Dean decorates rented homes in Nether Heyford and Upper Heyford for landlords, letting agents and housing providers, about 6 miles west of Northampton. Lettings here are few and mostly affordable homes, so the focus is on durable, quick repaints between tenancies that suit each house type.
A small rental market, mostly affordable homes
The Heyfords are not a lettings hotspot, and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. The neighbourhood plan records only around 21 market sales a year, some demand for affordable rent and shared ownership, and no sign of a significant private letting or HMO market. What rental stock exists is mainly housing association homes, such as the four two-bedroom homes built at Hillside Crescent in 2019, plus occasional private lets in the estate houses and older cottages.
That shapes the work. A landlord with a single property here wants it turned round without fuss, and a housing provider wants a specification that is repeatable from one void to the next. Our main landlord and letting agent decorating page explains how we approach end-of-tenancy work generally; this page covers the village side of it.
Turnaround work between tenants
In a two-bedroom housing association home or a three-bedroom estate house, the usual list is filling picture-hook holes and dents, washing down marked walls, a repaint of the main rooms and ceilings, and a refresh of skirtings, doors and frames. Not every room needs full coats every time. We walk round with you or the agent and agree which rooms need a full repaint and which only need touching up, so the property can be relisted sooner.
We keep a record of colours and products used, so the next touch-up matches. For lets, a neutral wipeable matt on walls and a durable satin on woodwork usually make the most sense, because they hold up to cleaning between tenancies and are easy to patch. In the older cottages that sometimes come up as lets, walls of ironstone or lime plaster still need breathable paint, even if a wipeable vinyl would be quicker to clean.
Damp near the brooks and floodplain
A rental near Heyford Brook, which runs along the backs of gardens in Winston Close, Ridgeway Furlong and Roberts Field, or on the low ground near the Nene floodplain, can show condensation and mould more than a house up the slope. Tenants often get blamed for mould that is partly down to cold outside walls and damp ground. Before repainting, we treat mould, let the walls dry, and use a mould-resistant paint in kitchens, bathrooms and on north-facing bedroom walls. If there are signs of something more than condensation, such as tide marks or crumbling plaster, we will tell you before covering it, because paint alone will not fix it.
If a let has been affected by flooding, the walls need a proper dry-out period before any decoration. Rushing the repaint to hit a move-in date usually means doing it again.
Booking a void in the village
For agents arranging access from Northampton or elsewhere, a few village details help:
- Parking near The Green and Bliss School is tight at school times, so we arrange key handovers and our arrival outside drop-off and pick-up.
- Village roads are used as a peak-hour cut-through between the A5 and M1 junction 16, so allow for traffic when arranging meetings.
- Some homes are reached along footpath snickets rather than a road, and some older cottages have their entrance at the back.
- Older cottages in the conservation area may be listed, and changing colours or finishes outside can need consent.
For other work we cover nearby, see our Heyfords area page, and our cost guide explains what affects the price of a repaint.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
