big windows, but that same height adds time to a repaint. High ceilings, tall walls and deep window reveals need a tower or platform, and any cornice takes longer to cut in. Some original walls may carry lime plaster, which needs a breathable paint. We tell the landlord this at the quote stage so the budget and void period are realistic rather than based on a standard flat.
Three-storey townhouses as rentals
A three-storey townhouse has more stairs, landings and doors than most rentals, and those are the places tenants mark most: scuffed stair walls, knocked skirtings and grubby door edges. On a tight void we often recommend repainting the hall, stairs and landings in full and spot-treating the bedrooms, rather than repainting every room. Second-floor dormer rooms can also show settlement cracks in newer houses, which get filled before painting.
Outside the house, most of these townhouses have uPVC windows, so a landlord’s exterior list is usually short: the front door, the garage door and any timber fascias. On St Crispin’s raised, exposed ground, west- and south-facing doors weather faster, and a tired front door is the first thing a prospective tenant sees in the listing photos. It is often worth repainting at the same void.
When a void falls during building work
The consented hospital-core scheme, with heritage apartments in the clock tower and administration building plus new-build flats and townhouses, is still being delivered. A rental in one of the newest homes may have fresh plaster showing its first shrinkage cracks by the end of the first tenancy, so the first void is often the time to fill those properly rather than paint over them. We note the colours and finishes used so later touch-ups match.
Dean gives an honest view of which rooms really need full coats. Our cost guide explains how void work is priced, and other services in the neighbourhood are on the St Crispin area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
