To ask for a pet?

[Purplerain16]

Sorry if this is long, I don't want to drip feed!

Me and DP moved into our house a year ago, we rent in a city center. On the ad it said no pets, which is fine as we don't have any.
However, my depression has been getting worse and worse lately. I'm in 150mg Sertraline and still not 100%. It's been suggested that a pet would really help.
I'm waiting for counselling (it's been 7 months and could be up to 4 weeks wait now, I am top of the list).

In May this year, we asked our estate agents if they could ask the landlady if we could get a dog. I have always lived with a dog & am finding it very lonely here. I work from home 99% of the time & find it difficult leaving the house most days.

We haven't had a response from the landlady so we checked our tenancy agreement & it says in regards to pets "a reasonable request should not be denied" and "a response should be given without unnecessary delay".

Now, the carpets in the house aren't in great condition, but downstairs is all wood flooring. I am only asking for a small dog (lhaso apso size) and it would be with me every where I go.

I know that I could go to the doctors and request a letter for an emotional support animal, but I don't want the landlady to feel like we're forcing her into letting us have one.

Basically, WIBU to request this letter and just get a dog?

Have you chased up the agent? Probably best not to get one without permission

Also I should add, we have said we will have the carpets professionally cleaned upon leaving, however we don't intend on leaving in the next 3 years ish.

@Shoxfordian we have, we have our 3monthly inspection today & I will be bringing it up again

Landlady might be checking re insurance and may also ask for a further deposit from you for having a pet. We moved in somewhere that requested an additional £200 deposit. Fingers crossed she will let you but be prepared if she says no.

2 of my precious landlords were badly burnt by allowing dogs. The first had his entire back garden destroyed by a dog. The dog had dug all the earth from around the edges of the yard into one giant mound in the middle. All the grass was dead and it was quite literally a swamp.

The second allowed a dog and all of the wooden flooring was scratched to buggery, planks lifting from toilet accidents, door frames and kitchen cupboard edges chewed. In both cases, rental deposit was kept but was no where near enough to cover the amount of damage done. Tbh I can understand why landlords are reluctant.

Previous not precious haha

@TrueFriendsStabYouInTheFront good point re insurance.
I know that legally, landlords can't charge more than £30 extra now, which we are more than prepared to pay.

I will email our agency again and explain everything we are willing to do to be able to have one.
I really am desperate for a little dog. I have my friends dog staying over tonight as she's in hospital & it just makes my heart hurt knowing I can't have one 😩

I’m surprised your lease is worded like that as I have always put in my leases whether a pet is allowed or not. Generally the rule is dictated by the freeholder, if you rent a house that might be your landlord.
I don’t think a landlord can refuse a pet if it is a registered service dog for someone with a disability (blind etc) but not sure where the law stands for mental health.

If it breaks your heart not to have a dog, why was it ‘fine’ by you to take a house where the landlord specifies no pets? I had tenants who did that and it made me think they were not entirely honest. And, if one year ago you didn’t want a dog, maybe one year from now you also won’t want one. Not a great situation for a dog.

If I were your landlady, I wouldn’t allow it personally. I don’t know anyone who rents and has pets actually.

@makingmammaries at the time, we wanted one but could accept not having one as we were desperate for a place to live. Since then, it's become apparent that actually, I'm not okay with not having one around.

@Kiddofreddo80 could I ask why? Obviously, I've never been on that side so I can't really understand why landlords won't accept a reasonable request. We've lived here a year, always kept the place clean and tidy, in fact we've made it look better than it did when we moved in 🙄

There's no right to an emotional support animal in the UK.

It's a reasonable request if you are willing to pay to put right any damage the pet does. Replacing anything damaged or worn (and dogs will damage things, however careful you are), and a professional deep clean to make sure the place is free of hair and dander. If you put that in writing to your LL they may be amenable.

It isn't actually sensible to expect a dog to go everywhere with you, so telling a landlord the dog will never be left alone really won't work, they know they will in the end (its also really unfair NOT to teach a puppy to cope alone by the time they are grown up, its a skill they all need).

I would put together a request for a small breed dog, outlining that you will do various things such as, pay for new carpets on exit/pay for professional carpet/floor cleaning/offer an increased deposit.. alongside having pet insurance, household insurance htat covers pet damage, taking the dog to training classes and hiring a sitter/walker should you need to leave them - which all should help to reassure a landlord that you are a responsible owner.

I would say no if my tenant requested a pet.

Dogs smell. If it pisses on the floor, which a puppy definitely will, it will be very difficult to get every trace of it out of the cracks between the wood. They also chew things, my mum's dog destroyed several doors in her house. Tenants can promise that everything will be cleaned, repaired or paid for but you can never be sure that they actually will.

It's just not a risk I'm prepared to take as a landlord.

We don’t have pets for exactly this reason, we rent and it states we aren’t allowed them, fair enough it’s their house and at the end of the day I couldnt 100% guarantee no lasting damage would be done, it’s all fine and well saying you’ll professionally clean the carpets but if urine gets on there it will soak through to the underlay and wood flooring won’t fair much better

Also you say you’re not planning on moving in the next 3 years so after 3 years you might want to move? Where to? If it’s another rental you may struggle to get someone else to rent to you with a dog

I also had the "consent will not be unreasonably withheld" clause in my last rental contract - it didn't even say "no pets" in the ad - and my landlord still said no to me having caged rats. I don't imagine you'll have much luck asking for a dog.

I’ve noticed a few of these threads popping up, why do some people think their want for an animal trumps that of the person who the property actually belongs to? I’ve seen it said on some threads just to get one and never mind what the contract says! If you want pets you need to buy your own property or abide by your contract. Yes I know not everyone can afford their own property but you don’t need a pet, you need a roof over your head

No harm in asking your LL again as they've not actually answered your request. I can understand why landlord's don't allow dogs and cats in their properties, if I was a LL I don't think I would.

My older rescue dog is generally pretty well behaved (never chewed furniture etc). However, he has scratched up the laminate flooring pretty badly just from walking and running around and the grass in our back garden has definitely seen better days. Not to mention it took around a year for him to settle in and stop peeing in the house if we left him for even the shortest amount of time. If I was living in rented I'd totally expect the LL to charge me for new flooring and a new lawn when I moved out, which I expect would be a fair sum of money.

If LL does say no to a dog, perhaps look at becoming a volunteer dog walker with Cinammon Trust or Dogs Trust.

Okay so I never said I wanted a puppy. I dont. I want an adult dog.
The dog will be with me as much as possible, the only time it wouldnt is if something happened out of my control. And it is possible to have an emotional support dog in the UK, I've been researching it a lot lately.

My whole point is, we're great tenants, we've tidied the garden massively & painted the house, windows & outdoor areas that are painted.
I really don't think it's an unreasonable request

I obviously understand that we don't own the house but we're mature students (PhD) so we can't get a mortgage yet, so we have no choice but to rent. The reason we won't be moving in the next 3 years is because we're studying. We aren't likely to move even after that either. We love our home & would buy it if we could 😂

Also to add, the garden/painting etc is in the tenancy agreement as the landlords responsibility. But we love the house so wanted to make it perfect for us (with their permission of course)

You can call your dog an emotional support dog. That doesn’t mean very much though. It won’t be allowed into places where a dog isn’t normally allowed.
It could also take a VERY long time to be matched to a suitable dog. Rescues may be concerned. What about if you move out or start full time employment?
How about volunteering with a charity? Dog walking locally or contact The Cinnamon Trust.
Dogs can help those of us with MH issues. They can also cause anxiety or depression to spiral.

Doesn’t make a jot of difference what you’ve done to the house, it still isn’t your house so if the landlady says no that’s that or move somewhere that allows it

@Stefoscope that's a great idea re volunteer dog walker. I will look into that if they say no.

I know it takes them a while to settle, I'm not ignorant to that. But with me being home all the time, I think that would help somewhat

Also if you were to get a dog and your landlady then served you notice that would be worse for your mental health having to find somewhere else to live

But definitely not unreasonable to ask just be prepared to take a no as a no