AIBU that people that rent shouldn't have pets

[Lloyd45]

My friend is having to find another rented property but can't find anywhere that will accept pets, she's asked me to have her 2 dogs, I have 2 dogs already but they will have to be put down if I don't have them 😞 Why do people who rent have pets when this puts them in a difficult position. I can see a lot of dogs being put down as homes will be more difficult to find

We rent with a cat. The previous tenants were turfed out because they got caught with a dog. Landlord is fine with cats, I guess especially because it was all done officially through the letting agent

Plenty of LL don't want children. If you'd rented out your actual and only home whilst you worked away and come back to see your tenants (family of 4) had smashed everything to pieces then you might see why. My friend did this whilst they worked abroad for 2yrs. Came back to find: every carpet filthy and badly stained, cracked light switches (yes really, you'd probably have to hit them with a hammer to that), neutral walls repainted without permission (bright red, messy paint, very badly done), knobs ripped off things, gouges from door frames, I mean the place had been treated appallingly. Rather than fix it she sold the house. It's no wonder a landlord would prefer a single person or couple. It's just a lot less wear and tear and pressure on a property. I think if people were forced to accept pets and children then many going abroad for a year or two would elect to leave the house empty rather than rent it out.

Ecureuil

Well obviously.

I was trying to point out that the "LL's need to change their thinking" comments are pointless. Many LL's have pets of their own but wont have them in their rentals. As a LL s/he takes on a risk with every new tenant. S/he doesnt know that they will pay the rent, look after the property etc and therefore most seek to minimise that risk with references, credit checks etc and for some, banning animals.

Why are some people taking it so personally?

a home isn’t a home without a dog.

Believe it or not, many many people disagree with you.

Why are some people taking it so personally?

I guess because for you it’s a business, and for them it’s their lives.

(I own now BTW, after having to rent due to a job that took us all over Europe we’ve finally settled with our well travelled dog!)

Families are far greater bets for LLs than groups of people and pets.

Think about it. The kids might cry and make a bit of noise, but in general they go to school, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Routine.

The pet thing is unfortunately a LL decision. And pets are unpredictable. And they smell to high heaven, and they moult their hairs everywhere. I have a friend with two dogs and a cat, and honestly, not making this up, she is very welcome here without said pets, but after two visits to hers, never again. I could not get the hairs out of my clothes. YUK.

Some pet owners do not understand the hairy smelly thing for the rest of us. Hope that is OK to say.

PyongyangKipperbang why are we taking it so psersonally?

Because, as Ecureil says, it is our actual lives LLs are fucking with.

You know perfectly well that many people are not in the position of just waiting a year or so and then magically buying their own home.

From our point of view, it is really pretty shit to have disability and all the shit that comes with that; pain, loss of career, loss of abilities, loss of inderpendence, and then not be able to work because of it and become 'benefits scum' and have to beg the government to believe that you are not faking so you have something to live on, and not be able to have children because health wouldn't allow it and then menopause hits, and to have to move every time your LL wants to sell AND not even be allowed a couple of cats. With all that not having, I really ask myself what is the point of living? Other than to pay my LLs BTL mortgage of course.

Ask yourself honestly if you and your friends and family would be happy to go without so much and not be able to have any substitutes?

I don't care what people think if my house smells, all my friends are animal lovers, if you don't like it, don't come to my house. I'm lucky enough to own my own house so if you don't like it tough 😊

Never had anybody - housing included - moan that my place smells!

Believe me, i've seen houses of so called 'professionals' who don't give a shit about their places

I used to work in and Estate Agent and dealt with a number of rentals. One guy was a professional renting an initially immaculate flat in a very naice area. This particular bloke was paying £1,200pcm for the flat, which had a very expensive Italian leather 3 piece suite, an expensive bed/mattress and other expensive, solid wood furnishings.

Said bloke got drunk a bit too regularly and over a short period of time, ruined most of the furniture, and either vomited, shat or pissed over the leather suite/floor/carpets etc. He was evicted and the owner had to replace the ruined furniture which cost of around £25,000.

The next tenant was a dog owner with a carpet washer, pet insurance (with 3rd party liability), washed her dogs regularly, trained and exercised them so well that the dogs were too pooped to even lift their heads off the floor. The LL said that although he was so anxious initially, about the dogs, he now sees that not all dog owners are shitty tenants, and not all professionals are good ones. The tenant is still in the property to this day, and the LL has had no problems with her in 20 years.

The LL said he would certainly rent to pet owners as long as they had, and he could see the pet insurance documents. No insurance, no renting.

TBH, the market may open up a bit more if pet owners insured their pets appropriately.

I’m not a landlord and very much doubt I ever will be, however if I was, I’d have no problems renting to someone with animals. I’d expect a higher deposit and would want something in the tenancy agreement regarding clearing up after the animals and keeping the garden clean but I don’t see a problem.

Lloyd.

Good on you.

But we ARE talking about rentals here, did you not notice. Probably not.

Scruff yep getting drunk/high was the reasoning for these places going to pot too! And one set were two lawyers who house shared...the place was disgusting 🤢

No LL is fucking with your actual life though!

They are renting out their property with rules that they are happy with and are allowed to have. Its their choice. Just as its your choice to have animals, knowing that it will make finding your next home much harder.

I am genuinely sorry for your circumstances (and have some experience of them myself and my disable son even more so) but the fact is that your already difficult situation is being made more difficult by your own choice and not someone elses.

Animals may be less adaptable than humans to less than perfect living environments. Bigger breeds of dog, for example, need space to run and exercise. The number of fat Labs one sees in cities and towns is depressing. Yes, they are generally placid dogs temperamentally, and tolerate living with their family, but see them come alive when they are in the outdoors. (I am not suggesting the park, BTW, but a big outdoor space and off the lead... don't worry, they know where you are).

And I am not a LL btw!

We’ve 4 cats and we rent.

Two we brought with us and two we’ve adopted since we moved in, our landlord isn’t bothered in the slightest. We keep the place clean (well, we have a cleaner) and get the carpets cleaned every six months to avoid cat hair building up and he’s fine with it.

OC i live in a flat & have always fostered big dogs. Never had a problem with fat dogs or bored dogs. I tend to find that actually sometimes having a garden can make dog owners lazy because the dog can go in the garden so doesn't need taking out

PyongyangKipperbang I am not making my life more difficult thank you very much. I am actively prevented from having pets by LLs, so LLs are actually fucking with my life.

I hope for you and your son's sake that you never end up private renting as I sure you would find it very unenjoyable - unless you are either rich or very lucky.

a home isn’t a home without a dog

Erm...if this home had a dog, I wouldn't live here.

And if I were a LL, I wouldn't allow dogs, either. They can be very smelly, they poo in the garden.

And in the case of my neighbour's dog, when it goes out to poo in the evening it yaps for about 5 minutes. I was reasonably tolerant about it, but recently I've been going to bed slightly earlier and they've been letting it out later, and there's nothing worse than drifting off to sleep and being woken up by a dog yapping away. Goodness knows what it's yapping about, but we do have foxes and badgers around as well as thousands of cats. If they were renting, I or another neighbour might complain to the LL. So I guess LLs don't want the hassle of complaints, either.

Deposits and contractual provisions requiring a tenant to keep the place clean are all very well, but I'd rather have a pet-free house.

If you move and you can't take your pet with you, you need to find a solution. And that doesn't mean guilt-tripping friends or relatives.

As a former LL, I think one pet is fine; I'd get concerned if there were two, or if I thought the tenant was a latent animal adopter. I'd rent to a person with an appropriately sized pet, but if I thought they were an animal rights enthusiast, I'd give it a huge swerve.

How do LLs feel about snakes 😏

Mustbemad, a few posts back I said the flat I let was not suitable for families or pets, as there was no outdoor space within a mile and it was the 32nd floor.

@PyongyangKipperbang

There is no talking to some, I said some.... pet owners.

The homeowner (LL) doesn't matter, the neighbours don't matter, the visitors having to sit in a hairy chair don't matter, the smells don't matter, etc.

Deluded.

Not everyone likes hairy animals. Or any other animals either.

If you want animals in your home, buy it.