If Norma Finnegan has her way, the days of renting a flat with flock wallpaper and swirly carpets will be gone forever. But before you think that Norma must surely be a paid-up member of the style police, she's not. Her attitude to bad decor has more to do with increasing rents for landlords than style for style's sake. "The truth is that most landlords will increase their potential rent if they update their properties," says Ms Finnegan, a director of O'Dwyer Property Management. "After a good makeover, an apartment that was getting £400 per month could easily be demanding double that."

The most rewarding makeovers are to be found in those apartments which were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she feels. No matter where they are, or what they look like from the outside, they usually have several things in common that make them appealing places to live. The rooms, particularly the reception rooms, are large. The living-room and the kitchen are often separate and they usually have good-sized hallways and good storage. However in decorative terms they are usually filled with dated designs and lack the modern features tenants have come to expect. "The most dated rooms are always the kitchen and bathrooms," says Ms Finnegan, "and even if the landlord has £5,000 to spend, then I'll always direct that money into those rooms."

The kitchen gets the most comprehensive makeover. As well as having dated fitted units 20-year-old kitchens usually have exposed pipes and a visible gas boiler. The units have to be replaced, the pipes and boiler boxed in and the splash-back and floor re-tiled. "Tiles are more durable on a floor than vinyl," says Ms Finnegan, "and that is extremely important when it comes to investors because you're always weighing up costs against returns."

The least expensive one-bed apartment on Dwyer Management books rents for £600 per month, and even at that level tenants don't expect to see a dishwasher in the kitchen. They do, however, insist on a microwave and a washing machine.

Another must-have appliance is a power shower in the bathroom, which in apartments of this vintage tend to have coloured suites. "While the colour might be wrong, the bath itself is usually good quality enamel so re-enamelling it white is the best option," says Ms Finnegan. Costs for re-enamelling a bath range from about £150 to £300. She also feels that pedestal basins take up too much space and replaces them with vanity units which are not only neater, they give extra storage. If the budget stretches beyond £5,000 then the living-rooms gets a makeover which means replacing the carpets and curtains. "Usually, the suite stays because they tend to be sturdy but I would buy a throw for it," she says. As for colour schemes, the overall effect has to be neutral.

Anyone who has ever rented a flat will know that the very first thing you do is take down all the cheesy prints on the wall and hide them in the bottom of the wardrobe. But as Ms Finnegan says, for a landlord it's a fine balance between making the place comfortable and making it look cluttered.

Since the company started to develop its rental makeover department, Ms Finnegan has had to hone her considerable diplomatic skills. "The days of landlords filling their properties with broken down cast-offs from their own homes are over and I have to be very clear about that," she says "Renters at a certain level are simply too discerning."