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?!

Don't get a rental via an agency. Get one from signs in supermarkets or Craigslist. They are more likely to be long term lets too.

Agencies ban pets as standard.

OP I haven't read all your posts but think getting angry is not going to be useful to you.

I know one landlord. This person is a landlord due to having one property only but having to live in their workplace for two years for various reasons. Anyway. So this house is their only house, they're renting it out through circumstance not through greed and evilness and whatever else people think of landlords.
So it's their actual home, not just a rental property. Last tennant had 2 kids. Smashed a hole in the wall in the hall. So now, landlord friend says no kids. Can you see this from the landlord's perspective as well as your own? I know someone else who rents and they're getting charged for re-carpeting of the whole house because they have a cat and the cat has pissed over every room. Again try to see that from a landlord perspective because now - no cats.

The landlord in these cases is looking to rent out their one property with the minimum of stress/hassle/damage/problems. They are not trying to provide housing to people. They are trying to manage their own finances by renting out their own property when it's empty. You shouldn't take it personally.

Don't take it as a personal slight. Offer extra deposit to cover cat damage and offer a reference from your current landlord regarding the cleanliness of your cats. But you can expect people to be apprehensive due to bitter experience and you should acknowledge this when approaching them.

What Imamouse said. With bells on.

It's a terrible reflection on our society that we value landlord's interests so far above renters' rights to a normal family life.

Just lie. Don't feel guilty for a second. The system is stacked against you.

like cats (used to have 2 of my own) but wouldn't dream of letting my tenants have them.......................I also understand the no kids thing (despite having a toddler DD) as kids cause a lot of wear and tear on a property and the noise can upset neighbours. Landlords just want tenants who are quiet, pay on time and don't cause damage to the property. When it's your own house you can do as you like!

@Suntrapped, people need homes though. Younger people have had a tough time getting on the ladder. It's all very well "wanting" quiet (childless, petless) tenants but that's not what the rental market is all about now. Home ownership is at a 30 year low. Many tenants DO have children and pets. They're not being perverse by refusing to buy a home and insisting on renting instead. They CANNOT buy. I worry that my children will struggle to buy.

Just don't mention the pets. Sometimes you just have to play the game

SerfTerf - see this is what people don't seem to understand. I fully agree with you, I need a home for myself, my partner, my sister, my DS and my cats. There is literally nothing available within five miles of my workplace/university. I have checked classified ads, Gumtree, notice boards, Facebook Marketplace, and about five-hundred other websites for private listings. I've also gotten into contact with every single letting agency in the area, and enquired. I've had barely any viewings because people aren't even showing me around the properties - at one point one agency screamed "WE SAID NO PETS" down the phone and then hung up on me!

I'm exhausted from searching everywhere and finding nothing, I'm deeply frustrated that we can't afford our own place and I'm barely eating or sleeping because we're losing a wonderful home, and we don't have anywhere else that will accept us... :(

Please dont lie about cats. If ll found out contract be broken. Cats are worse than dogs if you allergies. They do smell ll or ea will know.

The contract will be broken and....??

There are a million ways that could end

LL could think sneaky buggers but they do pay on time and don't cause me any trouble so I'll consider myself suckered and forget about it

LL could wait until their assured period is over and give them
Notice, costing them time and money (highly risky)

LL might never find out.

Not exactly scary stuff to be honest, when the alternative is not being able to find or secure a home at all

I would rehome the cats.

I'm sorry @OrangeIsMyNewBlack I can't imagine how stressful that is.

I think we need new regulation to stop this cherry-picking of tenants, TBH.

I'm not sure it's fair to say that renters have no rights and landlords all the power. I've been on both sides as tenant and landlord.

My recent tenant stopped paying rent and wouldn't communicate when we tried to arrange a time for a plumber to enter to fix a slow leak which threatened to collapse the ceiling below (because the tenant hadn't reported it, was only noticed on an inspection).

The neighbours reported he'd abandoned the property but we couldn't access the house without going to court even though he wasn't paying rent, had abandoned the property needing repairs (which he hadn't reported) and, as per my last post, had allowed his dog to trash the place. The tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment (even if they've left the property and aren't paying rent). It's difficult to justify accessing the property without permission unless it's a very obvious emergency (gas leak, fire, etc).

It has all cost much much more than the deposit to sort out and has taken months.

OP you sound like an angry entitled nightmare....

Houses are homes, not businesses. Nobody should be allowed to BTL. You should be able to own one house and live in it, and that's it.

Been both a tenant with a cat, and a LL who allowed them.

IME, most people don't mention the pets until they've seen a suitable property & got further in the vetting/referencing process. Then you bring it up - and offer plenty of deposit money & extra clauses for payment of all pet-related damages, and more frequent inspection. Usually if the letting agents have gone a way through the process and you seem a good bet, then they'll advocate on your behalf.

Helps if properties are hard floored (at least downstairs).

We let our property ourselves without an agent and accepted cats on a case by case basis, knowing what it's like to move with a pet when you're in rental.

No you don't sounds entitled op and if you sound angry then that's justified.
Some right old cuntbags on here sometimes.
Hope you find somewhere

Dragon girl, the OP sounds entitled for wanting to live like a normal person

Alrighty

You sound like an embodiment of all that's wrong with the world.

Lie. I got cats after I moved in, was going to tell the letting agency until I saw the fee they charge per pet fuck that as long as its completely unfurnished theres not much damage they can do that isnt reversible.

Entitled? She sounds perfectly reasonable. The " 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?!?!?! " thing is the most ridiculous thing I've read in a while. OP makes a valid criticism of the system.

My experience renting with two cats has been to introduce myself, get to know the letting agent and then mention about the cats at the end of a viewing. I never lead on the phone with the fact I have cats.

The reason being that I have normally sussed out during the viewing what sort of letting agent and landlord I'm dealing with by asking about the LL and also seeing if I get on with the letting agent. If I don't get on with the letting agent or I can tell from questioning the LL will not budge regarding pets - usually because of a bad previous experience, I don't even attempt to move the viewing etc forward. I usually find out if this is the case simply by asking if there have been pets, and even asking outright if previous tenants have given the LL a rubbish pet-related experience. (for example one house I viewed it was a clear no and on enquiring the one dog they allowed turned into FIVE and left hair clogging everything, including behind toilets and down drains, they also ruined three carpets)

I take care to build a rapport with the letting agent because they will be advocating for me and helping me to communicate with the LL for the whole of my tenancy. So, it helps a lot to find a letting agent you get along with who will put in a good word for you with the LL after meeting you.

If you've already contacted every single agent in a five-mile radius of where you want to be though then you're probably not going to be able to do that. It seems like unless you find somewhere private your next best option is to widen your search and begin again, this time focusing on building a good relationship with letting agents, and THEN mentioning you have spayed cats.

I've never been turned down for a property I applied for when using this method and I've never had any complaints about how I have left the properties I've lived in.

Good luck.

Alpaca - but how would you address your houses are homes philosophy with my friend who owns one (modest, terraced) house and has had to live at work for 2yrs and rent out the house?
Would you have her forced to sell?
She doesn't allow kids because one put a massive hole in the wall. Is she evil?

You can't run businesses the way your friend is elevenclips.

Landlords should be professional. On a personal level we all know accidental landlords but if they can't afford to be landlords (deal with void periods, accept the risk of repair etc) then they're not really cut out to offer the service are they?

I'm gobsmacked by the comments about cats smelling. A healthy cat doesn't smell of anything much.

Autofill I'm not sure that's fair. Small time landlords do what they need to do in order to get by. That's like saying people aren't really cut out to be tenants if they aren't prepared to stick to the terms of a no-pet contract. There are so many shades beyond black and white.

The problem is the lack of social housing, unaffordable housing for everyone and insecure work. Selling off council housing was a spectacularly terrible decision IMO.

I would never allow pets as a landlord and I'm 100% with those who don't (and I'm a private tenant).

Cats DO smell whether you want to admit it or not; they make a property stink, hence why nobody wants them (along with all the destruction they cause which your animals are apparently immune to ).