Re-decorating a rented flat?

I didn't put anything into the lease about re-decorating the flat. After 2 weeks the tenant told me she has re-painted the kitchen. I am worried that she may paint the rest of the flat in colours i don't want. Is there anything i can/should do. I am concerned that when she leaves i will have to go to a lot of time/trouble/expense getting the flat back to its original neutral colour scheme.

She TOLD you she has re-painted? Um, who exactly owns the place?
Your tenant is lucky you are lenient. Painting a property without permission could get a tenant evicted, if they had the wrong landlord.

My contract has no mention of animals, but I didn't just assume it was ok to get a dog; I thought I would check with the landlord first. Not surprisingly he said no, and I respect that - I mean, he does own the place.

Even though there is nothing in the lease about decorating, your tenant can't just do what she wants to YOUR property.
She should have asked you before picking up a paint brush - it's just common courtesy.
Where's the respect? You have every right to be concerned - if she is like this after two weeks, what is your flat going to look like in six months?

You need to put your foot down with this tenant. It is obvious that she doesn't care that the property is not hers, and she will do as she pleases (painting after two weeks).
You need to speak to her and explain that any alterations must be okay-ed by you first, and must be reverted back to normal if, and when, she leaves, or the cost of doing so will be deducted from her deposit.

If she argues that none of this was in the lease, explain that you - as landlord and owner of the property - are telling her this, and she should comply. If she doesn't like it, I suggest you get a better tenant, one who'll give you and your property more respect.

Just tell her that she needs in future to run it past you first and tell you what colours she will use...I have rented loads and ave always asked permission first.

Well, why don't you wait and see what she has done before jumping to conclusions - she may do a great job and make the flat even better and more homely.

If you didn't make a specific clause in the contract then you will have a hard time stopping her improving (in her view) the flat

She has no right to redecorate without your permission. Simple as that.

If you didnt put it in the lease, then the tenant is going to assume its ok. Under contract law (I think) the ommision of something is taken to mean that it is ok. Most tenancy agreements mention something about decorating - worded so that it would exclude black ceilings and murals and so on. Unless you issue a new tenancy agreement, which could be construed as unfair in the middle of a tenancy, theres not much you can do as far as I can see. You could ask her if you could have a look, and mention that you would like her to keep it in neutral colours.

normally when landlords have the flat decorated prior to a new tenant moving in it is done in neutral colours,such as white or magnolia and I am sure those colours are easy to live with

You should have a clause in the tenancy agreement concerning decor. You have every right to ask for money to rectify changes made by the tenant - this would be a valid deduction from the deposit at the end of the tenancy.

i wouldn't bother too much as long as there good tenants that's all that matters and to be honest you know yourself you can move into a new build home and theres always something you wanna change but what you can do is inspect the property and if you don't like it tell them it must be put right before they leave in a nice way of course .i presume they've given a deposit or bond you can deduct from but they've got to live with it and you never know it might be very tasteful and in keeping with the property good luck

I would ask her to run any further decorating past you first. When she moves out, I would be inclined to view the flat prior to agreeing to give any deposit back.

I've only ever decorated in one of my rented flats and I got permission first but there was no problem with it.

Is this a lease or a tennancy agreement?

I know this sounds spectacularly unhelpful, but if you drew this up yourself and are having to come to Yahoo for problems - I suspect there may be other issues with it. It might be worth running it by a solicitor in the future (it doesn't cost much) or at least getting a generic version from the internet. You may find that there are other omissions more critical than what colour the walls end up!

In terms of the actual crux of your question... I am afriad I do not know if you have any statutory legal rights as a landlord to prevent a tennant from decorating without your permission. I know it is a different issue depending on whether this is a lease or AST though...

If you cannot find a definite answer from somone, common sense suggests you ask them to run anything by you in the future - and explain you need to have it lettable to a broad market in the future.

Hope this helps at least a little bit! :)

She has no right, I had a specific clause with my letting agent, however he chose not even to tell me that they had wallpapered the kitchen, specifically told NO WALLPAPER, they did other stuff too, but I got 拢600 back as they had returned the deposit ,letting agents are bloody useless!

You made a mistake not putting something in the lease about re-decorting. It's not to late to add a clause. Just type something up, print it out and ask her to sign it. It should state that no changes including paint can be made without your written permission. Attach the copy she signs to her signed lease and give her a copy.