dogs in blocks of flats

[SuePine69]

Do you live in a block of flats where pets aren't allowed? Did you choose to live in a block of flats where there are no dogs? Well, you might be in for a big surprise.

I've just had a man with a dog move in next door to me. I never thought that could happen. I was always told no pets. I don't mind any pet except for dogs. My sister has a dog lives in a block where many other residents also have dogs. It's noisy with all the yapping and barking. If they're happy that's OK with me but I wouldn't want to live there.

I complained about it. They haven't consulted the residents. They didn't tell anyone about the change in policy. I was actually offered another flat in a different area earlier this year and I turned it down. If I had known there were going to be dogs in the block I would not have done.

What makes me really angry is that I have been told something that is false - as far as I can tell. I was told that there is a government directive now that says landlords can't refuse dogs. She said 'our hands are tied'.

Whatever the new rules are, as far as I can see it only applies to people who are already tenants. It doesn't apply to prospective tenants. Someone who requests a flat in my block and says they want to keep a dog can be refused. Even a tenant can be refused if there's good reason.

If someone's front door opens onto a path or road they can have a pet. If their front door opens onto a shared corridor then they can't. This is an established principle and I see no reason for it to change.

They should have given this man a flat with a front door that doesn't open onto a shared corridor, like all the flats in the block where my sister lives - or a bungalow. I don't want to stop anyone from doing what they want.

I was told that they would never let our block get like my sister's. But I have no confidence that they can solve problems. That flat was empty because my former neighbour left, partly because they moved an alcoholic in below him. This man shouted at the top of his voice for hours on end. I could hear it in my flat. He said that he was getting woken up too. So he took me with him to complain. They completely dismissed his complaints. This alcoholic has since died of an alcohol related condition.

Why do you care if a neighbour has a dog?

I understand your frustration. My neighbour has barking dogs and the noise is awful.

Obviously all of the dog lovers will be along in a moment to tell you that you’re being unreasonable and that their dogs have never barked.

Because poorly trained dogs are awful. Just like their poorly trained owners.

Hmm well I live in a flat and have a dog! I’m not going to say he never barks because he does, but very rarely and usually because I have a delivery or some post. He doesn’t like the buzzer sound.

I do however walk him six times a day, he’s never in the communal area without his lead on, he’s not allowed to foul in the shared gardens and I make sure he isn’t a nuisance to anyone. I also work from home so he is very seldom left alone

There is however a dog owner in the next block who lets his dog bark, run round the car park without a lead on and crap everywhere! Unfortunately you don’t know what sort of dog owner you’re going to get as a neighbour. I don’t agree with a total ban but there should be very strict guidelines around how dogs should be managed in flats.

Same happened in my previous flat, they changed the lease to allow dogs. I think it's happening everywhere. A group of us complained and got nowhere.

I like dogs but having them in a big block of flats isn't great.

Human rights should come way ahead of dog rights. I dislike the selfishness and entitlement of dog owners inflicting them on a communal living situation like a block of flats. I'd be livid.

Dogs are no worse than unsupervised kids.

I haven't mentioned that the dog owner is in a one-bedroom flat on the first floor. It is sheltered accommodation and so is different from most blocks of flats. No one has their own washing machine, there is communal laundry. There are several common rooms. I expect that he is entitled to have his dog on any of the chairs (they stink), just as he is entitled to use the communal garden as a big dog's toilet.

If any of the old people in my block of flats go round a corner and tip over a dog or go into the laundry carrying washing and trip over a dog I'm going to encourage them to sue Magenta Living because they have unnecessarily created this situation. It's not government policy, as I was told, to let a prospective tenant move in with a dog. It's only tenants here already who have a right to be considered.

Dogs should have been exempted from the legislation. People use dogs as weapons. There is one man in our block who was in prison. He'd been involved in gangs. You think he should have the right to have a dog?

I don't want to be going up the stairs and there's a dog of its lead coming down. They are unpredictable creatures. My sister told me her medium-sized dog goes bonkers when it sees a big dog. She had to drag it into a shop to get it away from one it saw in a shopping centre. She's 70. Everyone in my flats is over 55.

You sound utterly insane.

There is nothing this man has done which suggests him or his dog are a nuisance.

Leave the man and his dog alone.

This is such a non issue.

That's not much of a contribution to make to a discussion. Calling someone insane. Try being a bit more constructive. What exactly did I write that makes you think that I am insane?

Was it when I wrote that some people use dogs as weapons? Perhaps you don't live in a block of flats where there are alcoholics or ex-prisoners. I live in Merseyside and I regularly see big un-neutered male dogs off the lead on the street. I don't expect you will undestand the problem if you live in a house in suburbia with your own garden.

Or maybe you are one of those dog owners who don't realise that if you're a non-dog owner you regularly go into a public space such as a cafe, sit down and can smell dog. Dog owners are so used to the stink that you just can't smell it anymore.

The pet policy is pretty clear on their website and was amended following consultation last year

You think that I'm picking on this man. You have missed the point that the new legislation is causing a lot of annoyance for people up and down the country.

I'm not angry with this man. I'm angry most of all with someone called Debi with a double-barrelled surname and a six-figure salary who has imposed a policy on thousands of people and pretended that it's government policy and that 'our hands are tied'. The new policy is bad enough but it only applies to established tenants not prospective tenants.

We used to have the principle that there are blocks of flats for people who want dogs and blogs of flats for people who don't want the noise and the smell. The dog owners got the best of it because they got the flats where the front doors open onto a path or the street. They don't have to share corridors with anyone.

If someone had a dog or wanted one they would be allocated a suitable flat. Nobody was stopping them from doing anything. There was never any reason for that to change.

Magenta Living didn't consult with me or any one of my neighbours. Neither did they inform any one of us of a change in policy.

Yes it's true a new law was passed that landlords can't refuse pets. Rightly so. These are family members. It won't matter to you if a neighbour has a dog. You don't have to live with it

Why are some dog lovers so wilfully stupid ?
op that’s really shit.

You sound a bit obsessed. I'd understand if you said the dog is alone all day barking, but you seem annoyed that he just owns a dog?

I mean this in a kindly way, but do you not have more important things to be concerned with? What someone else does in their own home is really not your concern. You could trip over a dog outside a shop!

You and your neighbours may not have engaged with the consultation but it's untrue to say that there wasn't one. It's clearly on their social media pages.

The white paper legislated on pet ownership because in 2020 only 7% of properties were advertised as being suitable for pets. The white paper removed the ability for landlords to enact a blanket ban meaning fewer people have to give up their pets when they move rental properties.

It’s none of your business who this man chooses to live with.
seek help for your cynophobia

Actually I do have to live with it. There are two communal lounges and a communal garden.

Landlords still have the right to refuse a pet if the building is unsuitable. People used to understand that a block of flats with lots of shared corridors is unsuitable for pets. Where there is lots of shared space it is also unsuitable. People don't realise that sheltered accommodation is much more communal than the normal block of flats.

When I first moved into my block of flats there weren't any alcoholics or ex-prisoners. If I had known then what would happen I wouldn't have moved in. You can share corridors, lounges, a laundry and a garden with reasonable people but it just doesn't work when you have people who would never have been able to supply a good reference and yet somehow are given flats anyway.

Wow 😯

I can see both sides of the argument here. For 40 odd years of my life, I never had a dog, and was always terrified of them. Idk, maybe one lurched at me when I was a kid? I'd always give dogs a very, very wide berth when walking past them, I'd never attempt to pet them in social situations, and yes, I hate the smells that dogs make. In terms of the fear, I totally get it. I wouldn't call it crippling but it was a very real fear. Like you, I probably would have been afraid of being launched at by a dog if it lived in my building.

At this point I should probably mention that I'm almost certainly on the spectrum, and fears and noise sensitivity are probably accentuated above the level of your average joe.

Then, I had to live with my uncle for 18 months who had a Jack Russell and some other kind of annoying, adorable, small and hyperactive dog. These dogs seemed not to care that I was afraid of them and they absolutely barged their way into my life, into my bedroom, bed (they wouldn't be told) and, eventually, my heart.

I'm now no longer afraid of dogs. In fact, I actively like them and enjoy their company. They're very loving, loyal companions who provide a lot of pleasure for their owners and are very, very good for people's mental health.

However, they still stink. Irresponsible owners still don't clean up shit. Some have never been trained and may yap at the smallest thing going past the window; a person, a leaf, a car. Some may do that ALL DAY LONG.

What I would say from having read your responses is that you seem to have had your fear and dislike instilled in you from your sister's experiences instead of your own.

If this dog owning person is friendly enough, perhaps you should approach them when you next see them, and (assuming the dog isn't behaving aggressively) tell the owner 'I'm a bit nervous about dogs but would you mind introducing me/showing me how to say hello to him/her please?'

You may have a change of heart. You may fall in love with the little fella.

That way, even if it stinks up the sofas and occasionally barks, because you now like the dog and enjoy seeing it from time to time, the positives might start to outweigh the negatives. Or, at least make them feel less overbearing in your life.

I'm annoyed that he owns a dog in my block of flats. Because my block of flats is unsuitable. I'm not annoyed with him, I'm annoyed with the people who have created and are implementing this policy.

Even if this man turns out not to be problem there will others who will be. If there are 3 dog owners then two of them will be a nuisance.

In my block of flats are lots of people in their 80s who are too frail to go to shops. Their eyesight and coordination is poor.

Exactly this!

I'm not in the slightest bit nervous of dogs. I just don't like the noise and the stink.