Renting a property with a pet?

[lfla78]

My family and I are hoping to relocate to Yorkshire and thought it would be a good idea to rent for the first year before selling our house in London to check that we definitely want to make the move. We found a rental property on a local estate agents website that we thought could work well for us however on emailing the estate agent it seems that the owner does not wish to consider tenants with pets - we have a cockapoo who doesn't shed and is groomed regularly. I'm now concerned that this will be the case for the majority of rentals (and the area we are looking to move to doesn't have a huge number of rental options as it is!).. Anyone any advice on how best to tackle this? Is it usual to have a problem finding a rental that will take a dog? We would be looking for a 3/4 bed house with garden so suitable for a pet. TIA x

I’m a LL and always allow pets (and kids and those on benefits) as I’ve found the vast majority don’t. I know of other LL who normally don’t but have in the past when tenant has offered extra £ either a lump sum or monthly. Good luck.

I've rented with a dog before now. It's really difficult to find anywhere - over 95% of properties won't take you. I lived with significant damp for 4 years because I had no other options. Some landlords will also be put off by your children, especially if they're young enough to spread grime everywhere.

Those that take pets will often do so because they want a very long term, multi year, tenant. You only wanting to stay for a year removes that benefit.

There's also an acute rental crisis at the moment and landlords are able to pick and choose between multiple good prospective tenants.

All I can really say is good luck.

I find it’s the estate agents that are often the problem. My friend rents her property out and the estate agent was against having pets, she was happy.

Perhaps join a local Facebook page in the area and say you want to rent with a well behaved pet etc - you might find help that way.

A few years ago the Government, in a bid to increase renters rights, banned pet deposits. So now landlords have to accept the risk the pet will damage the property (scratching, fleas, toileting accidents etc). While regulations state they have to consider tenants with pets, they are within their rights to chose non pets over pets.

Basically... you know your pet is good. The landlord doesn't. They have to make the best business decision.

The rental market is harsh currently.

They haven't banned pet deposits, they've capped the maximum deposit at 5 weeks rent in England under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

I thought landlords had to have a valid reason to not except pets, ie, no garden etc??
We've been turned down before because we had young children.
Been living in out current house for 14 years, have a dog now and literally cannot move if we wanted to as everywhere I've looked (we are wanting to relocate completely) lots say no pets and many also no children.

No. There's a new model contract which is a template tenancy agreement but it's not compulsory to use it.

There has been a lot of wishful thinking and misinformation around this.

Unfortunately landlords can still refuse pets for any reason or none at all.

You can only ask the landlord if they’d consider your dog and offer a pet deposit. In the past I had success with a ‘strictly no pets’ by reaching out and explaining my situation.

We moved from south to Yorkshire and ended up in rented. Had to settle for a pretty crappy house to find someone who would allow a cat.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Looks like its not going to be as 'easy' as we thought! I guess offering above the advertised monthly rent could be an option or good idea @Honeyroar to ask in the local FB groups, Im already a member of some x