landlord and pets - unfair?

[andreaxo]

I rent and have been doing so for the past 7 months (the same house), when I moved in I was pregnant and had 2 rabbits, asked if rabbits could come too, landlord agreed.
I am a good tenant, try not to moan about things unless they become a big issue which so far has been 1 thing (the front door sticking) the landlord sends his son to do repairs as they don't live around here.
A week ago I decided I would like a kitten and did the right thing by asking the agent who then emailed the landlord to ask for permission, I got an email 3 days later saying 'unfortunately the landlord has declined your request, so a no to the cat im afraid' I feel really upset by this, I always Co operate and am more than happy to help them when they need to come round to inspect and ask me to sign things. I've even stained the woodwork in the living room which includes all skirting boards, fire surround and doors (with permission) whilst 8 months pregnant and have made the house look better. The radiator in my bedroom which is quite large does not work no matter how many times I bleed it and I've not complained as didn't want to make a fuss but now he's declined my cat and not even given me a reason I have complained as I have a newborn that sleeps with me and last night had to have 3 blankets on as it was so cold.
I just feel it's unfair he didn't give a reason, didn't offer me the option of paying a higher bond or a new term in the contract - I feel I'm a good tenant which is hard to come by as the house was up for rent months before I rented it as he could not find a tenant and was on the verge of selling the property.

I also rent unfurnished, the only thing that's in the property which belong to him are the carpets (one is out of a bedroom in the living room and blinds) the doors have seen better days and one has a huge crack in it and they have replaced 2 panels with plywood in one door which looked ridiculous until I've stained it and made it look less obvious.
I'm open to anyone's opinions on whether I am being unreasonable etc
Thanks

I am a landlord.
It doesn't matter how amazing a tenant is I would never allow them to have a cat.
They don't need to give you an explanation, as MN says 'no is a complete sentence'.

I have had many tenants ask permission for cats over the years, no amount of extra deposit/rent or cleaning promises has or would ever make me agree to a tenant having a cat.
Getting a cat when you have a newborn is silly anyway.
The radiatior and other things are a separate issue.

And please don't circumvent the agent and speak directly to the owner, they employ the agent for a reason I doubt they would be happy if you bypassed the agent they pay to manage the property.

Yes. How dare the person paying your mortgage off for you speak to you directly? It's almost as though they consider themselves to be your equal or something.

Kiss my ring, peasants!

(Yes., Like that.)

wow seriously yes it's fair to me. I would rather an empty shell of a house I have to put money into so it's to my taste rather than be dictated to on colours I have to stare at for years.

Anyway the council do paint the house neutral colours before they let them out again and we have to leave any improvements we've made like new doors and whatnot. I've spent a fortune on this house trust me.

I did laugh at that cruik in a nutshell really innit

I had a bengal kitten at my last tenancy i kept it as a indoor cat ( ppl may argue its cruel but i was an end semi gardens backs off into apartment car park didnt want it getting run over or stolen) thie meant the cat nevrt had fleas so no posdoble house infestation

That cat was wild with so much energy it could do flips and running for an 1 hr or more without getting tired. but it didnt scratch any woodwork or walls our sofas and rocking chair yes. I gave it a cat tree and from day one it had scratching posts around the house. I think it depends what the animal decides to mark and that is unpredictable, so i can understand the landlords view too. Having said that we would have paid for all damages but some tenants can be difficult and would refuse?

One house we stayed in had claw marks on the hall walls. This was noted at the beginning. we had many inspections over the years that was never questioned.come time to leavr the agent triee to keep deposit over the claw marks..i said thpse marks are too high for my toddler to have done it and i didnt have any pets at the time. I suggedted it was a dogand ive. Never kept dogs in my life. i remember the agent telling me house was a dump before us they had a neighbour who refused to clean rubbish everywhere and a dog, they had to get a court order to remove this tenant. some agencies are just out to makr a quick buck, usually the landlords are fair.

we have contacted our landlords directly bevause they rrwlised agents too slow dealing with us they used to even pop by to have a chat about problems. One landlord was kind enough to help me do the garden there were so msny plants in that garden i didnt know what was weed and her plants lols so she showed me.

I just keep fancy goldfish now the risk is if the tank decides to spontaneously crack but thats very rare. i wouldnt keep a large tank if i were in a flat maybe a small one. In flats its more limiting unless its ground floor. i dont think id sell my fish tank for a tenancy only the need for money would make me sell my tank, or ill health

OP - you should keep a note of when you have contacted the agents about the radiator and, if possible, put it in writing. There is nothing wrong with contacting the landlord if the agent doesn't come back to you. The landlord would want to know if their agents weren't doing what they are paid to do.

It is the same when you go on holiday

eg
Some hotels or cottages to rent allow "well behaved pets" some do not
Any damage caused will be charged

Some people are allergic to animals

I agree if you wish to have a cat, find a new sympathetic land lord

It may cost you extra to rent

Yy. Being forbidden from keeping a family pet in your family home is exactly the same as not being able to take Fido on holiday and putting him in the kennels for a fortnight instead.

Ffs. I've had farts that made more sense than that.

Wow just been reading the replies and some people are so rude!

I contact the agent via email mostly so have everything in writing, seeing some of these posts makes me realise that most landlords sit on their high horse and obviously consider themselves better than the tenants, sad really.

I've let my tenants get 3 house kittens. Oh and paint the house.

The way I see it is getting new tenants is a pain, they pay on time and are nice enough so want them to stay. They will find it hard to get someone else to take 3 house kittens!

'Most' landlords, based on this MN thread ? Is that because a lot have said they don't allow pets? I was a landlord who wanted the tenants to make the house their home and was happy for them to decorate to their tastes. Their cats damaged the decor and the kitchen. Once bitten...

I think that the majority of landlords want their tenants to be happy living in their property and they want them to stay. They are not on their high horse. Neither do they want to be taken for a ride by someone who is/becomes the tenant from hell. A minority of tenants who don't look after the places they rent properly make things more difficult for other tenants as landlords don't want a repeat of pet damage, crap or unique decorating, etc.

"most landlords sit on their high horse and obviously consider themselves better than the tenants"

Not at all, it is a business, we provide a valuable service/product.

How is it sitting on a high horse to want to ensure that our property remains in good condition?

Even the best behaved, 100% trained pets cause damage and have accidents that can cost £££'s if not more to fix, if they can be fixed.
There is also the allergy issue and impact it could have on future tenants.

IMO pets are a luxury not an essential or a right.
it is not unreasonable to want to own a pet but it is unreasonable to think that it's unfair that you are not allowed to keep one in someone else's property just because you want to.

We once had a very destructive rescue dog. He ripped up clothes, shoes, damaged curtains and furniture before we got him help, he was trained out of it. He never touched the fabric of the house (which we owned) so as we don't furnish our property, perhaps we just don't see the damage that's done. But I know for certain that not all animals are destructive, so we will continue to let to people with pets. We have pets so understand how people feel about them.
As for decorating tbh I'm happy when they do as it saves us the job and again it's their home. We do check the colours, but have never had requests for black or other ridiculous colours. So we've just let them get on with it. It's a nice house but it's not our home and never has been, so we're not attached to it at all. It's an investment (pension). But we do want people to be as happy as possible while living in it as we want long tenancies.

Another LL here who allowed a cat once. Never again. The damage and the smell were awful. Had to recarpet the whole place.

I'm not saying this because my landlord won't allow me a cat, I understand his choice.
If you read through the posts there are some quite rude landlords who have posted, but then there are some who seem lovely, I guess it's pot luck as to which you end up with.

note to self for next tenant check in - to find out their MN username. There are quite a few on here who would clearly be liars, frauds, and non-payers. All because they think they have a right to free property.

one particular hard-of-thinking person springs to mind as soon as the name comes up. If you have a mortgage, where do you think your payment goes to?

clue; a bank or similar organisation, who uses it to pay others to pay their mortgages.

life isn't free, sweetybumps. Do learn to cope.

Some tenants have a particular bile reserved for landlords, all landlords, and not based on their own experience either. If you are a landlord, you just cannot win here on MN: owning a property which someone rents from you means you are in league with the devil.

I'll get flamed for this but DP and I have our cats even though our LL said no. I said before we moved into the flat that I have a disability which having pets really helps me with, and he said that would be ok if we paid an extra deposit, which we were fine with. Then he did a u-turn and no amount of begging would change his mind.

I don't give a shit to be honest, my girls are good as gold and don't piss on the floor, don't scratch at the doors and every single item of furniture in that flat belongs to us, so I don't really see his problem. In any case we paid an extortionate deposit which, if he ever finds out, he's more than welcome to keep. I would rather have my cats. We move into our own house in May next year so that will be that!

Op, this seems to turned into a landlord/ tenant bashing thread. Just to say that you seem very reasonable, and you get the radiator sorted quickly. Hope you are able to get a cat in the future!

I think the problem is that in the excitement of owning a cat, people can underestimate the cost of repair for the damage that a cat can cause. When a tenant moves in to my house I make sure that its spotless and clean, I also fix and replace anything immediately, I don't use an agent and like to develop a relationship that puts our tenants at ease.

A few years ago we had a couple who we completely trusted and let them have a cat. They agreed they would repair any damage. However when they were moving on they refused to pay when they saw the costs.

They then threatened to take us to court. We sent them an itemised list with pictures outlaying all the damage done. The damage to carpets (which would have to be replaced in full), scuffs, stains, a poorly mended cat flap, and other things I can't remember now. They became very angry and rude to us. So in the end we told them to take us to court. We weren't being out of order and were sticking to the terms they accepted when they got the cat. We then sent them a list of what they could be charge if we were being pedantic, also so they could see that we were being fair.

In the end they paid but were upset with us, they really hadn't considered the cost of the damage. It can easily outstrip your deposit.

So we decided then that we would let tenants have pets from this point because we couldn't trust if they would really want to pay for the damage when they realise how much it can actually add up to.

Would 'not' let tenants have pets

Oh, God, it's turned into LLs vs tenants again.

Why do people have to make this relationship so personal? People keep writing themselves imaginary contracts, such as OP's "I've been so good by making all these repairs and decorating yourself, and martyring myself about the non-working radiator, so I deserve the payback of being allowed a cat."

It just doesn't work like that. You've let the agents or LL get out of their contractual requirement to sort out the basics: heat (radiator and front door) and security (door). Yet they (the agents presumably acting for the LL) still hold the contractual right to refuse you permission for a cat.

You are pissed off and don't feel at home, but that's not just because you aren't allowed a cat; it's because you don't feel you're allowed to complain about something basic, which is the position of a child. That's enormous grounds for resentment!

You can and should be assertive about the basics, and then perhaps you will feel less resentful about the other restrictions, or feel more confident about challenging those, too.

In the time scale of a week, you decided to get a kitten, put down a deposit on a pretty one, and moved it into your mum's because you didn't have permission?
I'm not surprised that your landlord wouldn't agree. You sound pretty irresponsible.

Getting a pet shouldn't be a spur of the moment decision. It should be thought about.

OP, if you're so concerned about the number of cats ending up in rescue centres, why did you pay a breeder for a kitten rather than get a rescue cat?