To think renting as single mum is horrific

[Blueysmum12]

My bff is a single mum to two young boys. She works in a nursery and gets universal credits. She has a small dog who she got when she split with her husband and is her baby.

she’s lived in the same house for 6 years, rent paid every month on time etc.

the owner is selling their house and obviously she has to move. Between us we have rang 40 properties in this town and surrounding villages. Not one will accept her because she’s either on in universal credits and she has a dog.

the council rang today and said they suggest she takes anything and rehomes her dog because they will put her in a bnb for around 8 months.

I would have her dog, but I have a cat and a dog and 3 kids already, my husband isn’t keen.

I feel so bad for her. She’s lost weight, she looks an anxious mess.

:(

Renting in the UK is truly awful; I rented for years, and spent most of them being looked down on as a second class citizen at best, despite earning more than enough for mortgage repayments; but since there was no BOMAD in my life (parents both dead and had no money anyway), it was impossible to save up enough of a deposit before houses went sky high again.

If you rent, you're not supposed to have children/animals/a life* according to most people who've never had to live at the whim of the markets - you should live on bread and water and never go out, and be grateful the nice landlord has given you a roof. Don't you know they could get hundreds of thousands more for it if they turned it into an AirBnB????

In other parts of the continent known as Europe (to which, geographically, we still belong, I believe...), this isn't the case, and renters have far better protection.

I have been waiting for house prices to drop so deposits could be affordable again for most of my adult life; I'm now too old to qualify for a mortgage. (Though thankfully we do have a tiny flat between the two of us now.)

*delete as appropriate

Definitely harder ime as a single Mum. One agency told me outright the landlord of one only wanted a two parent family. Made hundreds of calls and took 9 months for me following separation from my exH. Thankfully my Mum allowed me and children to stay with her whilst we found something suitable.

Pets generally only cause damage in the wrong hands, such as not being walked, looked after properly or let out enough.
We allow pets in our rental but always meet the prospective tenants.
Insurance are sticklers about benefits which is crazy, especially now when many people also work.

Completely untrue. Some families live in shared accommodation for years. The council just needs to demonstrate there are no other current options.

Also not true that anyone has to accept an emotional support animal. Especially landlords.

@QuietQuietBang what do you need a second home for?

Although my children have nagged me more or less every day since they were born, and I personally would really like a pet, this is exactly why I do not have a cat or a dog (or other pet). It was the same before I was married / had children. If you had a pet of any sort but especially cat/dog, then landlords were not keen and/or outright refused you. Nothing has changed. Not saying this is right, just saying I am not surprised.

There needs to be rent caps- especially in London.

It's disgusting how high rents are.

So many unsympathetic, unkind posts on this thread, probably from the same ilk who urge women to LTB coz your kids should have a happy mum.

The OP's friend is in a very hard situation, I doubt that 'getting rid of the dog' will improve it significantly if there is a shortage of homes to rent in her area; there are so many 'better' tenants, 2 incomes, no children, larger income, upfront rent, etc. It's horrible how people want them to loose the dog, god forbid they had a little joy in their life!

For those who don't believe what the estate agent said or think it doesn't work like this: this moron was just repeating his own advice to his LLs clients.

You would think that someone at some point will see that a single mum with a job is a low risk, reliable tenant.
Perhaps diversify your search; post notes in village halls, local shops, churches, and talk with anyone who might know someone who knows someone?
Oh and by the way, you're a great friend @Blueysmum12

Still, its a red flag if the landlord mentions witholding deposit and charging you damage, just for your protection may be worth booking time with a charity like citizens advice or shelter to give your agreement the once over.

When you write, we've been actively working to improve the condition of the place while we're living here, that's another big red flag to me. You want to make sure all 'improvements' are agreed with landlord, who pays and have some sort of written record , an email at least. I'd tell anyone renting, never rely on verbal agreements with a landlord, you are a paying client and renting is a business.

Wow. Seriously.
What an awful and judgemental thing to say.

Did I say need? Apologies then, it’s not a need.

Like many people we have additional homes here and overseas as a choice, not a need.

I agree. Lie about the dog! I’m a LL renting out my property as I’m currently living for free in a family home and am extremely lucky as otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford my property myself anymore. I’d love to have rented to someone like you’d friend to help them out understanding how difficult it is especially with the dog. My dog is like my child and years ago was in a difficult position and refused to give her up. All worked out well luckily and thankfully. But as a LL by accident I know how I cannot afford to pay for damage to property or any lost rent so had to choose the most likely tenants to prevent this. I felt awful knowing how desperate people were to rent and wish I couldn’t helped everyone but realistically I’m in a precarious situation myself and being a LL now is so difficult and barely worth it. It’s been made so difficult that many I know are selling up.
If your friend didn’t mention the dog and got a place then moved dog in, then she’d have to be so careful to make sure the property was looked after and not damaged and that dog wasn’t being noisy etc so neighbours complain. I know it’s not ideal but I would do that because my dog means the world to me and is my responsibility to love and care for. Sometimes you just have to do what you’ve got to do and if she’d been in the property for some time and had maintained property well then as a LL I would over look the ‘lie’ and accept I didn’t even know the dog was there and do therefore not a problem. Life is tough and you’ve got to do whatever you can to stay afloat.
8 months is very quick for rehoming though? I hope everything works out eventually for her and you’re a good friend for seeking advice on her behalf!

It’s not a good idea to get a pet if you are relying on renting. It sucks but there it is. It means many properties won’t be available to her.

OK, so imagine that’s brought in, and as a result me and thousands of others stop renting out our London properties, how does that help anyone?

The net result will be fewer properties available for rent, the remaining landlords being inundated with potential tenants, and them being even more picky when it comes to who they rent to.

Most rentals don't accept dogs, rightly so, we bought our house from a dog owner and had to gut the place to get rid of the smell, the garden had to be dug up, decking removed (dog had peed on it and it was rotten) lawn relaid for similar reasons. I could go on the amount it cost us. If I ever owned a rental there'd 100%be no dogs. As for not accepting housing benefit/single income that's just making sure they get their rent. We needed 2 people on our mortgage to pass the affordability, it is affordable on 1 wage but they cover their backs. I guess she gets rid of the dog and gets on the council waiting list?

I do feel for your friend. The private rental sector is insane, we just went through being section 21 evicted two months ago and it was hair raising and stressful securing a much smaller new home for £200/mo more…in a less desirable area. It is shit right now. Also on benefits, disability ones and DH is employed 30hrs/wk due to being my carer. And a teen DC! So not the best profile. We were rejected for dozens of places before we found this one and that was mostly luck. Even so, felt we couldn’t complain. I have a severe dog allergy and while the carpets were professionally cleaned by the landlord, it didn’t do the job. So bit the bullet and had carpets replaced charged on the credit card…now paid half way down but had no choice as couldn’t live in here otherwise and actually it’s nice for once having new carpet. Been used to threadbare old tatty stuff for years now since my accident and descent into “genteel poverty” lol

All I can say is try getting the dog fostered. She might get lucky & find a place. If not, then can always look at rehoming for the dogs sake down the line.

I know council housing or a housing association is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but it really depends where you are as to how realistic that option is. No chance of that here, you’d still be waiting once the kids are grown and gone and that would then bump you off the list.

Families have been in b&bs since the start of covid near me. This is why it infuriates me when people advice tenants to get themselves evicted and say the council will accommodate them. Yes in b&bs for years. No cooking facilities, children sharing with parents. Never lose your private rental if you can help it. Never leave your landlord on bad terms. If you do you will never rent privately again ever. And you will be in b&b for years. Not relevant in ops case I know. Can your current ll advise? Recommend you to another landlord possibly?

I appreciate that your friend does not have very much money but could she perhaps offer a nominal amount as pet rent to cover the dog?

She is in a difficult situation and it is so much more difficult now with such a lack of social housing.

My very well cared for and well loved cat got old and poorly and weed on the carpet a lot in the last few months of his life. He was PTS a year ago, we’ve taken that section of carpet and underlay up and replaced it, sanded the floorboards and sometimes I still get a whiff of piss in that area. I own my home but if I rented I wouldn’t blame the landlord for refusing to take cats in future.

We happily rent to people on benefits. One of our tenants is a single mum with 3 kids on benefits and she is a great tenant. However, I'd be less keen on renting to a dog owner especially in a carpeted property rather than one with hard floor and rugs.

It is more difficult to rent as a single mum!! I was told by my local letting agents when enquiring for a property that ‘the landlady only wants to rent the house to a nice family’ I did manage to rent it in the end but only by paying 12 months upfront! I also had to give my dcat away to family only to be told later down the line that the previous tenants had a dog 😡

How much though? I had over £10,000 of damage caused by my previous tenants dog, which is a hell of a lot of extra rent on a standard tenancy agreement.

Sometimes but not often. Councils do lie to our people off,
i would advise her friend not to believe everything the council say to her about wait times.
I was in temporary accomodatoon myself- the council moved me 100 miles away into a house share (on my own with a baby, sharing a house with 2 men who had been moved there straight from prison) so I have experienced this but after complaining to my local MP we were moved straight away, the block of temporary accommodation flats was half empty when I got there and the HA who ran them were annoyed because the LA kept moving people to ridiculous places and not using the proper temporary accommodation, because they thought it would 'encourage' people to find privately rented accommodation.

I’m sorry your cat has gone.

Ours went through a period of pissing on the wooden floorboards in our lounge, and getting that back to even vaguely “OK” was one hell of a job that took months. Sanding, oiling, ozone treatments, and a lot of elbow grease.