Are we really unfavourable tenants?

[L3tti316]

Hi everyone, so we’ve been looking to move out of our current rental in to something bigger for almost a month now and each application is unsuccessful. We’re never really told a reason, only that the landlord chose someone else.

Our household income meets what the estate agents say is required (and some), we’ve got 2 children (we’re in a 2 bed currently and want a 3/4 ideally) and we have one small dog who is almost 15 years old so unfortunately won’t be with us forever as much as it breaks my heart to say. If it helps at all he’s housetrained, has arthritis so can’t make it up the stairs (we have a stair gate because of the kids anyway) and honestly spends most of his days laying outside as it’s his favourite thing to do.

It’s really been getting me down, each time we’re told no I just can’t bare the gut wrenching, heart sinking feeling that comes with the disappointment over yet another big fat ‘rejected’. We’ve been renting for 5 years now and would come with an excellent reference from our current landlord as we’ve caused no damage and have only made improvements to the property such as fresh neutral paint everywhere, changed the bath panel as it was broken and completely sorted out the garden.

Are we really that unfavourable because of the dog and children? 😩 How could we honestly increase our chances? We’re not desperate to move yet but not sure my anxiety can cope with no after no after no for much longer.

It's the dog sadly. My friend had to lie about hers.

I think it is most likely the dog, so there isn’t much you can do really. It’s one of those things where if a landlord has 2 applicants, identical, 2 families, 1 with a pet and 1 without, they will choose the one without because although everybody says their pets are no bother there will undoubtedly be people who lie about that and then end up causing damage so landlord’s aren’t keen to take the risk.

I did figure as much! 😩 It would worry me sick to lie about it honestly! How did your friend manage to never get caught?

I do really get this, it’s what me and my partner speak about after each application is unsuccessful. Hopefully soon we get someone who can give us a bit of a break. I get it completely that people lie about how well behaved their pets are, wish there were some way I could prove it but there’s just not is there.

My niece had to rehome her dog as she spent 5 months trying to rent as a young person. She was seeing 3 or 4 places a week.

Landlords prefer tenants a little older as they are thought more likely to look after a place. Add a pet to her youth and - despite the credit rating being good and references - she couldn’t get anywhere.

Don't lie about the dog - that's terrible advice. We're landlords and one of our properties has no dogs as a condition of the leasehold (not the tenancy). The tenant who lied had to leave within a month and lost all the fees, incurred 2x moving costs etc.

I bet that was an awful decision for her to make 😩

What I find really unfair about it is that whilst I understand pets can cause damage, that does not mean ALL will! 😩

When we moved in to our current house it was a complete state, I’m talking grime on every surface, the built in wardrobe had mirrored doors and they were smashed, there were pink stains all in the bathtub and on the floor from hair dye. All of that wasn’t done by a dog, it was done by humans.

I just think it’s unfair to immediately assume because an applicant has a dog that they will wreck the place and cause havoc. It doesn’t help that you never get to meet the landlord either, it’s all through estate agents so you don’t even get chance to fight and sell yourself so to speak.

I didn't give advice to lie. I was saying my friend had to and took the risk. She had a very small breed and her mum would have the dog a lot.

Yeah I absolutely would never lie about the dog. I’d be too nervous to anyway even if I was considering it.

I do think pet owners become nose blind to their pet smells though. When we moved house the place smelt of dog and we needed to have professional carpet cleaners to get rid of it. Maybe preempt such worries and offer to pay for this when you move out? As landlords aren't allowed to take larger pet deposits any more maybe offer to pay slightly higher rent to factor in potential damage ( not saying its fair but may be a way to be able to persuade a landlord to choose you over pet free and therefore perceived lower risk tenants).

Yeah this has crossed my mind! It’s something we will do once we leave our current house, whenever that may be, we want to have the carpets professionally cleaned as it’s only fair.

No there’s no way to prove it unfortunately, it’s one of those things where currently landlord’s have the power, they can pick and choose and most will choose not to take the risk of a pet when they have another option available. It’s an issue made worse by the fact that (at least where we are) there are routinely 8/9 different people applying for each property so landlord’s can afford to be picky! If there was less competition for properties you’d be in with a good chance but as I say if they have an option of a pet free family they will almost always choose them. Good luck!

I'm a landlord and when we rented our property out, we literally chose the people we liked/trusted the most.

On paper, most people are similar. It sounds like you don't stand out (that's a good thing) but if they have 15 people to choose from then it's just a choice.

Sorry it's not particularly helpful.

One of my friends made a “cv” for her cat. Picture of the cat looking angelic, little story about how quiet he was, how his favourite activities were sunbathing, etc. Honestly I rolled my eyes but then she managed to get a place when she’d been turned down before. Given your dog is elderly it might be worth providing some extra info about him to reassure landlords that a) you take it seriously and b) he’s not going to tear up the place.

It’s the dog.

It is the dog, my current landlord said no animals but his previous tenants had to take in an elderly dog when their family member died and he’s got a heart so couldn’t say no. I have been over every inch of carpet four times and it still smells of dog, I moved in in March… it is what it is. My parents had to rent for a bit when their sale chain fell through two years ago and they have one cat and they put him as a named occupier on the lease!

We were only able to find rentals for us and our cats (no kids) twice by ignoring cities and towns and looking in the countryside. Everyone has pets there. LLs are more understanding.

I also found less desirable properties that were not flying off the market were more likely to consider pets as well.

(it’s actually better with dogs because some LLs seem to loathe cats - shrug)

We have had this conversation actually. We have another house lined up to view that’s not in a desirable part of the town we live in and is very, very close to a primary school. We’re sort of hoping it deters others from wanting to apply and maybe the landlord will accept a dog in this situation? Who knows! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Elderly dogs usually become incontinent unfortunately so they are probably concerned that floor coverings could be damaged - can you address this head on and suggest higher damage deposit or similar ?

Perhaps. It all comes down to their ability to handle hassle and bloody insurance companies being complete a-holes, tbh.

Get Property Log installed on Chrome and look at those who have to keep reducing the asking price, or have been on for a long time.

Someone with 1970s decor is going to have to be far less fussy about their tenants than someone with a pristine house, too. Those with pristine houses who don’t mention “no pets” on their adverts said no to us, every single time.

(except our current countryside rental)

I did worry if his age put landlords off and maybe it’s best not to mention it, although also worry they could think the opposite and think what if he’s a puppy? I know he’s 14 but he is still very much housetrained. I think for the next house we view we will maybe offer an increase in the rent by £20 a month maybe, I know a couple of friends this worked for!

I hate dogs. There is no way I would ever let to one. I don't even like to see them walking down the road!

Even without dogs when my son last let his house - 2 bed - there were 13 couples in the first weekend all wanting it and he and I had to choose who got it - the irony is I picked the couple where both worked full time as teachers and then the estate agent after we committed said they were both self employed teaching - I would never have picked them had I known but they have been fine and in year 3 now (no pet, 2 children)

Yeah the one we viewed yesterday was pristine with new looking carpets and brand new kitchen etc and I think the phone call to say we were unsuccessful didn’t come as such a shock tbh! Gosh I really hope our luck changes soon! 😩

It's not just that, dogs smell no matter how clean you keep them. Dog owners are usually nosey blind to it

I do understand people think this but I do believe when you’re an extremely clean person, your dog is regularly groomed and isn’t allowed upstairs where there is carpets the smell isn’t of a great concern. I’m such a paranoid person with smells and mess, I think it comes from growing up in a hoarders home, that I clean possibly way too much.

Smoke on the other hand 🤢🤢 The tenants before us were heavy smokers and we could smell it for WEEKS after they left, it was almost embedded in to the walls.