To ask why unfurnished rental properties still don't allow pets?

[Coffeebiscuitsrepeat]

My sister is having terrible trouble trying to find a place to rent with her two cats. I can understand furnished properties due to scratching sofa etc., but why do so many unfurnished places not allow pets? The one she was viewing didn't even have carpet, just laminate flooring!

Because having let out a flat (a beloved home) while working temporarily elsewhere (before I get the evil landlord accusations), we came back to find our tenant who had two cats had utterly destroyed the whole place. It reeked of cat pee and all the carpets had to be thrown away, all the underlay, and the floorboards scrubbed multiple times. And even then it took months for the smell to finally dissipate in cupboards and corners. The walls were filthy and scratched and needed repainting. The tenant was only there six months and her deposit covered not even a quarter of the damage. If I ever let out a place again it would just feel too risky to have pets after that.

All these people who are allergic to animals - what if you buy a house that's had animals in? Or would you not buy a house if it had cats/dogs in at any stage? And how would you know? You could buy a house, move in and then start an allergic reaction - would you move again?

I'm just curious. My landlord allowed me pets; we had dogs and cats and all sorts, it was brilliant.The chronic damp did far more damage and made more smell than the animals did!

Due to a change of circumstances I will have to rent my beloved home out unfurnished whilst I’m cared for by family in the hope that I will eventually be able to move back there when finances and health improves.

I love animals and had pets as a child but wasn’t able to as an adult until I was a homeowner.

I will be stipulating no pets. The previous owner had a very well cared for Labrador. I found dog hair everywhere even in drawers, evidence of dog pee, poo and vomit on the newish carpets which I had to replace, scratches on the wood work, door frames, kitchen cupboards and fitted furniture etc. The smell of dog, even though it was well looked after, was extremely hard to shift even when the home was emptied of furniture and cleaned several times.

One of our very well cared for cats when I was a child became blind and doubly incontinent before she died and was going behind wardrobes, under the beds etc. Cat pee gets into the floorboards, walls etc. It does a lot of damage.

I had to sacrifice having pets whilst I was saving to buy a home and unsure of where I’d be living because it’s unfair to bring pets into an unstable situation. At times due to being housebound I was advised by medical professionals to get a pet for company (a small dog or cat) but again, I knew it wouldn’t be fair on the animal as when renting you can’t always have pets.

I want my home to remain in decent condition so that I can afford to move back in without having to pay a lot of money to repair damage from other people’s pets. I’m not a control freak, I just want to minimise damage and expenses.

my house, my rules

People with attitudes like this really shouldn’t be landlords.

I'm currently looking at rentals and have this problem because I've got a cat. In the three years I've had him, he has never once peed on the floor (I've currently got hard floors so I would know) and only thrown up once. He has a scratching post for his claws. I think the problem is that some pet owners don't supervise their pets properly.

Cat urination and/or the spray from un-neutered cats can really stink and be very difficult to get rid of. If the cat sprayed or urinated repeatedly then it can be a big problem on carpets as it sinks through to the underlay and sometimes the floor underneath that, and even laminate can be problematic, as it can sink into and under the boards.

Also some people keep their cat litter trays in an unhygienic state or put the litter in the bins (sometimes loose, not even bagged up) which attracts flies so badly.

The other thing is that people lie about number or type of pets. I know people who have said they have one cat - it's two, or three, or even a cat plus a dog. I know someone who rented to a tenant who said they had one small dog - they had three large dogs (in a terrace house).

One of our tenants had a dog without permission. It damaged the front door so badly in its efforts to get out that we needed a new one. £1,500 out of their deposit.

I think the problem is that some pet owners don't supervise their pets properly

Very likely, yes, but the trouble is there's no way to tell the difference - after all someone who wants to rent with pets isn't exactly going to say "oh, I let them do whatever they want"

And as we've seen on here, some may even encourage them to lie about having pets at all

All these people who are allergic to animals - what if you buy a house that's had animals in? Or would you not buy a house if it had cats/dogs in at any stage? And how would you know?

Non pet owners can tell virtually immediately due to the smell. It's not just wee/poo smells, but pet food and pet bedding also has a certain smell. It permeates into the soft furnishings, carpets, curtains, etc.

The only time you can't smell it is when the house has been home to a smoker, as stale smoke over-rides most pet smells, but I wouldn't buy a smoker's house either.

I'm also allergic to cats - whether the smell has been hidden by smoking or by candle burning or infusers, within 5 minutes my eyes are stinging, so I know it's home to a cat.

My DB had a couple with two dogs as tenants. The dogs hadn't been neutered and by the time they gave notice they had 6 poorly trained dogs who peed all over the floors. They didn't even ask about getting their deposit back.

I know someone who had to replace the staircase, because the tenants had old, incontinent dogs. They thought it would be enough to change the carpet, but the pee had become ingrained in the wood.

Cats and dogs piss and shit indoors. I know pet owners are used to it but no one else wants it.

I don’t understand why pets are not allowed because of mess/ damage/ smells, when young children are.

Small kids wee/poo/ vomit on carpets and wreck them, as do elderly incontinent people and some disabled people. Yet they aren’t told they can’t have private lets!

There’s also the noise nuisance of babies/ young children to consider, very antisocial and some disabled people make (involuntary) noise.

Also, some people are just so dirty that they never clean and end up with infestations. Nothing to do with animals.

Students often never clean, and have wild parties causing damage- yet they have absolutely no problem getting a private let!

As a LL for many years l used to allow pets as long as the property was suitable, ie a garden for dogs, and work out a deposit large enough to cover the worst case scenario with regards to damage.
This worked well as those unwilling to pay a large extra deposit were usually unsure of their pets behaviour and declined.
Those responsible owners confident of their dog or cat not peeing everywhere or scratching, were more than happy as they knew they would get it returned at the end of the tenancy.

Then shelter fought for the law to change to prevent larger deposits.
So now l cannot afford to take the risk and don't accept pets.

So many ill thought out ideas have backfired in the lettings world over the last 20 years....

@Badbadbunny

All these people who are allergic to animals - what if you buy a house that's had animals in? Or would you not buy a house if it had cats/dogs in at any stage? And how would you know?

Non pet owners can tell virtually immediately due to the smell. It's not just wee/poo smells, but pet food and pet bedding also has a certain smell. It permeates into the soft furnishings, carpets, curtains, etc.

The only time you can't smell it is when the house has been home to a smoker, as stale smoke over-rides most pet smells, but I wouldn't buy a smoker's house either.

I'm also allergic to cats - whether the smell has been hidden by smoking or by candle burning or infusers, within 5 minutes my eyes are stinging, so I know it's home to a cat.

What if the place is unfurnished when you see it?

It isn't always a landlord's choice. We used to let a flat and the lease expressly forbade pets. We're both animal lovers and wouldn't have had a problem with any of our tenants having pets.

We made this clear via the agent to anyone interested in the flat but still had one tenant who asked for permission. We explained again that it was against the leasehold rules for this development and we would be responsible, potentially forfeiting our lease if we made an exception.

Thought no more of it until we were visiting the garage block by the flat (we kept this for storage, not part of the rental agreement) and saw 2 cats sat in the window of the flat...

Fleas. I moved into a property that was infested with fleas because the last tenant had a cat. The LL was not happy because she was only in the house for six months and he had just decorated and put brand new carpets in before she moved in.

Pet owners are blind to their pets faults. People say they're just like kids but last time I checked no one was allergic to babies.

@EntertainingSatan

my house, my rules

People with attitudes like this really shouldn’t be landlords.

lol but it is their house. Feel free to buy your own.

"I don’t understand why pets are not allowed because of mess/ damage/ smells, when young children are." because children are essential to keeping the human race alive and a smelly dog is not.

People pay money to pest control companies to get rid of rats and then bring in guinea pigs, gerbils, cats, dogs on purpose.

My sil’s cats scratched her walls badly and they had to be replastered.

Posters are saying 'my cat, my dog doesn't do that'. That's all well but the LL doesn't know your cat or dog. Its not personal, it's not a hatred towards your car or dog. It's the reality that a high proportion of them cause damage.

I just had a puppy and although never left alone during the say and in one room at night, he's caused some damage already. He's bitten part of the whole next to his bed, the door frame, and done a few POIs and wees when managed to escape upstairs. We don't kind, we'll replace and are accepting that it comes at the price of having a lovely dog, but as a LL I wouldn't be happy to be the one having to pay for it when it's not my dog doing the damage.

@SeasonFinale

Cat pee that should be

Pet owners do become nose blind to smells their pets leave

Yes, but many of us also know that our cat would never, ever pee anywhere other than their litter tray. I had one that used to come in from the garden to use his tray.

Pressed too soon. He even dragged himself to his tray the morning he had a stroke and lost the use of his back legs. I had to hold him upright once he got there but he knew where he had to be.

@LastTrainEast

"I don’t understand why pets are not allowed because of mess/ damage/ smells, when young children are." because children are essential to keeping the human race alive and a smelly dog is not.

People pay money to pest control companies to get rid of rats and then bring in guinea pigs, gerbils, cats, dogs on purpose.

Utter rubbish!

The world is actually overpopulated already!

No one needs to have more children, if our birth rate goes down a lot in the UK, we can just invite more immigrants.

Cats piss is impossible to get rid of. My friend had to literally replace the floors in the house she bought. Just taking out carpets etc was not enough.