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.

The issue of pets isn't easily solved with a larger deposit. If you have new tenants every 6 months, all of which had pets, it may mean you have to fully redecorate each time. The deposit may cover any repairs but wouldn't cover the time it takes to complete the redecoration/repairs before you then advertise it for rental again.

We have a rental property and initially stated no pets. However after two years our tenants asked if they could re-home a dog. They offered extra deposit and to pay for repairs. We agreed, without the extra deposit, as we are happy with them as tenants and have built up a trust that they will look after the property.

It is always worth asking

What nasty people on this thread!

It's this kind of exploitation and lack of empathy that gives all landlords a bed reputation.

Damage is damage whether pet related or not. That's what a deposit is for.

Rented properties get wrecked by all sorts of tenants, whether pet owners or not.

No cat I've known/had has caused the kind of damage being described in this thread.

People are being deliberately inflammatory.

You'll find the candle point may in fact be a requisite of the Insurer, insofar as if candles/tealights are unattended they may cause damage. So not necessarily the bastarding fun-sponging tenant hating LL.

In this case the Customer looked at the property, considered the T&C all presumably without a gun to her head and decided she would enter willingly into a contract with this particular LL.

To renage on that arrangement would be unreasonable. Nothing to do with the LL at all, who may as many LL on the thread have said consent if the OP is a tenant with a good track record.

Penguins If your a landlord and your that concerned about your property sell it! I won't sell it, because it is my family home, and I want to live in it again when we return from Belgium. I let to cat owners (though I was underwhelmed by the pile of dirty and uncleaned cat trays in my back garden when I went to inspect once, and insisted they were dealt with), but I do specify quarterly inspections in the tenancy agreement, to ensure that there isn't a problem caused by the pets.

A cat won't go undetected,there'll be odour and hair.thats why there is no pets rule
Your agent would be within rights to terminate lease and charge you cleaning fees
Can't understand why you'd risk it.

I don't think landlords should be able to specify "no pets" and more than they should "no children" or and other lifestyle exclusions, your renting a property not asking for their advice on how to live in it, as long as it goes back to them the way it was received, I don't see how the bit in the middle is any of their bloody business.

The landlord on another thread stated she didn't want candles because she didn't like them and also didn't think tenants could be trusted with candles - nothing to do with anything else.

scary I say "if your that concerned sell it" as some landlords want to dictate every little thing. I understand some tenants are bloody awful but not all tenants are these terrible people with zero respect for the property lots of tenants see it as their home and want to make it a lovely home.

Generally speaking I think if you have a bad tennant then a cat is the least of your problems. It's the humans living in a property that have the ability to destroy it far more than a cat.

Quite often there are clauses in leasehold agreements that state 'no pets' so even if the LL would be happy to allow a cat they aren't permitted to do so.

We let a property in London out short term and the tenants decided to get a dog which was against both the terms of the rental agreement and the terms of the lease. My husband is hideously allergic to cats and dogs and this meant that he couldn't move back in for weeks and had to take steroids and antihistamines for a very long time. It takes well over 6 months to de-cat/dog a property despite deep-cleaning and wooden floors.

Dog also wee-ed all over the sofa, left stains on the wooden floors and chewed up the curtains.

Rescues are full of abandoned pets whose owners either dont have time for them or have to get rid of them or they'd be homeless.
If you decide to go ahead, be prepared to pay a rescue to look after it for you until they can rehome it.

confused LLs can specify no children. It is their property, it's in their interest that minimum damage is caused to it and nothing to do with judging how a tenant lives their lives 🙄 I don't know why it surprises people that LLs don't want pets in their homes who can cause considerable damage and a lingering smell

I think it's a bad idea to get a cat without asking the LL, not because of LL rights or anything, but just because it is staggeringly unfair on the cat to risk it being made homeless suddenly because the LL finds out and freaks out. Cats deserve a stable home and while no one knows exactly what will happen in the future, I think you at least have to try.

From a LL PoV (I used to be a LL) I can see why LL might be twitchy. Some cats are lovely - my two are very good with the litter tray, and for some reason have always been really chilled out and never scratched. Some friends of mine got a very nervy rescue cat who shredded curtains, and wallper, pissed on the carpet repeatedly and left deep stains that meant the brand new carpets had to be replaced a year later. You just don't know, and while most LL accept that some cleaning and redecorating needs to be done between tenants, new carpets after 12 months is a bit of a financial sting and they have no moral obligation to take that hit just so people can keep cats. It's difficult.

"I can't imagine what a cat, able to cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage, must look like."

I've had cats for most of my 48 years, and I now know exactly what such a cat looks like. If I could, I'd post a pic. She's a very small, getting bigger every day, tortoiseshell kitten. Her hobbies are climbing walls, and regularly pooing outside her litter tray. At some point, I am going to have to replace the wallpaper in my kitchen and one bedroom because she has clawed it to bits. In a few months, she'll be an inside/outside cat, and then I'll get rid of the litter tray, and replace the carpet which has been getting pooed on. So, yes, hundreds of pounds.

Rather less expensive is the damage an older, black and white cat, has caused to the lower part of the walls either side of the back door, which he has stripped back to the plaster board. Oh, and he also managed to remove a section of skirting board.

www.flickr.com/photos/42311564@N00/2581229065

I've got a cat in my unfurnishrd property. It doesn't smell. I didn't ask the LL as they would refuse. The LL let the house in a disgusting state - refused to change the yucky carpet in the Toilet and Bathroom! Dirty toilet seat. Stank of smoke. LL rarely does property checks. LL clearly only cares about getting inflated rent every month so they can go in fancy holidays all the time. Cat isn't harming anyone or anythjng. Carpets need changing anyway and I'll fix any damage before I leave. (Apparently last tenant had a dog on the sly!).

You could be adult about it, unlike many of the playground types on here. What you do is contact the landlord, offer an increased deposit and flea treatment at your expense when you leave.

Cats can wreck wood work and their urine wrecks flooring. If your cat neither scratches or leaks,back comes your deposit.

No doubt you had an inventory on check in so condition was recorded, and you are of course familiar with your rights.

It really isn't hard.

BTW I wish those of you happy to rent wrecked shitholes had got in touch. Would have saved all the bother of renovating and cleaning a wrecked property.

Oh but wait...it isn't in London.

Cats which are allowed free access to the outdoors do little damage.
Do you have a Sumatran tiger or a pussy cat? If the latter then go ahead, the landlord will never notice.

We did it, we were renting an unfurnished flat with laminate flooring. We'd previously asked LL for a dog and they agreed. When ddog was pts (he was an elderly rescue we fostered) we got a cat. Only realised when we moved out that we'd not checked the LL was ok with the cat - but they didn't give us inspections, he didn't cause any mess/damage/smell and we got our full deposit back at the end plus a glowing reference.

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

Discontempt

Anyway, absolute horse shit.

cats smell.they cast hair,they have an odour.Denying cats (or any animals smell) is frankly daft

We rent out a house, we always have no pets included in our terms. If anyone snuck pets in we'd be furious about the tenants lying to us, they'd not get much of a reference from us if any, we'd be after them to pay for cleaning, etc...

Our current tenants asked- so we included an extra clause in the contract, took an extra payment that they were happy to pay and we're all very happy.

Don't lie to your landlord and then expect them to be nice.

My husband is seriously allergic to cats to the point that the kids couldn't stroke one and then be in the same room with him. If we had a rental and the tenants took it upon themselves to get a cat they could kill him.

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

Well I'm in Australia and don't allow tenants to have pets, so...

Renting is a financial transaction,and it has terms and conditions
Landlord can specify no children, no pets

Charles why do you think she shouldn't have paid at all??? They were not her carpets to ruin. My parents have had very good quality carpets down for many, many years and they are still fine. To replace them at the same quality will cost in excess of £1200. Why do you feel you as a tenant have the right to go into someone else's property, spoil something that is not yours and not be liable. I think she should at least have paid his excess if he had any covering carpets or the cost of at least half a new carpet. I'm really hoping your a goady troll!