To wonder what to do about dogs and renting?

[rentalhead]

We are in a desperate situation and need to move asap due to being evicted. 2.4 family and professionals. Looking at unfurnished houses with hard floors and gardens and despite offering to cover any possible damage we have been passed over for 6 houses that we've offered on due to two dogs who are about as good as it gets. Not noisy or scratchers or anything. I am at wits end with what to do as there is so little on market and LLs. What would you do or offer to placate a landlord who was concerned? I'm really getting worried we will have to rehome them or something. I can't even imagine doing this but I am desperate to get a roof over our heads.

This is really awful to say and will go down like a cup of cold sick I’m sure, but your primary responsibility is to your children. I’ve been a dog owner my entire life (until my ex and I separated and I had to go into rented accommodation with our child, and had to leave the dog behind with ex)- and adore dogs- but they are dogs. Not people. And if push comes to shove, the people have to come first.

I know that rehoming the dogs even temporarily will be traumatic for the kids - I was devastated to leave our dog with my ex- but it won’t traumatize your kids as much as being homeless. I experienced homelessness as a child and I’ve never really got over it.

This is what worries me when I have to go into a rental (Divorced, my property equity is to be split with ex, but not enough to buy my own place in London). My cat is 8 years old and doesn't go out, she's a house cat, but I hear stories of tearful families having to give up their pets & its devastating. I don't know how I could stand it. My cat's favourite hooman is my daughter, and they are a team. It's constantly at the back of my mind.

We had someone do that. We suspected they’d got a dog and when they left it as confirmed. They’d ripped up the p soaked carpets and all skirting boards and doors had been chewed. It cost thousands to put right sadly. It’s the few that ruin it for the many.

Sorry to say but the dog free family will always win out over the dog family. It's crap but it's life, why take the risk from a landlord point of view when there's so much competition for properties

I found a landlord via Open Rent who let me bring my cat. But I ended up in a much more expensive place (that is not nicer) due to this!

I've got dogs and they have never ripped of the skirting or chewed doors, as soon as I bought a house I bought dogs. One slightly chewed a trainer as in I stopped them with straight away, and gave them something appropriate to chew.
Where are people finding these door chewing dogs?!

Oh I'm so sorry, how worrying for you. I've seen a couple of Facebook Groups Renting with dogs Uk etc - might be worth checking?

If I was a landlord and my tenants lied about having dogs I would be pretty pissed off and looking to get them out as soon as I could. It was at least better when landlords could take extra deposit against pet damage but now they can't, so I don't blame them for not wanting pets. I'm no fan of landlords in general but I do think they should have the right to choose who lives in their property. Damage caused by pets can far far outweigh the deposit held.

Try properties on national trust land. Try farm properties. Try tempting holiday cottages in rural locations with a permanent income.
I feel your pain op. Two dogs, two cats, two children. If we lost our current rental place we'd be stuffed.

What do you want more - somewhere to live, or to have pet dogs?

"Damage caused by pets can far far outweigh the deposit held."
What about damage done by children? What about damage done by feckless adults?

I don't know many kids to continously piss in the same place or chew through walls or doors. Leave a lingering smell in carpets.

Not the ops, but some do not care what damage their pets or kids cause

There was a thing about exactly this on Radio 4 You & Yours earlier this week.

The new law will state that landlords cannot "reasonably" refuse people having a pet, which is very woolly and undefined. However they can refuse if they have a reason. So that's clear as mud, then.

Lying is a risk as the pet agreement would be in writing, so you would be risking a lease breach and eviction.

However - there was talk of tenants taking out special insurance covering any pet-related damage - which would go a long way to putting landlord's minds at rest and being a good persuasive / responsible solution.

I also saw somewhere a while ago that a lady had created a CV/resumé for her cat with a photograph, name, d.o.b., special skills, previous achievements and what qualities they would bring to the landlord's home. It was hilarious and she was pretty certain it helped her rental application (which was accepted, with the cat).

All you can do is offer more money in both deposit and rent. Any landlord is going to worry about extra expense that could come from tenants having a dog, so the only way to address that problem is with more money.

There's people who pile up dirty nappies, leave urine soaked mattresses let their kids climb up door frames, scratch walls the list goes on. I tried to give the op some advice speak to salvation Army shelter etc
By the way the renters who turned my friends property into a grow house and ripped out most the internal structure and used the floor as a toilet, didn't have a dog

LLs can't legally take more than 5 weeks rent in deposit for annual rents up to £50k

Very sorry your in this position op. I know it's still difficult, but maybe consider putting the dogs in foster care, even if it's a short time, until you get settled into a new place.

This is the problem. Of course I would ban pets if I was a ll. There is less risk. Of course I wouldn't trust tenants who lied and hid a pet, I would want them out as I wouldn't trust them. The system doesn't work. There should be simple insurance policies for tenants to share, covering pet damage.

Really sad to see a few people saying to give up your dogs. Pets are family. It would be awful for you, who can see the (unfair) rationality in it all, but yours dogs will just feel abandoned, and dogs do feel the affects of that.

All I could suggest is to advertise on things like Gumtree etc. A lot of small scale landlords (as in they just have the one or two properties) tend to be more lenient with tenants. One of my old ones had us sign a tenancy agreement saying no pets... but we asked if we could have a cat and she was fine with it. She pulled the tenancy agreement off the internet, so it was a standard one.

Wow, you're all heart aren't you?

I could no more give up my dog than I could one of my children and yes I 100% mean that.

OP, we've rented 3 times now with dogs. It can be done. Keep looking, something will come up. You might have been served a S21 but if you don't have anywhere to go when it's up then you can't move out. Simple as that. You can't be on the streets! Yes the LL would then have to take you to court to get you out but that can take months.

This is terrible advice. You should never move in somewhere with a pet if pets are not allowed. You WILL be found out and evicted. If it’s a flat, other residents will hear/see the dog and complain to the LL. plus many/most blocks of flats have a restrictive covenant on the head lease barring animals, so your LL would be in breach of the lease if you were to do that, and they could face legal consequences. If it’s a house, the LL is still likely to find out at some point. The issue is not even just noise, damage, fouling the garden, nuisance,, but the added insurance risk of a dog causing a hazard.

Op have you got a current gas safety certificate? A section 21 isn't legal without one..