We decorate rental homes in Upton, NN5, for private landlords, letting agents and housing providers, about 2.1 miles west of Northampton town centre. Most jobs are changeover repaints in flats and young houses, where the aim is a hard-wearing neutral finish that is quick to touch up next time.
A neighbourhood planned for mixed tenure
Upton was laid out with rented and owned homes side by side. The design-code masterplan mixes tenures along the same streets, and the affordable homes look the same from outside as the private ones. Even the award-winning Site C on West Street was planned as 26 homes for sale and four for rent. So a rented property in Upton is not usually in a separate block of its own. It sits in a street where the neighbours may well be owners, and the outside is expected to match. The sources we use give no figures for private lets or shared houses here, so each property is judged on what we find at the visit.
That shapes the work in two ways. Any external painting on a let property needs to keep to the colours and finishes already used on the street. And inside, the house or flat is usually only ten to twenty years old, so the job is a turnaround repaint over sound, fairly recent surfaces rather than a renovation. The general approach for rental decorating is on our landlord and letting agent decorating page.
Flats around the parking courts
OpenStreetMap tags around 73 apartment buildings in the core of Upton, grouped round shared parking courts with names such as Ashby, Salcey, Brixworth, Stow, Wicksteed and Abingdon Courts. A changeover in one of these flats has its own logistics:
- The van shares bays with residents, so we arrive early, unload and move off rather than blocking a space all day.
- Materials go up through a communal entrance and stair, which we protect on the way in and out.
- Keys usually come through the agent or housing provider, and we agree a collection and return time before starting.
- Any shared hallway or stairwell paint is a separate decision for whoever manages the block, not part of an individual flat’s repaint.
Finishes chosen for the next tenancy
In a young rental, wear tends to be concentrated in the same places each time: hall walls by the door, kitchen walls by the bin, skirtings along the route the hoover takes. We use these finishes so the next changeover is quicker:
| Area | Finish we usually suggest | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hallways and stairs | Scrubbable durable matt | Marks wash off without shiny patches |
| Kitchens and bathrooms | Kitchen and bathroom emulsion | Copes with steam and wiping |
| Bedrooms and living rooms | Contract or trade matt in one neutral | Easy to touch up between tenancies |
| Doors and skirtings | Water-based satin | Stays white and recoats quickly |
We keep a note of the exact colour and product used in each property. If you manage several Upton units, using one neutral across them means a tin left in a cupboard can cover scuffs in any of them.
Three-storey rented townhouses deserve a note of their own. The stairwell walls on the upper flights are rarely marked, while the ground-floor hall takes all the traffic. Painting the hall and first flight at each changeover and the upper stairwell every second or third time keeps costs proportionate without the house looking tired.
Working with agents and housing providers
On a void, we can quote from the inventory photos and a short visit, then work to your relet date. We tell you honestly which rooms need full coats and which only need touching in. See our painter and decorator cost guide for what affects the price, and our Upton area page for everything else we do in the neighbourhood.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
