Renting with Dogs

[BeBlueShark]

HI Guys, I have a long time friend who has 2 dogs. He is looking for somewhere to rent but is struggling due to the dogs. He has had these for several years and does not want to give them up in order to live. However I do not have the space and it was only to be tempory as he has moved from out of area back here, (Hinckley, Leics). He works full time and is willing to pay extra upfront in cash as extra security, on top of the bond. I can vouch for the fact that there has been no damages and the girls are well behaved. Please can anyone advise where we can look for help as well as if anyone here is willing to share if they have property to let. TIA

The problem is landlords are limited in the amount of deposit they can take. I don't think you can give cash up front really. Perhaps offer paying a bit more over the rent?

Isn't the law changing where a landlord will no longer be able to refuse a tenant with a pet?

In reality though given a choice of tenants, they can just choose another tenant that doesn't have a pet.

Fair enough, thank you. The problem that we have is when it is adverised as pet friendly they generally only mean 1 small dog. unless we are chasing down every available let and enquiring. im not sure there are any other ways.

@BeBlueShark , landlord here, we are no longer permitted to take an additional deposit from people who have animals. All our properties are kept up to date with new kitchens/bathrooms and flooring, animals can cause damage which could run into thousands to fix. I doubt any landlord with well maintained properties would chose a tenant with an animal in preference to an equally good prospective tenant who did not have a pet. Just about the only thing your friend could do would be to offer over the asking price but even £100.00 a month extra only comes to £1200.00 (on which there is tax) in a year and an animal can easily cause more damage than that. 😔

Would your friend be able to provide references from his previous landlord, stating that the dogs did not cause any damage or disturbance (eg excessive barking)? This might reassure a nervous potential new landlord.

Also, would prospective landlords be interested in meeting the dogs, in your home? Then they can see/hear for themselves that the doors haven't been scratched/furniture chewed, and they can't hear the dogs barking until they ring the doorbell.

Offer these two things to each landlord/estate agent that you approach, and hopefully it will help them to feel more confident in allowing your friend and his dogs to move in.

Yes thats understandable. I dont think the money is a problem at all. The prob
lem we have is finding a property to begin with.

So can a child. In fact I see more damage done by children than by pets.

True

it's tough. Sometimes HA rent out at full price to tenants and I find them to be very reasonable re pets. At least that was the case in Scotland

@EmmaMaria , all our properties are one bedroom so we don’t appeal to families. I can see why some landlords are reluctant to update their properties. It is true that it’s rare for any tenant to care for a property as you would your own.

It's a while since we rented (due to a job move) with a dog, (no children), but I would say the best way to find a property is via word of moth or local social media groups. That seems to be the most common way around here (a small town where people tend to 'know someone who knows someone').

We were shown a property by an agent and he was adamant that the landlord would not allow a dog but as luck would have it the landlord arrived during our viewing to collect something from the garage and we were cheeky and asked him directly; he was fine with it and we stayed there for 18 months, leaving the property in imacculate condition.

We were grateful he took a chance on us (we did have excellent references to be fair) and stayed in touch with the landlord for various reasons after we left.

The same agent who was happy to turn us down found the new tenants to follow on from us. The children of the family wrecked the house; I'm talking holes in walls and serious damage, not cosmetic. It cost the landlord £thousands to put right.

So be persistent, ask everyone you know, get good references and hope for some good luck.

Exactly. If any landlord wants more money because of my dog, I’ll ask for a discount due to not having any kids.

I'm a landlady & I can say hand on heart that I'd much rather have pets in the house than children any day of the week. I'm afraid I don't have property in that area but your friend needs to keep positive. The only thing I said was a stipulation for having pets at the property is that the dog must not be left outside, that I'd expect them to be treated like part of the family & not left for hours at a time.