We decorate rental property for landlords and letting agents in Westone, a residential NN3 district about 2.6 miles north-east of Northampton town centre. Dean handles end-of-tenancy and between-tenancy repaints in flats and houses, aiming for durable, neutral finishes that get the property back on the market.
What a let in Westone usually looks like
Westone is mainly family housing, and no source we have read gives figures for renting here, so the likeliest lets are easier to name than to count. The flats are the obvious candidates: property records for Conifer Rise estimate a block of flats there from roughly 1967 to 1975, and Westonia Court stands on the Wellingborough Road frontage. Beyond those, a let in Westone could be a semi or terrace that an owner has kept on, or a house being prepared for sale or let after a long period of ownership.
Each of those needs a different approach, so it helps to think about them separately.
The house that has been in one family for decades deserves a mention of its own. Some Westone properties come to market described as needing general modernisation, and an owner who decides to let one rather than sell usually faces more than a changeover. Old wallpaper may need stripping, cracked ceilings making good and woodwork repainting from bare timber in places. We would treat that first job as a full redecoration and set the property up with finishes that are easy to maintain, so later changeovers are quicker.
Flat turnovers on Conifer Rise and the main road
A flat changeover is about time. The goal is usually to get between the outgoing tenant’s checkout and the next move-in with every room clean, filled and painted. In a one or two-bedroom flat that means a planned sequence: wash down the kitchen and bathroom walls, fill picture-hook holes and dents, spot prime marks that would otherwise bleed through, then put on two coats of a consistent neutral. Woodwork gets a light key and a fresh satin coat.
Flats from the late 1960s and 1970s often have hollow internal doors, plain softwood or MDF skirtings and plasterboard partitions that dent easily. Those dents and the holes left by wall fixings are the main repair work in a changeover. Plasterboard needs filling in two passes because filler shrinks back in deeper holes, and a quick single fill tends to show through the new paint once the light catches it.
Flats on Wellingborough Road sit on a busy A road, which affects the practical side of the job. Parking near the entrance is more limited than on a residential road, and materials have to be carried in from wherever we can stop safely. Shared stairs and entrances belong to all the residents, so we keep them clear, protect the floors and only paint communal areas if the freeholder or managing agent has agreed it.
Family semis held as lets
A let semi in Westone is a different job. These are family houses with a side hall, a bay-fronted lounge and often an extension at the back, and between tenancies they tend to need:
- Hall and stairs repainted in a hard-wearing, wipeable finish, since that is where most of the wear lands.
- Kitchen walls washed down and resealed where grease has built up.
- Bedroom walls touched in or fully repainted, depending on condition.
- Skirtings and door frames refreshed where furniture has knocked them.
We tell you honestly which rooms need full coats and which can be touched in. On a larger house that keeps the work to what affects the next let.
Keys, agents and records
If you live away from Northampton or let through an agent, that is straightforward. We can collect keys from the agent, work to agreed dates and send photographs of each finished room. We record the colours and paint used for every room, so future touch-ups match. Our main landlord and letting agent decorating page explains how we work with agencies, and the cost guide covers what affects the price of a changeover. For other work in the area, see our Westone page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
