to think it shouldnt be this hard finding a house before we're homeless on the 24th.

[NoHouse]

We were sent a notice to quit from our landlords at the end of January and have been trying to find something ever since with no luck whatsoever. We haven't even got to the viewing stage with anywhere. The landlord wont give us any extra time and I'm worried my family will have nowhere to go soon.

I rang up citizens advice and the council to find out what my rights are as a private tenant but it doesn't seem we have any. They also said nothing can really be done until we are actually without a house on the 24th.

Every time we find somewhere it either doesn't allow pets or its already taken - do some people agree to move into places without even viewing?

So does anyone have any advice? Do we not bring up that we have a baby and a dog if the advert doesn't mention anything about children or pets? Am I being too picky? - Some places that are available are in pretty unsafe areas that I wouldn't feel comfortable moving a baby into.

Moist landlords don't allow pets so unfortunately it's not surprising you haven't found anywhere.

Did you have the dog last time you looked?

You wont like this but I think you should re-house your dog. Get yourself sorted with a house as the baby Has to take priority over a dog.

I thought you were supposed to get 2 months notice? But I'm a bit rusty on L&T law

Regarding properties already taken, many estate agents have a list of people looking so some properties will be offered before they have been advertised.

Have you applied to get on to the council waiting list? You should get help and advice that way.

Houses that take pets AND children are notoriously hard to find. It took 3 months for us to find one once I found out I was PG. After viewing it we went straight down to the letting agents and put the holding fee down as we knew it wouldn't be on the market for one. I clutched my pearls at the area when DP suggested it, but our neighbours are actually lovely and there's a real sense of community here.

If you want to avoid being placed in emergency accommodation, something's gotta give. I would live in a tent before I gave up my dog, but that's just me. Maybe you're just being a little bit too picky and complacent.

Yes we had the dog when we moved here.

It is 2 months notice we've been given.

The council didn't mention the waiting list, maybe they think there's not enough time? Could that be why they said we should just ring up on the day we have to leave?

We have been through this twice now (no children, but we have dogs). The first time was nightmare but we got very lucky the second time and were only looking for 6 weeks. I would suggest looking at Rightmove several times a day & phoning as soon as something new and suitable turns up. We asked our landlord at the time to write us a reference letter outlining exactly what good tenants we were, reliable payers and that the dogs were no problem. We then made photocopies and bought these with us to every viewing. If we liked somewhere but were in some kind of pool of candidates to be presented to the landlord we would give the agents the letter to pass onto the landlord to bolster our case.

Also don't assume that a landlord won't take pets/children unless it is specifically stated in the blurb.

Was your current house let through an agent? If so, do they have any suitable houses on their books. They know that you are a good tenant so might be quite willing to help and give you first refusal on properties.

Good luck.

What's an 'unsafe area' ?

Ringing the day you have to leave might mean they will provide B and B accommodation for you all

Can you put your stuff into storage?

You have plenty of time - are you being too picky??

Call your agents, explain the problem re the dog and see what properties they have that will accept pets?

I am a LL and have rented to people with a tighter time frame. If push comes to shove then you are going to need to re-think the dog....even if just temporarily.

I'll give you a tip. Rehouse the dog and then never ever mention you had one.
I am a landlord who says "no dogs" and if I even get a sniff that a dog is attached, I say no. Its not just dogs in the house but in the garden I dont want. Who is to say someone has "rehoused" a dog that visits every day?

hasn't sorry

Be careful with the council, a friend of mine was made homeless last year and was told by the council if she left the house she was making herself intentionally homeless (with a baby) and if she wanted council help she should stay in the house until the landlord has a court order for eviction.

I think you'll have a problem finding somewhere that will let you have a dog, but a child shouldn't be a problem.

You need to be pro-active in contacting estate/ letting agents. Contact as many as possible in your area and tell them what you are looking for and ask them to phone you as soon as anything becomes available. Also phone them - every day if necessary - to find out what new properties have come to the market. Do not wait for them to show up on rightmove. All the good stuff is let by the time it's been uploaded!

Also don't be afraid to look a little above your price bracket - it is possible to negotiate on rental properties (despite what agents might tell you!)

Good luck!

It's not that hard, chances are you are being too picky and having a dog is going to make your search considerably harder.

You are running our of time, the best thing you can do is find somewhere, anywhere that is suitable, and if you can get a family member or friend to take in your dog for a few months that will help massively.

Then you can concentrate on finding somewhere more permanent that will accept dogs once you are securely moved out of this house and into somewhere else.

Sorry, how awful!

If pushed, I reckon I would choose to ger rid of the dog rather than be homeless, but I am heartless like that.

Good luck.

Ruled is right!!! I have evicted tenants in the past...the council told them to stay put past eviction date and stay there till the bailiffs remove them - this buys them a good few extra weeks. However, the down side of that is you will get a shitty reference from your LL and it may make renting your next property even harder.

Am amazed the council didn't give you that advise though as you will be making yourself homeless moving out at the end of your contract.

Mind you, I haven't had to evict anyone for a few years now though so whether the law is still the same I have no idea.

I think some landlords use the "no pets as a negotiation point". They'll expect more money, but will also be expecting to do a more thorough clean at the end, so that's a reasonable compromise.

That's what we were told by our letting agent 15 years ago (it wasn't relevant to us) when we commented that all places seemed to say "No children, no pets, no housing benefit, no smokers"-that most Landlords would discuss it, but put up fees.

Can you answer op!!!?

What is an 'unsafe area'??

Why isn't it suitable for a baby?

Thanks for the replies. I do always offer extra money on deposit because of owning a dog but hasn't made any difference this time.

An unsafe area is one where I know a lot of crime is going on such as prostitution, muggings and drug deals. As a victim of a past assault myself I wouldn't feel safe walking about in these areas.

I will definitely ask my landlord for a written reference on the dog. My dp will not rehome him.

My sympathy, OP.
We have to find somwhere to live soon too. It's really hard because we have 2 dcs at a childminder who takes one to preschool and we need to find somewhere within a certain radius to make this possible.
We're also trying to buy a place (thank goodness! so lucky to be within spitting distance of buying, at last) but we won't get in before we're chucked out of this place. So we will have to take at least a 6 month tenancy somewhere and possibly piss 3 or 4 months' rent up the wall depending on when our completion date is (all being well, you know how it is buying houses). No flexibility at all for shorter tenancies, although I have tried to nudge the letting dept of our vendor's estate agent (as we will soon be paying them a lot of money) and the estate agent we rent through now (because they have made a lot of money out of us and know we are good tenants). No one gives a shit. All one-way flexibility, as fucking usual.

Sorry to hijack with my rant. I think as others say you should rehome the dog because I personally would rather have a home than a dog. But it's crap that you have to.