AIBU to be so annoyed about this.

[TeaAndTattoos]

I will try and keep this as brief as possible. My DH and I are looking for a new house to rent I found a 2 bedroom flat the advert said pets allowed when I messaged I asked about pets just to clarify that they are definitely allowed the landlord said yes I told him what pets we have 3 cats and a very small Jack Russell I don’t work I’m a career for my parents so the dog is always with me landlord again said fine I arranged a viewing. We went to the viewing I reminded him again about the pets he said absolutely fine. I’ve just checked my emails now and the landlord has declined our application because of the pets. Why say they were fine and let me waste my time viewing the property if he knew that he would never accept us because of them. Why are private landlords such twats.

There was one that I applied for and I had made an appointment to go and view it and it was marked as let agreed before we had chance to even view it. I hope she doesn’t start barking when she gets older but I know my parents 15 year old Jack Russell barked something terrible when she was younger now she’s blind and deaf and does nothing but sleep all day. I honestly think my dog believes she’s a cat because she jumps on your back as soon as you walk through a door and if your sat down she has to sit on your shoulders like the cats do.

We specifically said we wanted long term on all of our applications... Viewed one and decided to apply. The tenancy was for a year only while the family were out the country. What a waste of everyone's time..

I’ve had loads of places say no to us that’s not my issue it’s the fact that all the way along he said yes that’s fine and then used it as his reason to say no to I would’ve preferred if he had just been upfront when I first enquired about the flat. Thank you I hope we do too but I’ve been searching since October and so far we haven’t managed to find anywhere.

But you would be upfront about that not string someone along and let them go to a viewing and say yes it’s absolutely fine and then turn round and say I’m denying your application because of the pets.

Did you take your Jack Russell to the viewing?

Is everyone missing the fact that OP told the landlord what pets they have, and at that point he could have said no rather than saying it was fine and then rejecting the? He knew what pets OP had from the start

I’ve not worked for the last 8 years we have been in our current rental 6 years and we don’t use more than £150 a month on gas electric and water and I’m out the house from early in the morning until 11pm 7 days a week taking care of my parents and the dog goes with me. Thank you I’m fast losing hope that we will find anywhere and we are desperate to find somewhere else.

I’m guessing he could pick and choose who he accepted and it’s less hassle to have someone who doesn’t have animals.

It comes down to the difference between agreeing in principle and final agreement. Or like a job offer subject to references etc...

I’m just annoyed I’m sure there are some lovely landlords out there I just have yet to find one. No I don’t have any other way to contact him other than through OpenRent which won’t allow me to message him because he’s denied our application. It was all in writing through our messages on OpenRent which I still have access to.

To have so many pets as a renter was never really the wisest idea

But the time to tell me sorry no pets was when I first enquired about the flat not after arranging a viewing with me and telling me yes they are fine only to turn round and decide that they aren’t fine at all. That was a waste of my time and that was time that could’ve been spent helping my parents rather than doing a viewing for a flat that he had no intention of ever letting us have.

It's a landlords market at the moment. Round us there are 60/70 people chasing every rental.

Anyone with pets (even with just the 1) are constantly looking for rentals. You have a lot of pets, which unfortunately makes you less desirable as a tennant. I have a friend who has been looking for close to 2 years for her, DC and her dog, and has viewed nearly 100 properties in that time, she views properties that say pets considered or have said yes to pets to be told she's missed out because of her pet. Unfortunately with the banning of pet bonds, renting with pets has become incredibly difficult. No matter how well behaved your pet is, there are other people with pets who not well behaved. Some pets are destructive, some are allowed to bark for hours on end, some people do not clean up after their pets leaving all their waste all over a shared garden or the inside of the home for weeks on end. When you have 10+ applications for your property and 5 do not have pets, then landlords may be more inclined to go for the ones with no pets first, same goes for DC.

Did the flat have outside space directly accessible? I know one property my friend looked at had a shared garden but not directly accessible - she would have to go downstairs, round the back through the gate.

Thank you I guess we will just have to keep looking and hopefully we will find somewhere we are going to keep saving up money to give us a better chance of getting somewhere better. Unfortunately our landlord isn’t the best so I wouldn’t even bother asking him for a reference we’ve been here 6 years and we’ve never signed a tenancy agreement and we’ve had half a ceiling in the toilet for 3 years because it fell in due to a leak in the upstairs flat he knows about it he just doesn’t care enough to want to fix it.

I wasn’t sure if she said ‘I have pets’ or if she specified 3 cats and a dog, because, in my defence, full stops are sparse in the OP so it wasn’t entirely clear to me.

Absolutely. @Schoolregret do you ask for proof of their contraceptive situation?

Thank you finally someone understands I think everyone is completely missing that point and that’s what has annoyed me not the fact that he said no to the pets but the fact that all the way along I was told they where fine and then suddenly it wasn’t he should’ve just been honest from the beginning.

The pets were likely an excuse to turn you down unfortunately

In my first message to him I asked about pets he said fine but depending on what you had. My next message to him I told him great we have 3 cats and a dog he said that’s fine when we would you like a viewing. Arranged an appointment for the viewing went to it I reminded him face to face about the pets and he said oh yes I remember talking to you asked more questions said we fit all of his criteria and he would be in touch after Christmas. He emailed me the morning and told me sorry your application has been denied because of the pets that he knew about all along. Was that enough full stops.

And that’s absolutely fine but tell me that when I first enquired not after I’ve been strung along with yes that’s fine not a problem and then decide that actually yes that is a problem.

There was a little bit of outside space but you had to go round to the front to access it but it was next door to a park so there was somewhere that we could take the dog to.

Yes, I get that now, op. As I said, I hope you find somewhere. I’m a big jack russell fan!

Yes, it is annoying. I'd guess there's something else in your application that the landlord isn't comfortable with but they prefer to use the pets as an excuse. I doubt they'd have let you view knowing it was going to be a no as it's not just your time they'd have wasted.

Perhaps he said yes that’s fine to pets. Then he had loads of applications from non pet owners and changed his mind. Decided to rent to one of them instead.

Don't live in the UK but in a major European city. Property is let by an agency who vet potential candidates. It's not uncommon. My leases are for one year only which if I chose to extend its entirely at my discretion. Tenants are well aware of this.