Nobody wants to rent to us :(

[GoblinKeeper]

Mostly looking for head pats and commiseration, although advice works too.

I'm just flabbergasted by how tremendously difficult it is to find a rental property that accepts dogs and children, and is commutable to London. We've been living with my in-laws whilst funding IVF privately - thank goodness for family! - but whilst they would love for us to live there forever, I don't think that I can stand to raise our twins (I'm twenty weeks pregnant now) under their roof. And it is so stressful to try to find a new place.

I have no idea how to convince a potential landlord that my charming, well-behaved and middle-aged darling won't be a danger to the property - offering references from my vet and training club is even less helpful than offering to pay an additional deposit, it would seem. And we can't afford to rent a house so it's going to be a one or two-bedroom flat, as I'd be worried to go over about £900/month once we're down to just one salary. We're willing to move anywhere so long as there is less of an hour's commute in to Charing Cross (it would be nice to see the twins occasionally!) and we'd like to be south of the Thames because my family are all there and dying to be helpful with the babies.

Success stories, virtual hugs and advice all welcome! I'm sure this wouldn't be upsetting me so much if not for the hormones - I'm dying to nest and set up home before they arrive.

I'll add a picture of the special girl herself, so that you can see how incredibly lovely she is.

Gosh, all these landlords (or If-I-were's) who would automatically dismiss those with pets OR children. God forbid Generation Rent live anything like a normal family life, eh?

Sorry, OP. My brother has been able to rent with his dog, but it did take a while and he has agreed to replace the carpets when he moves. Hope it works for you.

PLENTY of landlords are 'no children'. Many, in fact.

How do you feel about that, expat?

I can't see any decent place accepting a couple with newborn twins and a dog in a one bed flat. I would suggest upping your budget or your commute time and look for ground floor flats/maisonettes with communal garden. Those types of properties will have more family tenants anyway.

I'm not surprised by this at all. A lot of one/two bed flats will be in leasehold blocks where residents aren't permitted to keep animals without the permission of the management company or freeholder. So bringing a dog in could be quite a serious breach of the lease.

Also, two adults, two babies and a dog in that size of flat is inevitably going to cause a hell of a lot of wear and tear. So if there is a choice of tenant (which there usually is in areas with good commuting times to London), then the landlord would be crazy not to take the couple or single flat sharers.

Is there anywhere that you could get a little house with a yard for that budget? It would probably be a lot easier to find a landlord willing to accept you in that type of property.

We live off the thameslink in rural Bedfordshire and rural properties here generally allow dogs. But I am generally pushy and say I will keep dog downstairs etc you pay 1 1/2 month deposit, agree to clean carpets on exit. Most people are okay if they know you are a professional working family
I hate it though. I wish we could buy but even though my h earns a fantastic wage really, we can't even afford to buy an ex auth 3 bed here
Depressing
Good luck with your search

Good luck OP. We rent and have a dog. We got him in October after we had lived here 4 months. We wrote a letter detailing the type of dog, our experience with dogs and agreed to have the carpets steam cleaned at the end of the tenancy and the landlord agreed. It is very sad to me that something as 'normal' as having a pet is dismissed out of hand by so many landlords.

Coming from Australia, I was a bit shocked to find that landlords could refuse tenants with children . As someone said further up, how does everyone expect 'generation rent' to live?

Live? If you privately rent you exist

What I feel does not matter.

But twins, another child or more and a dog in a one-bed flat?

It's not likely to find anyone who even can rent to them privately. Their insurance or their lender will not approve it and lying violate the tenancy agreement.

I think the system of private renting here is awful, but there is little likelihood it will change as government has a vested interest is supporting BTL and inflated house prices.

'Coming from Australia, I was a bit shocked to find that landlords could refuse tenants with children sad. As someone said further up, how does everyone expect 'generation rent' to live?'

Yep, I was shocked, too. But it's totally legal. Generation Rent will need to emigrate if they want any security in housing. I encourage my own small children to do so.

I think it's dreadful why should whole generations live in insecure private rentals whilst many other own 2 or more houses
The op shouldn't have to live in a one bed flat any way
My family were proper poor. They still lived in reasonable sized housing

Lots of leasehold flats don't allow dogs. I rented a property out and the tenants got a dog after they moved in (not supposed to have pets as per the tenancy). Within a couple of weeks the house stank of dog and had claw marks on the doors and laminate flooring.

Children should be allowed though.

It's really difficult to find anywhere nice that takes dogs. It's one of the reasons we spent years without a dog. Even if you find someone to rent to you, most contracts mean you could end up with two months to find a new place if your landlord decides to sell.

'Would suit professional couple' is not just a suggestion, it's pretty much a requirement for a lot of places.

Your dog is beautiful! I'm sorry, I can't help (we will have somewhere to rent soon but it's in Yorkshire) as it wouldn't bother me, largely due to the lengths you will go to first to get somewhere (extra deposit, letters etc.)

Just reading the thread, diddl was any of that really called for?

we once rented to a chap with a dog when we had to move away for a year. When we returned to the property, we found out that he had 3 dogs - rottweilers - and that these dogs had terrorised the neighbours by leaping against the 6ft fence every time they went out in their garden. The fence was broken and he had put in some large metal fencing - of the sort found on a building site - against the existing fence. The garden was decimated. one of the reception rooms had plaster gounged out by the dogs scrabbling against the walls trying to get out. The door had a cat flap, which had been destroyed and the hole in the door chewed. The kitchen work surfaces were deeply scratched (by dogs jumping up). ANd that was just the dog damage.

This was a managed property, and the estate agents were supposed to do a home visit regularly, But couldint, because of the dogs.

I am shocked too, having rented in the much-maligned US...

OP, you need to widen your search area, start looking in properties that are more likely to be family friendly (basements, maisonettes, etc) and above all when you approach LLs in writing you need to rephrase this (or avoid coming across like this if this isn't the exact phrase you are using) in your approach:
' my charming, well-behaved and middle-aged darling won't be a danger to the property'
-- to me you come across as one of those people who think their dog is God's gift to the universe and will hear not one word against the darling poochie.

'The property' is someone's income generator, perhaps making a huge difference to their life. Perhaps they worked their tail off to buy it or refurbish it. Perhaps this is how they are affording an education for their children.

Don't come across as someone who puts their dog ahead of the LL's rightful interest in maintaining the property to a high standard.

Or someone who is slightly amused by the idea that their dog could in any way damage someone else's property..

'I am shocked too, having rented in the much-maligned US...'

Same here. But then, BTL is strongly discouraged in most states, especially outside the East Coast.

Never a problem. Go the complex where we wanted to live, put in an application, $100 credit check applied towards the deposit, you pass, you get a call when an apartment comes free, sign lease and pay deposit and rent, good to go.

Lease air-tight, no 'I need to sell/move in/let my friend move in.'

Lease up, renew or leave. No fees. No letting agents.

No kids is illegal.

Pets are just extra deposit.

I rent and have pets. Two dogs, guinea pigs and hamster. The landlord is lovely. We have a contract for a professional clean on leaving. No need for carpet clean as no dogs upstairs and hard flooring downstairs.

We are an hour from Waterloo in berkshire. Also fast train to paddington a few minutes drive away. (30 mins on train) lots of people here commute to the city every day. However 2 bed rental is about £1000 a month but if you moved to reading where the non stop paddington train is rent is cheaper.

I think that a bad tenant will damage a house, dog or no dog, one way or another. Responsible people train their dogs not to be destructive. The problem is not the dog per se, it is the owner's attitude. I'm sure many landlords have had houses damaged with no help from an animal!

As for refusing to rent to those which children: to me, that is an utterly repulsive attitude. Just take that thought to its logical conclusion - it leads to a very disturbing place in a society where most of us will never be able to buy.

''The property' is someone's income generator, perhaps making a huge difference to their life. Perhaps they worked their tail off to buy it or refurbish it. Perhaps this is how they are affording an education for their children.'

Therein lies the huge difference.

In other countries, the law makes it very hard to use properties as an income generator, pension, to pay for child's education.

It is a commodity, a business, or you find another investment vehicle.

This is why my own children, as Generation Rent, I strongly encourage to leave.

Nothing will ever change here. It never does.

WITH children. Gah. Mumsnet, we need a StoopidIPad smiley.

We rent with a dog in Surrey/Hampshire borders, 35 minute commute to Waterloo. Not sure what your budget is? We pay quite a lot now (£1600 per month) but it is a four bedroomed detached property. Our previous three bedroomed was a lot less.

For every person with a 'our terrible tenants let their pets ruin my house' story, there are loads of us who are stuck renting who wouldn't dream of letting their pet cause any damage or nuisance.