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.

Expat, we do plan to move back to Australia (well, back to in my case, DH is British) as we can't see anything changing here...how has such a basic human need for shelter been allowed to become such a commodity?

It has been for a while, Degu.

Yeah I know, back to feudalism I guess!

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.

You have the irresponsible dog owning tenants to blame for landlords reluctance to rent to pet owners. Experience counts for more than a potential tenant telling them how good their little doggy is.

You don't get this obsession with owning property on the continent. It's very much an English/British thing. Over there people are happy to rent.

I have to say I think my children have caused more damage than my dogie our house.

*dog in our house. Dogie.

ILove, the UK/Continental Europe comparison does not hold. They're not desperate to buy because their laws offer long-term security, protection and freedom.

I agree Expat.

Sicaq 'The problem is not the dog per se, it is the owner's attitude.'
Agree there too. That is why GoblinKeeper's description of her dog and comment on potential for damage to the property jumped out at me.

In the US, it's usually pets extra deposit of which a statutory amount will be retained, and extra charge if further damage is found.

There are rules about number of pets and policy about barking and/or disturbance to others.

But in general, it's just a matter of more money and you automatically pay out more on moving out.

No kids, however, is illegal unless your complex is an over-55/retirement community and those generally have strict policies about guests in general and how long they can say. But 'no kids' is illegal under federal law.

The difference is, of course, most landlord is business/corporation rather than individual people and again, the tax laws in many states make it very, very not worth one's while to BTL, as do lending laws.

Their sub-prime crash was peanuts compared to what it would have been had it occurred here due to the fact that the government never allowed so many ridiculous lending policies and renting is, for the most part, a secure and viable means of accommodation there.

I'd never heard of so many different mortgage products until I moved here because they were not allowed to exist there.

Things have got so far out of hand here, I don't really see a way out except leaving, tbh, for the next generation who, increasingly, aside from very lucky or wealthy, may never be able to afford to purchase and government will never revise letting laws.

The whole letting agency thing, too, is an anathema.

I've been a landlord. I'm well aware that irresponsible tenants cause problems. If you are going to be an irresponsible and damaging tenant then you will do that without a pet, be it a "little doggy" or a cat/snake/menagerie of guineas.

So true. Even if a LL is an individual, the renting of the property is normally conducted by their own limited corporation or partnership and taxes on any income are levied at a different rate from personal income tax. This has a bearing on the credits or deductions you can claim for a mortgage on a building that is not your primary residence in your taxes afaik. It also has a bearing on the amount of local and county taxes you pay - you pay a little less for your primary residence.

I always had 12 month leases, pages and pages long, with very specific addenda regarding pets and damage and moving in and out dates, notice to renew, notice not to renew, penalties for infractions, etc., etc. No I was left undotted and no T left uncrossed. It all seemed very well regulated. Another thing I never came across in the US was LLs conducting periodic inspections.

I'm about to rent a house out for the first time ever and the tenant has two biggish dogs. Not bothered, not asked for an extra deposit.

If the dogs do any damage which I doubt then it'll come out the normal deposit. There's no carpets downstairs and I have a Bissel carpet shampooer I can clean the carpets upstairs with.

'Another thing I never came across in the US was LLs conducting periodic inspections.'

Never heard of this, either, and rented for 12 years.

My db rented a house with dogs on the understanding the house wouldn't be finished to letting standard and let as it is. As it stands it's been great, cheaper rent and he can do it up as he pleases. Saved the LL a job

When I win the lottery, I am going to buy properly and specialise in letting them to people with pets.

It's heartbreaking when you read about people having to give up their beloved pets when they move into rented accommodation.

We own two rental properties in the US. When we first began renting, we allowed our tenant's to have a cat or small dog. What a disaster. We had to spend thousands on flea extermination, hardwood flooring and carpet replacement, new blinds and new paint in every room. We will never again allow pets.

I am the landlord of a family house in Scotland and our last tenant had a small dog (and 2 small kids). We asked them to have the carpets professionally cleaned when they left, which they did. The house was handed back in immaculate condition. Never occurred to me to refuse them.

Viva le beaver- if you get damage, you will lose money. You are not allowed to "improve" property so if for example they damage the existing carpet and you have to put in a new one, you cannot deduct the new carpet from their deposit. That would be an improvement (replacing used carpet for new). You will have to calculate the lifetime / wear n tear of carpet you had, tenancy term, then be allowed a partial deduction from their deposit.

You. Will. Lose. Money.

Even if the carpet was new when they moved in, if they had a year tenancy, you would need to deduct a year off the lifetime of a carpet (I forget if the average lifespan is 4 or 7 years).

Landlords are always out of pocket when a property is damaged.

I never had pets whilst privately renting, however, due to extra expense.

I haven't got a dog but most of my friends do. Out of the numerous people i know with dogs only one house actually smells of dog.

I buy dog perfume for my dog. My husband thinks I have lost the plot
We had a whole perfume, for the dog? Perfume, for the dog? Peter Kay type conversation about it
It's coconut btw

My land Lord is a farmer. I think he has smelt worse things than a wet dog :o

On a serious note. When housing is chatted about as being an 'income generator' therein lies the problem in attitude in this country. At no point during the transaction of in our case, over a thousand pound a month, does anyone acknowledge it's your home and your family a being brought up there. Who is doing who a favour it really fucks me off

Regardless of whether you pay an extortionate amount of money to live in somebody else's house, the fact remains that it is their asset and their house. It is your home only on a temporary basis. Whether the landlord merely breaks even, makes an operating loss or generates an income is irrelevant to the restrictions that he places on what a tenant can and cannot do with his house. The landlord is ultimately the person who will be left with a bill for repairing the property if the tenants don't look after it.
If landlords were not allowed to generate any income from rental property then a lot of people who own more than one property would leave the properties empty and just benefit from the long term appreciation in price. Nobody is going to let a property out knowing that they can't make a profit and could possibly be left with a huge bill for damages when the tenant moves out.
It might be your home whilst you are living there but it is still the landlords house and he needs to protect his investment.

Ooh dog perfume, tell me more Owllady

My LL comes and goes as she pleases. Very much 'lady' of the village and I should be thankful she lets me pay £800 a moth to live in her house.

With moldy carpets, broken taps and woodworm.

She knocked yesterday to tell me that she didn't think I should have an axe in the garden (buried in a woodblock) that only DP is strong enough to pull out as it was dangerous for the kids.

But I live in the SE with no hope of ever buying.