Being a tenant limits what you can do to improve your home. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t add your own personal touches. There are still ways to make it feel like home.
Getting insurance
When making any improvements to your rental, which will mostly be items to improve your home and belong to you, it’s important to insure your contents to cover these and all your other belongings. You can get the best tenant insurance from Aviva.
This covers your belongings if you should ever have to move out of your rental due to damage, and personal liability insurance. Feeling at home starts with comfort and safety. Being insured provides a feeling of safety, by covering you financially should the worst happen.
Furnishings
How you furnish your rented home is up to you. Your landlord may have rules against installing shelves or drilling holes to hang hooks for pictures, etc. However, simple furniture can transform your home and make it feel more comfortable during your tenancy.
If you’re on a budget, old sofas can be transformed with brightly coloured throws and cushions. Similarly, the appearance of an old carpet can be improved by purchasing rugs and coordinating these to fit in with your other furniture. This is the ideal option if you can’t afford a new carpet, or your landlord doesn’t want you to replace the carpet.
You can still avoid drilling and hanging hooks on the walls by making use of any existing hooks. Or if there are none, you can buy pictures and frames which stick to the wall and are designed not to cause any damage.
Decorating
You will need your landlord’s permission before making changes by decorating the interior of the property. If this improves the appearance, any landlord will be happy with this, as it improves the property for the next tenant.
Just ensure you explain your decorating plans to your landlord, so there are no misunderstandings and they know exactly what you plan to change.
Small improvements or replacements
If you need to make improvements to the property or replace items that are included in the rental agreement, it’s usually the landlord’s responsibility. Although, if you have specific plans and these add to the value of the property, rather than reduce it, you might come to an agreement. The landlord might have a cheaper solution, so you could agree to pay the extra costs in exchange for being able to choose the replacements or to make the improvements your own way.
For example, if your kitchen needs replacing, but your preferred units and design costs 20% more than your landlord’s usual supplier, he or she might agree to your choice of the design if you pay the extra. This will increase the value of their property, and you won’t be able to take it with you when you move, so you could try to negotiate how much you pay towards this.
Renting limits the improvements you can make and how much you’re prepared to spend on these, but you can still make the property feel like your home while you’re living there.
