To get a cat without asking landlord?

[lananana]

Wooden floors throughout so no danger of carpets being ripped. Previous tenant smoked and left the house in a state which I spent ages cleaning. Agents said no pets when I moved in.

If my tenant asked, I'd probably say yes, but I would require a bigger deposit. My kitten ruined the wallpaper in one room and pissed everywhere, as did my dogs before they were fully housetrained. It stinks. If my tenant didn't ask, I'd be very annoyed and would be unlikely to renew the tenancy.

I have worked damned hard to acquire a rental, this is my retirement plan, not some get rich quick scheme. I made the place as nice as I could for renting and have made a £7000 loss by doing so. Why should I allow the tenant to get a pet that might potentially damage MY property?

Cherrychasing and how much would you pay for a thirty year old carpet? Just as a guide, the deposit protection scheme puts the value of carpets more than seven years old as £0.

A larger deposit beans bugger all to me. If you have a pet in and it wrecks the place then deposit may pay for it but I could lose rent while I have to get the work done to make the place habitable for the next tenants.

Just ask. Reach some agreement with your landlord. Don't be an arse.

Ah I see Thyme I missed that comment!

What a bizarre thing to say!

Why? If you want a cat, be honest. If you're a good tenant, your landlord may agree.

We are landlords who were asked; we said yes.

Incidentally, we allowed our previous tenants to keep a dog. They were brilliant tenants, had our trust, and we're open and honest about it. No problem.

I am a LL, one of my tenants in a "no pets" flat asked if I would mind him having a cat. I love cats, he is a vet, so I said yes, OK. I don't think he actually has acquired one yet though. But he made a point of asking.

Apologies if I offended anyone saying if you cant afford a mortgage you cant afford a pet. I was just venting because my cat friendly landlord is selling up and I am really struggling to find another pet friendly landlord. Doesn't help that I have kids too. Feel guilty for having any of them in such an insecure time in my life.

If I was letting a house with a garden and a tenant asked me if they could have a pet then I'd probably agree. In a second floor flat? No.

charles do you have a link to the 7 year rule? I've never heard of this.

The point is if cats hadn't damaged the carpet it could have been used for the next tenant it it instead had to be replaced. You cant just say "it's worth £0 so mine to destroy". If you weren't happy with the quality when you went in you should have said then

Don't do it. I say that as a LL who advertises as allowing pets. Yes, I have asked for a larger deposit and expect deep cleaned and flea treated carpets at check out. But, like others, would be deeply unimpressed if someone sneaked in pets without me knowing.

YABU - ask, I'm a landlord and would probably say yes if asked (am a dog owner)......however I'd be really annoyed if you didn't and then I found out afterwards....!!!

cherrychasing
We paid the rent on time and maintained an old property beyond expectations. We professionally cleaned the house despite it being filthy when we moved in and did various repairs ourselves as we knew the landlord had a small baby and didn't want to inconvenience him. We put up with 4 days of broken boiler in winter without complaining about the delay as we knew he landlord had other issues to deal with at home.

We had kittens who scratched a ruined stair carpet which already had 2 massive holes in it which was recorded on the inventory. The carpets should not have been in the property when it was let as we soon discovered they were dangerous. The kittens caused no other issues apart from this. If the landlord hadn't tried to claim so many other outlandish things then I would have been prepared to pay a nominal amount towards the carpets, as even though the letting agent and DPS advised me against it, I was aware that I should have asked about the cats.

I hope this clears this up for you. If anyone has ever had a problem landlord or tenant (I have had both) then they will understand what a big deal it can be. For me, a cat is on the lesser scale of the issues that tenants can present.

Most of these issues would be solved if landlords (and agents) were more willing to allow pets on the basis of a larger deposit and references. Obviously that wouldn't apply if there were reasonable grounds for refusing, such as the requirement to obtain permission from other flat owners, but even in that case I don't see why landlords wouldn't allow their tenants to make an application to the management committee. The problem is that (at least on the first few pages) there are so many landlords saying that they would refuse outright, and in some cases displaying very little compassion for their tenants. That is what tempts people into having animals without asking for permission, particularly if they would otherwise have to send much-loved pets to an animal shelter.

It just seems to me that a general policy of allowing pets but subject to taking a reasonable additional deposit to cover damage to flooring / walls / loss of rent while repairs are being undertaken would protect landlords while still giving renters in this country the opportunity to keep a pet - something which many landlords take for granted. It is a problem that is only going to increase with the housing crisis and the fact that more and more people are simply unable to buy.

You should ask really. I know plenty of people don't but I would because if the landlord has said no and they find out you got one anyway then they would be within their rights to ask you to leave which might sounds OTT over a cat but it's not really worth risking your home over.

yabvu

Cats scratch at everything not just furniture. Surfaces, doors, curtains, fittings etc.

Also if you're planning to keep the cat and litter tray indoors there's going to be a smell.

As a landlord I would charge you the price of painting and cleaning out of your deposit.

Our contract had a standard no pets clause. We asked and he thought about it, pulled a face and said yes. If you do get one in secret you are going to have to hide the cat and the litter tray whenever the LL comes round. I think you risk screwing your relationship with the LL and goodwill is not to be destroyed lightly.

I don't understand why as a tenant if you have signed a contract stating no whatever it is: dogs, cats, changing the structure you simply think it's perfectly OK to breach that contract, and that anyone wouldn't think that utterly unreasonable.

It's got the square root of fuck all with landlords being unreasonable or behaving, as some posters clearly feel, like tyrants in a feudal system. It is a contract: you can reside in my property if you are ok with my terms and conditions.

Ask the LL if you can get the pet, if they say no look for an alternative LL that will. Understand that a cat may live for 15 years so you'll need to find such a LL for its entire life or risk having to rehome it in order to home yourself.

I really hate all the talk of spare houses. You have no idea of the personal situation of any given LL. I'm sure some of them are multi billionaires with huge portfolios but that's certainly not the norm. We became accidental LLs when we had to move for work but were unable to sell our home. So we were renting in another city with tenants in our own home. Certainly no spare house for us.

I also get irritated by the assumption that LLs are so well off that they should be absorbing the costs of their tenants' lifestyles (pet damage etc). You agree to the terms of the rental when you sign on the dotted line. Don't agree? Don't sign.

Our tenants left us with a huge bill for repairs (some pet related) which we only barely could afford to pay. But I suppose we should be grateful because they were paying our mortgage

As for the comment someone made upthread that if your house is so precious maybe you should sell instead of renting - well some of us tried but it's not always as simple as sticking your house on the market and having it sold in a week. Besides, even if a house isn't "precious" it's still a valuable asset and it is not too much to expect that a tenant should abide by the contract they have signed. Presumably you would expect your LL to also stick to their end of the contract?

I've never had any money taken from my deposit as a result of damage caused by either one of my cats. That's over a 16 year period. I can't imagine what a cat, able to cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage, must look like.

I would actually go as far as to say that landlords should not be allowed to specify "no pets" without considering a reasonable request in return for a larger deposit. depends on the pet. My house in UK is back on the rental market and advertised as cat friendly, but no way would I be allowing a dog there; neither would I consider reptiles nor rodents.

I have cats in my rental in Belgium, but I asked, and there is no wear and tear here anyway - you hand the property back in the state in which you got it.

Unfortunately there are a lot of irresponsible pet owners out there, that's why landlords can be weary. If you've been there a while and a good tenant then they might well give you permission despite the contract.

Thyme - this thread highlights why some LLs deserve the reputation they get. Their property, their rules, someone else paying their mortgage

Some, maybe, yes. I re-mortgaged my own house to afford the rental. It's a huge debt. I make sod all after both mortgages. But I knew this would be the case, it's a long term plan. Hilarious to think tenants pay the mortgage, we certainly didn't have a massive chunk of cash to buy the rental and we pay our mortgage with virtually none of the rent. They pay under market value rent and we go up to carry out repairs within 2 days or sooner if we can. They're good tenants and only smoke outside. The place is immaculate.

Only in the U.K. from what I understand are renters treated with such discontempt.

Yes it is a landlord's property, but it is the renters home.

Comments like

"If you can't afford a mortgage you can't afford a pet

Really grind my gears, another poster already pointed out this is drivel (because if you can't afford a pet you best remain childless too) but people rent for ALL sorts of reasons.

If your a landlord and your that concerned about your property sell it! The way landlords treat their CUSTOMERS is utterly disgraceful half the time. I've seen utterly ridiculous comments about not allowing candles in tenancy agreements.

As for I can't move into a home that might have had a cat in, best only move into new builds moving forward.

OP get a cat, treat it well, buy it a scratching post, look after it as all responsible pet owners should do and don't let it climb any wall paper. But just get a cat, if you want a cat but be aware of your asked to move on you may have to lie about it.

And don't let it at the catnip

But that's all rectified by a larger deposit, and the potential damage is minimal if the flat has wooden floors and is unfurnished. That is why I simply don't understand why so many landlords and agents are so unkind about this issue.

Could be because it's the landlord's house and they retain the rights to determine what they do and don't want in their house? Don't know, just a stab in the dark.