What can I fix to the walls in a rented home?

The real question in a rental is not whether a fixing will hold but who pays at the end. That makes this a documentation problem as much as a DIY one, and the useful move — asking in writing before you drill — is the one people skip because it feels awkward. It takes two minutes and it removes the entire argument.

Safety

What you'll need

• Your tenancy agreement
• The inventory or check-in report, with photographs
• Email, for putting the request in writing
• Adhesive strips or hooks rated well above the load (optional)
• Filler, fine abrasive and matching paint, for the end of the tenancy (optional)

Step by step

1. Read what the agreement actually says.Look for the words alterations, fixtures, fittings and redecoration. Many agreements prohibit alterations and are silent on hooks and screws. Silence is not permission, but it is a much better starting position than an explicit ban.
2. Ask in writing and be specific.An email naming what, where and how many — two shelf brackets in the living room chimney breast, four picture hooks in the hall — and offering to make good on leaving. Specific requests get agreed; vague ones get refused. Keep the reply.
3. Anchor tall furniture regardless, and say so.Wardrobes, bookcases and chests of drawers over about a metre tall need an anchor into the wall. This is a safety fixing, not a decorating choice, and it is a reasonable thing to tell a landlord you are doing rather than asking permission for.
4. Know what adhesive strips genuinely do.Branded removable strips hold a few kilograms on smooth, clean, fully-cured paint and non-porous surfaces. They fail on textured wallpaper, chalky emulsion, freshly painted walls, in bathrooms and in heat. Rate the load at half the packet figure and never use them above head height or above furniture people sit on.
5. Use the alternatives that actually carry weight.A freestanding shelf unit rather than wall shelves. A leaning ladder shelf. Tension rods in a window reveal for a light curtain. Over-door hooks. A picture rail, if the house has one, which will carry substantial weight with no new holes at all.
6. Prefer small fixings where you can drill.Four small picture hook pins make three tiny holes each and fill invisibly. A single 8mm plug hole is far more visible. Match the fixing to the smallest thing that will hold.
7. Photograph the wall before and after.Before you fix anything and after you make good. Combined with the check-in inventory, it settles the question of what was already there.
8. Make good properly at the end.Fill flush with a fine filler, let it dry, sand smooth with fine abrasive, and touch in with matching paint. A wall with well-filled holes and a slightly patchy touch-up is normal wear; a wall with open plugs is a deduction.
9. Keep the plugs out when you fill.A wall plug left in the hole shows through filler as a ring. Pull it with a screw and pliers before filling — the fixing removal guide covers it.
10. Know what deposit rules allow.Deposit schemes work on fair wear and tear and require evidence. A landlord cannot claim a full redecoration for four filled holes, but they can claim reasonably for unrepaired damage. Your photographs and the written permission are the whole defence.

Tips

• If the walls have a picture rail, use it. It was designed to hang heavy framed pictures and it puts no new holes anywhere.
• Ask about the whole tenancy at once rather than four separate times. Landlords say yes to a considered list far more readily than to a drip of requests.
• Command-type strips come off cleanly only if you pull the tab slowly, straight down and parallel to the wall. Pulled outwards they take the paint with them.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a verbal yes will be remembered — Agents and owners change. An email costs nothing and survives.
• Trusting adhesive strips with a mirror or a loaded shelf — They release suddenly and completely. Anything heavy, glass, or above a place people sit or sleep needs a mechanical fixing.
• Filling holes with the plugs still in — The plug ring shows through the filler and through the paint. Remove the plug first.
• Leaving furniture unanchored because it is a rental — The tip-over risk to a child does not care whose house it is. Anchor it, and repair the two holes at the end.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask