New landlord, new contract

[GreenCat44]

I've have been renting the same house for 15 years and it's recently been bought by new owners.

They emailed me a new contract to sign, it's only a 3 month contract and also has a clause that says no pets allowed (I have cats).
I'm pretty sure they're going to kick me out so they can do the place up and re rent it for more money.
Can they do this? What will happen if I sign a contract that says no pets but I have pets?
I'm trying not to panic because I can't afford to move and I have cats!

Don't enter into a new contract. The only thing they can do is issue a s21 which currently has a 6 m notice period. I don't want to worry you but this may be their intention anyway (which you seem to suspect yourself). Just sit tight. There is absolutely no advantage to you to sign a new agreement and I would strongly advise that you do not. The last tenancy agreement you signed, if the fixed term expired, rolls over into either a contractual periodic tenancy on the same terms, or a statutory period tenancy also on the same terms, although if the fixed term has expired they can increase the rent.

Thank you for the advice. Think part of the problem is my old landlord was a little old man who rented the houses out himself and my contract doesn't have a time frame on it.
Guess I'm spending the next couple of months looking for somewhere that'll rent to someone with cats!

Yes, that would be the prudent thing to do because if you’re correct about this new landlord, you will eventually need to move.

Please be aware that if a place allows pets, they would be looking at “usual” number of pets, I.e. one or two. So if you have more cats than that, you may need to reconsider all your options.

I do tell people I'm a mad cat lady but there are only 2 of them.
Thank you

I agree probably best to look for somewhere else. If you make things difficult it can impact your ability to rent in the future

If you sign the 3 month contract they then have to honour that then serve you the 6 months . They gives you 9 months . I'm f you don't sign it my guess is they'll issue you with the 6 months notice . I'd sign it . X

Yeah I've been thinking about it today and at least if I sign I'm still at my current rent for a bit while I look for somewhere else. Also don't want to rock the boat just in case!

Thank you helpful mumsnetters

You know you can negotiate the contract? It’s not always a sign it or reject it outright choice. I’d personally first try contacting them and requesting a contract term that you want (ie 1yr , 2yr, etc) and asking for the pet clause to be amended to allow 2 cats.

This you OP?

Don't sign the contract. You will be breach of contract the moment you sign it . . .

Don’t sign it!

I imagine that your current landlord hasn’t completed the necessary steps to make any s21 notice legal.

Please please educate yourselves on what they must have in place before they can issue a legal s21. If some things haven’t been done, they are never able to issue a s21 so all they can do is increase the rent slowly. Obviously at some point this becomes unviable, but nowhere like within the next 9 months!

Wow, whatever you do don't sign a contract that says 'no pets' when you have pets. Take some proper advice on how to deal with this - it sounds like you're going to be house hunting but try to get it on your terms.

There is a lot more information here;
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5180214/tenancies-in-eng-wales-guides-for-landlords-and-tenants/p1

There are specific grounds that a s21 can be served and it must be valid. No gas certificate? It’s not valid.

Additionally, whilst an application to the court can be made for possession after 6 months, as of today, there are no spaces until August 2021.

Clue yourself up today, and keep your tinder dry; if they haven’t got grounds to serve a valid s21, there’s no point drawing their attention to it until they file at court for possession and on the court paperwork you simply state “xx not provided”.

AnotherDelphinium has it spot on x take this advice and start saving and looking xxx

Also pay careful attention to your deposit. Was it passed? Is it protected?