Renting out house - do we allow dogs?

[Lucyintheskywithrubies]

I’ve never owned dogs so have no idea what they’re like. We are renting out a large beautiful house that was our home until we moved overseas. We have had a couple with two small dogs ask if they can view. Is it worth considering? I feel sorry for people with pets in rentals and want to help out but I’m worried about damage/smell/barking and it has already been a really stressful process with the last tenants.

Have you met children recently? If people are going to trash your house, then they don't need dogs to do it. Actually humans are so much better at it than dogs. If you pick the right people then your house won't be trashed. Otherwise, there's insurance and there's deposits. If you want guarantees though, don't rent it, sell it.

The model tenancy agreement mentioned above and making it easier to allow pets, is not law. It is a 'recommended' tenancy agreement.
It is a step in the right direction but there's a lot of work to make this situation better 😓

It would cost a LOT to re carpet the whole house. What kind of damage are we talking with small dogs - worst case scenario?

Honestly, no one can answer that question. I have a dog and a cat and neither have had an accident in the house since they were a puppy/kitten. 8-10 years ago. Also, if you vet your tenants properly surely you will get a feeling about whether they will want to live in a shitty, pissy house or not? It's so disheartening to all be tarnished with the same brush as the handful of people that end up on Nightmare tenants, slum landlords.

Worst case scenario but highly unlikely one would hope:
dog never goes outside to do its business so the floors become saturated. Owners don’t care and never clean up
dog is a chewer and chews skirting boards, edges of doors etc. We bought a house like this.
dog is a scratcher and scrapes at doors.
dog does go out and is a ‘digger’

more likely scenario (from my perspective of owning one small dog)
dog has occasional ‘accident’ including vomit which I clean up immediately but might leave a small mark on carpet. Dog has scraped the paint off a couple of internal doors as this is how he asks to go out.

I would absolutely allow dogs - there are so few properties available that they’ll move heaven & earth to keep your property in the best condition- they’ll be so thankful to keep their dog.

the guy that lives opposite me me has so many houses/flats that he rents & he said by far the best tenants are the ones with pets.

you can also get them/or you can get like a pet premium/insurance.

I used to rent my flat out & both the first 2 people had pets (1 had x 1 cat & the other had a dog) both left the flat completely as they found it!

Also, can I add that the size of the dog has 0 bearing on the responsibility of the owner and the likelihood of the dog causing damage. Don't also add a size regulation in, that is completely unfair to all the well behaved medium and large dogs.

I think as others have said dog/s aren’t really the issue, if you end up with a ‘bad’ tenant who doesn’t care about taking care of the property then humans can cause just as much damage as animals.

I had the option to rent out a property but I know I’m not the sort of person who could accept all the potential damage as I take good care of my home. Things like never ventilating the bathroom, or drying wet clothes in radiators are things I wouldn’t do as they potentially harm the house but many people do.

Ime this is totally not true & very worst case scenario- if they know the have to pay for damage, a tenant is NOT going to risk all those things & most pet owners I know don’t have dogs that do all those things, least of all leave them to do their business all over a property!

the person that absolutely trashed my flat (cig burns/human faeces/maggots) was child& pet free. Made me sell the flat, he left in that much of a state.

@SushiSuave - that is so true, my one small dog is a bit of a brat, size is no guarantee of house trained behaviour!

@onepieceoflollipop it is also the yapping that is more prevalent in small breeds. In my village their are about 3 houses that have been reported to council for excessive noise because of their jack Russell/small terriers incessantly barking. They are an absolute nightmare. That is not to say your dog is also noisy, just an observation.

One tenant has two tiny little dogs and an eight year old daughter. They've been in eight years now. Place spotless. Tenant repaints now and again.

Other tenants three adults and a dog they're a bit scruffy but they've been in six years. If they left I expect the place would need doing from top to bottom

@SushiSuave
he is prone to yapping to be fair but we bring him in and shut the door if he’s being a pain in the garden because we respect our neighbours and don’t let him behave like that. But others don’t seem to do the same there is a right yapper over the road from us…

@SushiSuave yes I have specifically asked the agent to ask if the dogs are going to be home all day as I was worried about the barking. All of these posts are really helpful thank you. I agree people with dogs more likely to want to stay on and look after it etc. Agent seems pretty onto it with vetting etc too.

You should absolutely allow pets. If they are decent people the dog won't be a problem. People without pets can trash properties too...

Our tenancy states that jf we want a pet we have to declare it and it would be another £2000 on the deposit to cover potential damages 😱

We don't have a pet but I remember reading that thinking it was excessive!!!

The £2000 deposit is illegal now.
It might not have been when your tenancy was written up depending on when that was but they wouldn't be able to enforce that now anyway

Absolutely not, I had Tennants in my property a few years ago, I allowed a small dog after they pleaded they would be very careful and mindful . Well when they left, I had a flee infestation and it absolutely stunk . Dog crap and piss on the carpets .....it was a nightmare. Because of a bank holiday and the crap letting agent, they didnt do a proper check out untill a week after they moved out and it was summer, so you can imagine the state of the house by the time the agents got in, the damage caused was so bad the deposit didn't cover it, they only rented for a year as well . Thought I was being a nice LL by allowing a pet and got well and truly shafted. I know some Tennants are respectful and will care for your property, unfortunately after 8 years of being a LL I have yet to find one , that why we sold up.

@bert3400 feels like it is just a gamble sadly doesn't it. I was (and am overseas) an excellent tenant. I look after rentals like they are my own (it's my home).

I have one basement flat with garden which the tenant has a dog. I have another first floor one and was asked but I didn't want to as there was no garden and the freeholder said no anyway.
My parents used to let out a house with garden and allowed a dog and the place was absolutely wrecked. All the curtains were stained with urine etc. all of them had to removed snd carpets replaced. Their deposit went nowhere near touching the cost.
So, inspect the place every six months as a condition of renting it and be sure your lease says they must keep the dog under control max it cannot become a nuisance to neighbours.

I would consider how much re carpeting and repainting would cost for any tenants, I think the risks depend more on style of the house. We looked at a house for rent once. It’s nice size and perfect location but the house got light expensive carpets and white soft furniture throughout, quite expensive, not IKEA or Argos. Our DD was 3. I refused point blank even to think about this. We ended up in a house with beige carpets, magnolia wall paint and white PVC doors. Very light again but it was very cheap carpet, very cheap magnolia paint and the cheapest possible doors so the risks were very different. We stayed for some time and even replaced the living room carpet ourselves. Our LL hasn’t even noticed.
Also how big is the house? You won’t find a single professional who will be willing to pay good rent for 4 beds family style semi. He/she would rather settle in a 2bed flat near city centre. Families will pay for the bigger size house but they will have pets and kids.
How long are you going to be away? 2 years? I would try to avoid pets and kids. 5 years? Get a good tenant but be realistic that it’s a long period for a house so it will be affected anyway.

We let our tenants have pets. We've never had any problems and they're great tenants, in part no doubt due to the fact they'd struggle to find anyone else to take them.

Which is daft really. My dogs are certainly better toilet trained than my toddler.

My parents rented out their large, 2 storey, multi room property when they lived/worked abroad.

Initially said no pets. Unknown to my parents, 1 family brought their dog, but locked it inside an internal bathroom when they worked. Neighbours alerted us to the barking. It had scratched and eaten inside carpets- presumably due to boredom and not being allowed outside.

My parents then said pets were fine after vetting. Next dog was fine. A few big holes in garden, but nothing devastating. No damage in house etc

3rd tenant had a budgerigar. Surely a tiny bird in a cage would be absolutely fine. NO!!!!!! Little did my parents know that they would allow the bird to fly loose around the lounge/diner and poo on everything- without cleaning it up. The stairs had been French polished and the poo being left on them 'ate' through the polish and damaged the wood.

I don't know the current regs in terms of allowing pets, but meeting the tenants and pets would be a good start.

I meant to add, that when my parents were abroad, 1 family put in a table tennis, table and presumably played it incessantly! Either ends of the table, the carpet was left threadbare and the entire carpet needed to be replaced in a very large room. Other than the budgie pooing on the woodwork, the carpets from table tennis was far worse than any dog at the property.

Friend had tenants who asked to have one small dog. Brought 25 dogs and set up a full puppy farm inc converting the garage into pens. Def ask to see the dog first and get references!