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.

I’m really sorry but it’s a terrible time to be a tenant, dog or no dog. Where we are, family houses have minimum ten prospective tenants applying each time so landlords can really take their pick. Lots of landlords have sold up so there aren’t as many properties on the rental market. It must be so stressful and I’m sorry you’re going through it.

We are also ddog owners looking for a new rental. We saw the Built For Renters adverts. Pet owners have to upload vaccination cards and insurance documents.. They state their concierge patrols the estate and any signs of animal welfare will reported to the relevant authorities... What happened to quiet enjoyment of your home as a tenant?? Imagine sunbathing and a nosey dude peeping in at Fido??? No thanks.

Yes it's the dog. We have cats and it was really hard finding a nice place as if they have a choice they won't have animals. I got some really rude replies saying no kids, no pets! We found a place eventually but it's not pristine! If the landlord doesn't mind animals it's prob not a perfect place with amazing floors , carpets etc. it's prob a fixer upper like ours, BUT what we did have going for us was we are unlikely to have parties or up and leave after a month or do drugs! We are a very boring couple of parents in 40s and our landlord definitely wanted that after the last tenants who I heard were literally criminals.

I think this is one aspect of pet ownership that many don't consider. Obviously you had your dog 10 years before you rented so I understand it wasn't necessarily preventable for you. But all pet owners should be aware that having one will limit where you can live if you rent. Either you keep searching for a pet friendly landlord or you wait until the dogs passed to move (or others may need to surrender their dog). Those who chose to lie will likely forego their deposits and very possibly find themselves evicted if found out.

I hope you find somewhere soon OP, I do sympathise, perhaps it's just not the right time for you to move quite yet.

Back when we rented we had to give our dog to someone to watch until we made our next move. We eventually asked again if she could come and got a firm no. In that time our own property sold and we bought somewhere new a few streets away. When out walking out dog we discovered the next tenants had a dog!! We couldn’t believe it as we lived 11 months without ours only for them to have one. Always wonder why the change of heart! You never know and when u find the right place for u all it will be worth the wait!

I had to pay double deposit and a full house carpet clean when I was last renting, because I had cats. And that was 13 years ago when it was much easier to rent. Pets and renting doesn't go well.

I completely get this. We found out in October that our landlord would like to move into our house and would appreciate us moving by the summer holidays - we'd had a very good relationship with him and knew he had some personal issues going on so said we'd try our best.

We eventually moved at Easter having looked/viewed/applied tirelessly since then.

I had taken to writing a covering letter to the estate agent/landlord introducing us, our lifestyle and our dog. I explained what he's like; his personality and how he is treated. How he is rarely home alone but if he is it's for an hour or so max (all true btw).

I just wrote a genuine letter/email telling the potential landlord more about us and who we are.

We ended up being offered two houses at the same time, one was the dream house that we thought we had no chance with due to the number of applications and overall condition of the house....after all the months of searching and finding the perfect house then being turned down I cried!

The rental market is horrendous at the moment - the 6 months in the run up to us moving were so unbelievably stressful but you will find something.

Try to think of it in a 'woo' sort of way, in that if it is meant for you it won't pass you by. I also found it helped to not fall in love with each house and to also see it's negatives, when we were turned down I'd have a chat with myself along the lines of "oh well, didn't like X y z anyway" etc.

For what it's worth, our dog is mastiff x so not small and not inconspicuous - we didn't lie however we didn't mention any breed as people often have visions of certain breeds in their head! We called him a large cross breed that looks part English mastiff and part something else but not a drooler.

Talk your dog up. Talk about how you care for them, their routine and what you have in place to ensure he isn't a risk to the house. Do the same with your kids!

It'll be the dog and possibly also the children. The rental market is horrific at the moment with a lot of competition for rentals, and landlords can be really picky about which tenants they'll take.

We had to go into rental for a work relocation. Had trouble even booking viewings - family-size houses viewings were rejected as the landlord didn't want under-10s living there(!). None of them allowed pets.

We had a very short time frame and needed a rental ASAP so spent time making ourselves as 'perfect' as possible and got 'preferred tenant' status on two houses viewed on one day. That meant squeaky clean credit report, references immediately available, income multiple far above what was needed to rent the house, dressed very smartly for viewings in 'professional work' type clothes and took a friend along to casually mention job titles and being responsible! Did not take child to viewings!

We also ended up renting at £500 a month more than we'd wanted to, but even getting a viewing at the lower level proved impossible.

Could you offer a higher rent because of the dog? Bearing in mind if carpets, soft furnishings, doors etc get damaged then 5 weeks deposit will come nowhere near covering the damage.

Thank you so much! 🥹 This has genuinely made me feel way more positive about it, will give everything you’ve mentioned a go! It means a lot to have someone get it and understand in stead of just commenting ‘it’s the dog, I hate dogs’ so thank you again! x

Thank you!! This has made me feel better! The last house we viewed we didn’t take any kids, my partner went alone actually. I made him wear his glasses, dress smartly etc! I think it can only help. We’re seeing another house soon that we like so I think we will definitely offer over and also mention having the place professionally deep cleaned if we were to ever leave!

We are pretty much screwed with multiple ddogs.... We had zero intention of moving but apparently landlord needs to beat inheritance tax so is selling up.

It's so crazy!

Why do people always stress that their pet is small? Oh, your cat is small? Thank fuck, I thought you might be bringing a puma. 😂

Sympathies, OP. It's hard enough out there at the moment without having to deal with this. Best wishes.

Sadly it is probably the dog and that it's elderly is possibly counting against you even more.

Many become incontinent with advanced old age and landlords are thinking of the damage to their floors. Carpets are easily replaced but urine soaked laminate/engineered wood is another thing altogether.

I think next time I might not mention his age but just mention ‘his puppy years are long behind him’ as I also don’t want them to think he’s a puppy either! 😩

Yes I've just replaced carpets in a 2 bed flat at the cost of 3.5k. The deposit is fixed at a maximum of 5 weeks rent so £1700. It doesn't cover the carpets, the decoration or the new worktops at 2k, or the bathrooms fixtures and fittings. So the chances of me having dogs is a zero I'm afraid. Same with children. The last tenants with a child left a trail of destruction.

yes don't mention his age, just refer to him as an adult dog, very well trained.

If I was a LL I wouldn't want an elderly pet or a puppy because of potential issues with incontinence.

I would never rent to anyone with pets, sorry. Our three bedroom rental property is in a London commuter town with excellent transport links, close to local amenities and two outstanding primaries and secondary school. If it were vacant, I’d have no problem renting it out; an extra £20 per month most definitely wouldn’t tempt me.

Our current house was bought from a couple with an elderly incontinent dog. The place reeked. When the carpet and underlay was removed, there were large patches of urine on the concrete floor in the dining and living room. DH and I had to scrub the patches on the floor with bleach before the floor installers came to install new flooring. There was dog hair everywhere, including large clumps in the radiators. Absolute nightmare.

It’s a shame as not all dog owners are like this. I can understand however how one bad experience can put people off. I hoover twice a day, mop once a day and dog isn’t allowed upstairs where there are carpets. I get people can ‘just be saying that’ but I am not one of them, it’s the truth. I am incredibly house proud, annoyingly so if you were to ask my partner. The dog is 14 sure, but he is still very much housetrained. He’s not a barker, not a drooler - he literally sleeps all day, every day. It’s a shame there are irresponsible pet owners out there who make all of us look bad and people often tar us all with the same brush.

Thank you, I’ve been thinking about it a lot and you are definitely right. I will mention from now on that he is simply just an adult dog who is very much house trained.

I would also mention this in your cover letter 🙂 that's what I did. And I mentioned I have my own carpet cleaner and how often we hoover!

Just get rid of the dog. Put your family first.

I'm a LL. would never rent to a pet/dog owner

This is quite possibly the most awful thing anybody can say to somebody in this position. If you could see the amount of dogs that are in shelters, you’d understand just how horrible this is.

I’ve had this dog since I was 17 years old, he’s been my best friend for almost 15 years. He has gotten me through some of the darkest moments of my life, I would never, ever ‘give him up’ never in a million years.

Obviously at the age of 17 I never thought I’d be in this situation now and now I know the complications of having a dog, we won’t be having another.

There are clearly landlords out there who don’t mind as I have somehow found two over the last five years. We will just keep going until we find another. We aren’t desperate to move, certainly not desperate enough to ever give him up, Jesus.

I just don't get it. Putting an animal before your children/family. Astonishing

How am I putting him before my children exactly? Can you please explain that.

My family have a roof over their heads, my
children are safe, fed and well looked after. They live in a clean home with everything they ever need.

Just because we would prefer a bit more space doesn’t mean I’m neglecting my family. Are you even serious? It’s not like we’re being evicted and face a life on the streets?