WHAT BLINDS DO I NEED FOR MY RENTAL PROPERTY?
Posted on 24 October 2017 by Phil Coleman
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I had a really interesting chat with a landlord yesterday about the best types of blinds for his refurbished property.
He had real concerns about the fact that his tenants never look after anything in his property (my first thought is that you need better tenants) but I’ve seen enough rental properties over the year to understand where he was coming from.
With rental properties it is not about what you would like, its about what is practical, reliable and easily replaced if it did get damaged, if that fits in with what would like then that’s great.
My first recommendation would be Roller Blinds. They are very practical, hard wearing and robust.
With a blackout fabric they are great for bedrooms, waterproof fabrics are perfect for bathrooms and kitchen but could be used in all rooms as they are very hard wearing and easy to keep clean.
The other reason for recommending Roller Blinds is that it is very simple to just replace the fabric should you need to, so you could re-use all the existing hardware and brackets.
My second recommendation would be Vertical Blinds, for very similar reasons to the roller blinds.
The blackout and waterproof fabrics for the roller blinds are also available for the Vertical Blinds so all of the practical aspects are exactly the same.
The fabric strips can simply be unclipped and replaced meaning there is no reason to replace the rail or the brackets.
Vertical and Roller blinds are the only where the fabric can be replaced without replacing the complete blind.
My third recommendation would be Faux Wood Venetian Blinds. Wooden blinds seem to be the in thing at the moment and the Faux Wood Blinds have the look of real wood but are far more practical and durable. They are made in PVC and were originally designed for bathrooms and kitchens because they are completely waterproof, making them great for rental properties as they are really easy to keep clean.
They are also more durable than the traditional wooden venetians as the slat are more flexible and will not splinter.
There are other types of blinds available for your rental property and the final choice will depend on the type of tenants you have and how much care you think they will take with your property.
The other question the landlord asked is should the fabric be fire retardant?
There is no law that states that the fabric on your blinds should be FR, but I am always a firm believer in doing the right thing and if given the choice would opt for an FR fabric, and unless you are buying some of the really cheap blinds that are out there FR fabrics should not be that much dearer than the standard option.
I’m renting to professionals so do I need child safe blinds?
The answer is Yes, all blinds in rental properties need to be child safe.
The law changed in 2014 and now states that children living or visiting the address. So that means every domestic dwelling needs to have child safe blinds as there would always be a chance of visitors turning up with young children.
All blinds professionally installed after 2014 will be child safe, but you may need to address any blinds that are older and as the landlord it is your responsibility to ensure your property is safe for your tenants and their visitors.
Retro fitting safety devices is very straight forward and the devices can be bought from most blind showrooms.