Renting out house - tenant has 2 big dogs

[FeeFee382]

I'm going to be renting out our house for a long let.

The house has been completely refurbished - new carpets etc.

The tenant has 2 large dogs but seems a good tenant with good references.

Would you be happy to have the dogs?

Should I put anything in the contract?

Tia

@honeybee nooooo to cats! I'm highly allergic!

@FeeFee382 to get a better choice of tenants.

Please don’t turn them down, it’s very hard to rent with pets, if they are re paying that amount of rent I’m sure they’ll be responsible. I work in rescue and too many are having to give up their loved pets due to LL refusing pets.

It's only been on for 1 week. I'm not dropping rent... @Reginabambina

Labour didn't get elected and so it is not illegal to say 'no pets'.
If a prospective tenant is disabled and has a guide dog/ assistance dog then it would be disability discrimination to say "no pets".
Although not illegal, some clauses in contracts could come under the "fair clauses" leglislation if you are too restrictive.
The article below is fairly informative and has the advantages and disadvantages of this type of tenant landlordlaw.co.uk/member_article/letting-to-tenants-with-pets/

No never. The extra wear and tear is horrendous.

FFS, MN hard of reading and knee jerk (emphasis on the 'jerk') combined.

As I said, discrimination applies to humans. An assistance dog is a working animal, not a pointless shitting barking biting waste of resources as so many people keep near me. So yes, of course you can't discriminate against a tenant with an assistance dog. But then they are well trained so no problem, same as no problem when they go into public buildings.

more landlords would take pets if higher deposits could be charged and wreckers could be evicted more quickly. Go blubber to Shelter who work very hard to stop both of these things. And have never provided any shelter to anyone.

Usually I would say don’t do it but a retired couple with excellent references?
I would consider it

If it's only been on a week you'd be daft to take these dogs. I would have rented to dog owners before when we could charge a higher deposit but not any more. It's increased risk with absolutely no return.

@mencken

not a pointless shitting barking biting waste of resources
aren’t you a delight.

I'm sorry, but it's not discrimination. We've said no pets and not keen on children either.

We have 2 kids!

@catndogslife

I think my biggest concern that the style of property isn't right for 2 dogs. Especially with a garden. It's not very big!

I wouldn't.
Too much of a dog smell to clean away at the end.

@FeeFee382 ooooh, I misread, in that case that’s definitely premature. In that case I would wait it out for someone without dogs.

I'm also a LL. Unfortunately the new rules this year mean that you can't charge a bigger deposit, all tenants have to pay for professional cleaning (not out of the deposit unless they fail to organise it themselves) but I don't think you can charge for flea treatments. All you can charge is higher rent and hope the damage is covered by the deposit.

Depending on the size of your house, replacing carpets can be a very expensive business and definitely not routine on change of tenancy. Think £30 per square meter if you have (cheap) wool carpets. I'm still using my carpets from the 1980s, though they are getting a bit tired now.

If tenants are at home a lot you shouldn't have a problem with poo and pee as they are probably house-trained by now. But the smell of a soggy dog is very characteristic, and that will come into the house if they are walked in the rain.

So a no from me. if you've only been on the market for a week, just wait for someone else.

I would say absolutely not. I rented my old house out after 3 sales collapsed. The EA persuaded me to take pets to get more choice of renters - 'don't worry well ask them to clean all carpets/curtains and de-flea when they go.' I rented it to someone with 2 big dogs.

When I the house became vacant I went back to repaint. The smell burnt the back of my throat. Not only the smell, the dogs had scratched the carpets to shreds at the doorways, and the doors and the plaster walls. The garden grass was yellow and burnt. The EA shrugged and claimed wear and tear. The deposit didn't cover it.

When I was cleaning I had fleas crawling up my legs, so had to rush out and buy flea sprays and bombs. In the end all the carpets had to be binned as viewing comments were always about the doggy smell. It's not worth it.

I'd allow dogs but would want a bigger deposit and specifically state in the contract that any issues with a build up of dog poo outside etc can lead to termination of contract.

Also that any paint etc damaged by dogs would need to be redone at their expense.

You don't want dogs you don't want kids, what do you want? Tbh they have good refs they are at home with the dogs but your house will stink of dogs. And that smell never goes. But if you plan on renting it out for years to them maybe not a big issue. But tbh you sound a bit judgemental "not keen on kids" not all kids or dogs for that matter are feral.
Would you rather have a group of sharers in there? Smoking weed, having parties etc etc as that's what you will get if you don't want kids (families) or pets.

No way, the dogs could wreck the house and cause nuisance to any neighbours.

For the billionth time (maybe a slight exaggeration)
LLs can no longer charge a larger deposit to cover pet damage
Sounds good in practise but it puts people off renting to,tenants with pets

@lola calm down!

I have kids. We used to have a dog. That's why I don't want them as I know what they bring with them.

A professional young working couple. That might be a start.

Also, I was young once! I never had parties at my flat or smoked weed.

What kind of person is going to pay £2000 a month and throw mega parties whilst smoking weed?!

I would and better big dogs than little rug rat leg lifters. Who puts expensive carpets in a rental. They have a five year depreciation value.

They weren't expensive carpets!