Owners, landlords and the rooms they want painted
With 67.9% of homes owner-occupied, most interior jobs in the village are for people planning to stay put. They tend to want the preparation done once and done well: cracks raked out and filled, old gloss keyed, ceilings painted before walls. Around 12% of households rent privately and another 18% from a social landlord, and for privately let houses we can work to a tenancy gap, making good fixing holes and using a washable matt that touches up later.
Only about one home in ten here is a flat. So stairs, landings and hallways appear on most quotes, and they take longer than people expect because of the access needed over the stairwell.
What we found in a Victorian house in Histon
We decorated two bedrooms in a Victorian house in Histon that still had its original sand and stone plaster. Andrew lined the walls where they needed it before two coats of Khaki Mist, and one ceiling went in Dulux Sapphire Salute, a deep navy. The Histon bedroom case study has the photos.
That house represents a small part of the stock. Council Tax records date about a tenth of local homes before 1919, while the middle of the range falls between 1965 and 1972, so most rooms we see have plasterboard or later plaster and need less lining.
Histon & Impington at a glance
- 5 milesby road from our Landbeach base, about 10 minutesOSRM routing
- 3,747householdsCensus 2021
- 68%of homes are owner-occupiedCensus 2021
- 12%of homes are privately rentedCensus 2021
- 10%of properties were built before 1919VOA Council Tax stock
- 10%are flatsCensus 2021
How we approach interior decorating
For a 1960s or 1970s house in Impington we'd start by filling settlement cracks where walls meet ceilings and sanding the woodwork with Mirka dust-free sanders. Walls get Little Greene Intelligent Matt or Dulux depending on how hard the room is used. In an older Histon house we'd test the plaster first and line it if it's soft or patched. The full method, products and FAQs are on our interior decorating page.