To want to just break stuff in anger?

[OrangeIsMyNewBlack]

Posting here partly for rage, partly for quick responses.

Household got served notice for our rental property, has knocked us sideways because we thought this was our "forever" home whilst I have my studies and we sort everything out. I've been scrabbling to find a place for 4 weeks, and we have until the end of the month in order to get a place, finalize it, pack up and bog off. What I'm supremely fucking pissed about is the standards to which we are being held as tenants. Namely, we have cats.

2 cats, both male, that don't spray, don't fight and are treated for fleas regularly. We have an extra £250 in our current bond to cover any pet issues, and we've got a glowing reference because we've never had an issue. But tell a rental agency you have cats and they shrink away like a vampire being presented with garlic...!

I'm sorry, but what the actual fuck is wrong with private landlords?! I saw one property the other day that was a four-bed property. 4 bedrooms. No students, no sharers, no pets, no smokers, no benefits, no children. So... a FOUR. BEDROOMED. PROPERTY. For a single or professional working couple?!?!?! What the fucking fuck is wrong with people?!?!

Anyway, sorry. Crux of my point is: is there anything I can do to circumvent the whole "no pets" thing, because there aren't new properties being listed regularly in my area, and every single property within a 5-mile radius of the town I need to be near is treating me like a leper who's sneezed in their face. Anybody, anywhere, know anything about how to get around this other than getting rid of my two cats?!

Having said that, I know that our agency asks us to reconsider now and again if a reliable pet-owning tenant comes forward. We never do but presumably other landlords must or they wouldn't bother. So might be worth getting the agency to ask.

Totally with you on the ridiculous advertisement about the 4 bed house... but I've really got some sympathy with landlords about cats. They are so so smelly. A couple with two cats has moved into our building (which is a small converted Victorian building) and it's made all the communal areas smell terrible, which is really unfortunate for another couple in the building who are trying to sell. Not to mention cat poo in the communal garden and the fact that the female half of the couple stands out there squawking the cats' names for half an hour every night.

But turning back to your problem - could you offer to commit to having the carpets cleaned at the end of the tenancy? Offer a bigger deposit?

Our last two houses have been private rentals, I found one them on local Facebook sites and the other on Gumtree. We have two dc and two cats. We have never had to pay an increased deposit and neither the cats or the dc have wrecked the houses.

Just one thing I will say OP is depending on your council you may be seen as making yourself homeless by keeping the cats and not finding a landlord that will take them. I know it seems mad but one council where I live would 100% use the cats as a reason not to help you, they have a massive shortage of housing and use any situation they can to refuse you.

Where I live there is no shortage of people trying to rent as I'm sure it is in most places.

As a rule of thumb animals smell and some people don't bother to house train their pets. Either lie to the landlord and risk them finding out and possibly evicting you OR do what we did, find a house you like, phone the agents regardless of if it says no pets. Mention you have cats who don't spray etc and mention how your current landlord has never had issues with them (ask if your landlord will specifically mention how your pets have not been an issue) and your more than happy to get the carpets professionally cleaned when you move. (That's what we did and we were allowed the house. It had a strict no pets policy and we had a dog) we ended up paying slightly more on the deposit when we moved in.

Oh and we dealt with the estate agents directly. Didn't need to speak to the landlord, they just spoke and checked with her she was okay with the pets.
We also mentioned we both had good jobs, we payed the rent in time and we could move within the month. All the landlord wants is someone in the property quickly who won't wreck the place and pays the rent on time. We even offered they could view our current property to see how we look after our house.

I think pet owners are completely blind when it comes to their pets smelling. They're all 'yes but my pet doesn't smell', believe me, to a none pet owner, it smells.

No matter how many times you hoover, what air freshener you use, your house smells, even a little bit, of pet.

When I was a tenant, with 1 dog & 2 cats, we always found a Landlady through the local paper.

We had 3 houses that we rented over the years, & left them spotless.

The last Landlady met us at the property to collect her keys and was shocked that we were hoovering & cleaning the windows. I was more shocked that she thought we wouldn't bother cleaning.

it's their property. it's fair enough for them to not want it stinking of cats. don't like it... buy your own!

I've had cats for years ands regular property visits. No one has picked up on it.

dont like it but your iwn

Weebitty - Oh yes! Silly me, forgetting! I completely forgot about the £100,000 I had stuffed into my sock drawer, stupid me! I'll just go and buy my own house, because obviously that's an option for literally everyone in the world, isn't it?

Thanks to everyone else for their advice. Have unfortunately tried everything, and am getting nowhere fast. But I'll just keep trying to find someone that's willing to compromise.

YANBU to be frustrated. However, they're also NBU because they have a right to set whatever conditions for their property. I don't think 4 bedrooms for a couple is too "out there" though. I live by myself and have a 3 bedroom property just so I can have a guest bedroom, and a piano room/library.

Wild thought but have you checked something like perhaps the pet association or something? A mate of mine (albeit in another country) found a pet-friendly landlord this way.

you need to accept that you must live within your means then... which might mean no cats if landlords don't like them. very entitled of you to dictate what others find acceptable in the properties that they own.

Why would you think a rental home would be your forever home?!

You chose to have cats but others don't like them.

IMHO it's not exactly entitled to want to be able to live in a decent property. Is this not the exact point of deposits? Provided I'm not smashing windows, cutting out walls or tearing up carpets I really don't see how my having pets is that much of a nuisance to a landlord/landlady. I also (as someone said above) don't understand how they can legally refuse accommodation to those on benefits or those with children.

If I pay the rent on time and I'm not a disturbance, I don't see what anything else has to do with it, since they already have the deposit set aside in the scheme for any repairs, damages or cleaning that is required.

Aside from anything else, decent properties eliminate people like smokers or benefits claimants who are most in need. There's a whole lot of classism imbedded in it, and it means that people like me get utterly screwed by the system.

It is true that pets have a smell, but some of these posts are so hysterical. If you think that someone owning a cat in your building makes the whole building smell then either you are mad or the cat is very ill. We do have cats, but didn't for a long time and while I definitely agree that you know if they have a cat or dog I never, ever walked into a pet owner's home and thought that it reeked. It was never anything like on a par with a smoker's home, for instance.

It's entitled to literally let someone poorer than yourself pay your fucking mortgage but deny them the luxury of children or a gaddamn pet.

Besides the inherent ageism in 'no children' rules it's sexist as well. The vast majority of single parents are mothers and half of marriages end in divorce. Loads of women who will be financially vulnerable not allowed homes.

Weebitty - you are not nice.

Orange I feel for you - I rent from my cousins so I'm allowed to have whatever pets I want!! When I rented from an anonymous landlord I just kept my pets hidden and went to enough lengths to hide their presence. I couldn't be without my pets!!!

PratStick - well said :)

Ime people smell more than pets!!!

My last tenant had at least one and probably 2-3 cats against the agreement. The carpets were absolutely disgusting at the end but I was planning to replace them anyway so didn't make a fuss and returned her deposit.

However I won't take benefit recipients again. This is very sad because I've had no problem with any of the tenants I've had on HB. But when I needed my property back it became impossible for the poor woman to secure another property unless I actually evicted her which was tedious,expensive and took ages at a time I needed my own property for myself. The council were just buying time at my expense and the poor tenant didn't know where wishes was going to end up.

I felt extremely sorry for her but don't want to get caught up in that again and in the SE at least it's easy to get people in work with no pets or kids. Pets are against our lease and I'm happy to have children but can understand why others don't.

We need better social housing.

I'm perfectly nice but people really should learn to live to their circumstances. if you live in someone else's property you should of course abide by their rules. cats stink and you shouldn't expect someone else to bear the cost of that.
arguing that people who rent deserve pets. pets are a luxury in that you should be able to afford to house and feed them.