Packers and Movers: How to Customise Your Rental Without Worry
Posted on March 19, 2020
Know your rights before you hire packers and movers and sign a rental agreement.
Rental living often means having to leave your residence in as pristine condition as when you moved in. But what if you want to customize your rental to suit your tastes? Will painting or hanging pictures affect your damage deposit? When should you ask your landlord about the changes you’d like to make? Before you hire packers and movers to move into your new rental, find out ways you can customize your space without worry.
Understand Your Tenancy Agreement
When entering a tenancy agreement, it's essential to know your responsibilities as well as those of your landlord. According to BC's Residential Tenancy Act, a landlord must maintain a rental unit and building according to the health, safety, and housing standards established by law. At the same time, a tenant is responsible for maintaining reasonable health, cleanliness, and sanitary standards throughout the rental unit and residential property.
When it comes to repairs and maintenance, some of your landlord’s general responsibilities include:
- Plumbing, heating, electricity
- Light fixtures in common areas
- Walls, floor and ceilings
- Painting at reasonable levels
As a tenant, you are responsible for:
- Maintaining and cleaning carpets
- Cleaning marks on walls
- Replacing light bulbs
- Repairing excess damage from nail holes
When to Ask Your Landlord
Most tenancy agreements stipulate that you ask your landlord for written consent if you wish to make significant changes to your rental unit. Some examples of upgrades or improvements include:
- Painting the walls
- Replacing carpets or flooring
- Changing light fixtures
- Switching out appliances
- Installing built-in shelving
How Making Changes Can Affect your Damage Deposit
In some cases, customizing your rental unit without your landlord’s permission could result in the loss of part or all of your damage deposit. You could also be asked to restore the unit to its original condition before you hire movers to vacate the premises.
Landlord Friendly Changes You Can Make to Your Rental Unit
Look for ways you can decorate your rental with the least damage. Some suggestions include:
- Using temporary wall decorations, tile stickers, or decals in place of painting
- Covering carpets or floors with area rugs
- Using removable adhesive hooks or strips instead of nails to hang artwork
- Adding storage with stand-alone shelving units and multipurpose furniture pieces, such as ottomans, coffee tables, and captains’ beds.
Have you just found out your rental unit no longer allows pets? Know what to do when making a last-minute move with pets.
Need to move at the last minute? Read how moving companies, such as Bighorn Kelowna movers, can help. Bighorn movers in Kelowna are the trusted experts when it comes to local, long-distance, and last-minute moving. We also offer reliable and efficient packing services as well as storage and much more. Contact us for all your moving needs.
