Even improvements aren't unique; the last time I moved into an apartment I replaced the wall-to-wall carpet with pine boards, replaced the 50+ year old electric receptacles with GFCI outlets and stripped off the old paint and put on a new coat of primer and paint.
Woah your renting experience sounds like home ownership to me. I've never heard of that in the US that is a lot to put into a place! The max lease allowed by my last complex was 13 months.
