All landlords saying no pets?

[Pumpkinx3x]

Hi has anyway able to persuade a landlord into accepting a pet?

My partner and I have been looking for over a month and we have nearly two weeks to move. (Landlord told us we have to leave due to selling) and we have a 9 year old dog. She is literally the size of your hand, isn’t happy and just sleeps all day and yet all ads say no dog?

Has anyone got around this? Offered the deposit as non refundable? Anything? I can’t separate from her. She’s old and been with me all her life. When I took a week holiday she wouldn’t eat and waited by the door the entire time and that was a close family member but I really can’t be homeless. We have a 6 month old.

Any advice?

The house we rent was advertised as no pets, we have a large dog and asked the landlord if it would be ok. She met him and was happy to let us rent with him. She absolutely loves him, pops in just to see him sometimes

I have a couple of friends who are landlords too and they've both let to pet owners, I think it's often the agents standard to say no pets so it's always worth asking as the landlord themselves may be more flexible. Good luck, I hope you find somewhere

Nobody thinks their own pet is a problem, as with the jumping up dogs who are "only being friendly". People don't realise how smelly their pets are, nor how many people are allergic. People don't realise how much their pets are a problem for neighbours.

There is the barking when left alone, which may not be known to owners if the pet can smell or hear them returning, or if they mistake the noise as a greeting, not knowing it has continued since they left.
An unspayed bitch will cause every dog for miles to come and foul the area. All dogs tend to either vomit or have the runs, so even the minority of owners who make an attempt to clean up, do not.
The "friendly" dog which one neighbour likes, will terrify another neighbour who may have brittle bones, or risk of falling, or has an allergic or terrified child.
The cat which is charming to the owner may pick a fight with a neighbouring cat, or may necessitate a cat flap which in turn attracts unspayed local Toms. It may, unknown to the owner, be a slaughterer of cherished neighbouring wildlife. If it allowed out without a collar with a warning bell, it certainly will be.

Few cats can resist scratching furniture and carpets, and none are immune from introducing fleas.

I am in West Midlands and do advertise as no pets but I will allow up to.2 cats providing a professional deep clean on exit in case next tenant has allergy. I allow rabbits in gardens. I don't allow dogs but if very tiny, and won't annoy neighbours, I might provided professional deep clean on exit.

You might have to look for a house that isn’t really up to scratch or is overpriced, OP. If they are struggling to find a tenant, that’s when they might bend the rules.

meh - we had a cat in one of our rented flats a few years ago - we just brought the cat in even though it said no pets

we would hide the cat's bed and stuff for inspections and they never even knew we had a cat! lived there for a few years

it was an unfurnished flat so the cat wasn't on any of their furniture or anything - and the cat never scraped any doors or walls or anything - wasn't that kind of cat- so there was no issues

I know several people who have just signed they don’t have pets, and taken their dogs regardless! Not condoning it, but I know that’s the only way for some. My landlord agreed an increase in rent to cover the dog despite advertising as ‘no pets’ so it is worth asking.

There us Lets with Pets website

@pinkdragons

I stipulated that the person renting my place MUST have a female cat. It's a victorian terrace on a busy city street and mice are guaranteed with no cat. Last thing I needed was mice biting through wires / wood and causing chaos. Luckily my tenant got a beautiful rescue and is very pleased with both property and cat! I wouldn't want dogs. Unfortunately they often leave a smell. I don't think I'd budge on that but it's definitely worth asking.

Why only a female cat?

I rented for a year showed I was a model professional tenant then asked my first landlady who agreed .
I've been incredibly lucky with my second land lady who is a pet lover . I already had a German Shepard. He is the house security guard and the property is more secure for having him .
My landlady actually ended up with 11 puppies (an accident!) and I took one . I've always kept the place immaculate. I said I'd pay for any damage done and if ever , and so far so good . My big dog is getting on a bit but immaculately trained and well behaved. When I was looking for a property last year I asked potential landlords about my gsd and sent a video of how well trained he is . No landlord refused him . I think it's worth asking the question. Dogs don't have to mean damage or a smelly house !

I have 6 dogs, 2 cats and small furries and rent. When I was looking for a place, I wrote a message to send to all the landlords I contacted explaining that I’m a responsible pet owner and why, and offered to pay additional rent for the pets and have new carpets put in when I leave the property. I couldn’t be too picky about the house I was looking for due to the animals but I got lots of viewing offers and eventually one landlord accepted me. I found when I went via an agent it was a flat no, but when I contacted landlords direct (openrent website etc), they were often open to discussions

I second the PP who said try openrent, I used it as a LL and met all prospective tenants.

One asked about a small well behaved dog, I said maybe, bring him to the viewing and lets see.

JFC it was huge, jumping all over me and running all over the house, jumping on beds - no recall at all. Well trained my arse. She also wanted me to rip out the brand new carpet and replace with lino / laminate / tiles to accommodate the bloody thing! Hell no!

Many LLs will be thinking of dogs like that when they say No Pets. But some might be willing to talk to you and meet the dog, you need to bypass agencies to get a chance.

I accept a cat in my places but the tenants haven't asked. I think it's mean not to, particularly in these times.

Where I am, 'no pet' clauses in tenancy agreements are illegal. Would like to see that adopted universally.

PimpleMoose As pp said, it’s often to do with the freehold, especially in flats. Even those who own aren’t allowed animals. Also if building is in a conservation area there are often restrictions on things you wouldn’t normally think about. One area I lived in the front door could only be black, white, natural wood or dark green.

I'm not in the UK, but there is a carve out in our local legislation where the freehold prohibits pets. However, general banning no pets clauses from tenancy agreements has massively increased the options for pet-owning tenants.

We say no dogs because past Tennant let it eat the carpet and scratch all the upv doors. They said a small dog but the neighbours said it was a pit ball!

But the next tenants asked and we said yes. Again they said a small dog and it was a rottweiler. Good knows what a big dog is? Great Dane or horse maybe?

It's worth asking because I'm not anti dog, I'm anti a dog eating my house. We agreed that the deal was that we would retain the right to have the carpets professionally cleaned or replaced at the end of tenancy if that was the fair thing ( dog eats carpet, you replace it, dog poos all over it, you replace it).

The current tenants couldn't cope with the small rotti so re homes it, so no need to incur any costs for them.

But I wouldnt advertise as welcoming dogs, unfortunately the first tenants ruined our trust and we need to see what each individual tennant is like before agreeing now. If they are decent and sensible and respect the house they can do what they like.

Another person saying try Openrent and/or speak to landlord directly - both have worked for us when moving with cats.

We didn't pay an extra deposit but agreed that any cat-related damaged would be sorted - but our landlord is really chilled

We are going to get the curtains replaced (like for like - they're Wilko ones that are always in stock) before we leave because our kitten had a habit of climbing them so now they have tiny puncture wounds in - otherwise no damage to fix, and it'll be cleaned professionally anyway because I think that's good manners.

Im a LL and I accept pets depending on the breed - this is mainly because it's a small property so for example a Lab wouldn't be happy there.

Put simply, offer a an extra pet deposit.

A well trained dog is very unlikely to do anything bad to a house

Very true, but the difficulty here is that hardly anyone will say their pet isn't trained, especially if they're struggling to find a rental
It's not until they move in that problems can become obvious, and by then it's a bit late

When we rented and got a cat, we just didn’t tell the LL. He never knew. Cat was regularly deflead using prescription treatment and was not allowed past the laminated floors upstairs anyway. For inspections I just used to kick her out and hide bed/food bowls.

A dog is different as they yap so it would dob you in with the neighbours but I’m sure if you have a reference from current LL stating the dog hasn’t been a nuisance you could find somewhere. Agree to speak to LL directly. Most agents have a blanket ban. Too many people to let to do they can pick and choose.

[quote Hahaha88]**@Leaannb* and @AuntieMarys* what's your reasoning?[/quote]
Damages....Have you ever had to rip out every floor and cabinet due to cat piss?

Put simply, offer a an extra pet deposit.

This isn't legal anymore.

@CoronaIsShit

When we rented and got a cat, we just didn’t tell the LL. He never knew. Cat was regularly deflead using prescription treatment and was not allowed past the laminated floors upstairs anyway. For inspections I just used to kick her out and hide bed/food bowls.

A dog is different as they yap so it would dob you in with the neighbours but I’m sure if you have a reference from current LL stating the dog hasn’t been a nuisance you could find somewhere. Agree to speak to LL directly. Most agents have a blanket ban. Too many people to let to do they can pick and choose.

If I jad caught you I would have evicted you

I feel like some landlords on here just want the easy money.

People living in houses cause wear and tear regardless of pets or children or not. Sure, some people are really awful and regardless of whether they have animals or DCs or not they will ruin a house. Some adults are worse than any animal.

Despite this I feel there is a tone from some of the landlords on here they want their rent but don't want tenants to actually 'live' in the house!

I'm a landlady and I'd accept an existing pet. Dogs can only really ruin furniture or carpet.
Furniture isn't my responsibility and carpet is covered by deposit 🤷🏼‍♀️

A new puppy is different as they can be destructive but chances are if you've had a dog 9 years it can't be that bad!