Build a halfway house

With the large numbers of buy-to-let properties on the market tenants can negotiate their rent and request reasonable alterations to suit their lifestyles.

Landlords are anxious to keep their tenants and are usually more than happy to come up with the goods. But tenants who want to customise or individualise a property can always offer to meet some or all of the costs.

If, for instance, a tenant particularly wants a power shower, he or she can offer to buy and install it at his own expense. If he hates the living room sofa he can offer to pay to have it stored or negotiate a 50-50 deal on storage costs with the landlord.

Tim Hyatt, head of lettings at Knight Frank, says: "If it is not provided then it is reasonable for a tenant to provide something for himself that he particularly likes, as long as the landlord agrees." But if the alteration or acquisition requires work in the landlord's absence, who examines the quality of the work? "Obviously there is always the risk of a botched job, especially if the work is not overseen by the landlord," Hyatt says. "So a clause should be added to the tenancy agreement saying that the tenant should make good any damage."

In fact, adds Hyatt, it is essential to put any alterations instigated by the tenant in writing, both in the agreement and in the inventory. "We had a case recently where a tenant wanted the living room a different colour, but the landlord didn't like the colour the tenants had chosen. "Here, we wrote in a clause stating that the tenant could paint the room, but had to return it to the original colour on terminating the tenancy."

Many tenants, says Hyatt, have the mistaken idea that it is easy and cheap to re-tile a bathroom or put in a new kitchen. Television makeover shows have encouraged the belief that it takes only a few pounds and a short time to entirely renovate a house. Hyatt says: "Those who are not home-owners often don't realise that re-tiling a bathroom, for instance, is a costly and time-consuming operation."

"One tenant negotiated the weekly rent down from £350 to £330 a week, and also wanted two rooms redecorated. The landlord demurred, so the tenant agreed to have this done at her own expense. As she had already secured a useful discount, she felt satisfied."