Asking landlord for a dog...

[embarrassedabout]

Hello,

Would you mind checking this email I've written for our landlord.
They have verbally told us they have a strict no pet policy so I'm assuming the answer will be no but I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't even bother asking, as we're all desperate for a dog plus the tenancy agreement says no pets "without written permission", so may as well try.
The last tenant snuck a dog in and when we moved in there were fleas in the house ...another reason I think it'd be a no.

Did you mean to copy in the email?

@missbattenburg that would be helpful wouldn't it

Dear Mrs and Mr ,

We are aware the tenancy agreements states no pets unless written permission is granted and we are really hoping you will consider our request to keep a dog at . ........Road. Having done lots of research, we are confident we have found an ideal breed that is small, none shedding/hyperallergenic and quiet. Our dog would would attend training sessions, be chipped, up to date with all vaccinations and treatments (our little boy is allergic to flea bites so we can assure you there wouldn’t be a situation like the last tenant who’s dog left fleas as we would be extra vigilant) and be fully insured-which we would be able to show you evidence of. The dog would be very rarely left in the house alone as it will be primarily a emotional support/ therapy dog.
Please be confident we would continue to maintain the high standard of care of this house, with a dog here, as we love this house as if it were our own. We can pay a “pet deposit” too, in the unlikely event any damage was caused by the dog, although this would be extremely unlikely. When we vacate the property we would have the carpets professionally cleaned as per stated on the tenancy agreement, however we would also have the whole house professionally cleaned.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to hearing back from you.

Sounds good to me.
I'd just change this bit When we vacate the property we would have the carpets professionally cleaned as per stated on the tenancy agreement, however we would also have the whole house professionally cleaned. to If/when we were to vacate the property, we would have the whole house professionally cleaned, rather than just the carpets mentioned in the tenancy agreement.

I'm not sure I can better that email very much, tbh. Perhaps something to reassure the landlord that this is intended as an only pet so they don't worry that saying yes now will open the floodgates for more requests?

Perhaps something around a longer term commitment at your current house, if you can offer that? So offering to sign up to a longer term than you are currenlty on.

Perhaps something about neutering/spaying if you intend to do that?

Perhaps also offering to treat the house for fleas, as well as the pet? Indorex is a great preventative treatment so you could add that you will use it every six months.

Finally, I might be tempted to reword this bit: "We can pay a “pet deposit” too, in the unlikely event any damage was caused by the dog, although this would be extremely unlikely." to something more like "We are confident that our dog would never be allowed to cause any damage to the property but are happy to pay additonal money into our deposit as extra reassurance and protection for you".

It just changes the intent of the sentence from 'it probably won't happen but it might' to 'in definately won't happen but we understand you might be worried'.

Offering to pay extra into the deposit is definitely a good idea as I'm fairly sure it's what convinced our landlady, we paid an extra £300 into the deposit to have our dog.

If your landlord does say yes then make sure you have written and signed agreements, we had written permission and when we renewed the tenancy added the having a dog as an extra clause.

Do you deal with a letting agency or directly with the landlord?

My tenancy agreement said no pets but I asked my landlady and she agreed, as long as on leaving the property I had the house professionally cleaned and provided proof. I think your email is great, good luck!!!

It's a good email, particularly with the edits suggested above.

You might want to change 'hyperallergenic' to 'hypoallergenic' though if you mean it won't trigger allergies!

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your tips.
I'm starting to feel a bit more hopeful.
Will edit the email

These tips were not free. Our fees can be paid later in photos.

@AmIThough I have changed it^^ to what you wrote , thank you.

@Walney We got the house through an agent but everything is done directly through landlord once tenancy was signed. We haven't asked landlord for anything besides sorting the fleas when we first moved in and having the fence repaired when a storm broke it, so hopefully that works in our favour.

@thestarvingcaterpillar that’s great, what dog did you get?
I’d be delighted if our landlords said the same

@BreastedBoobilyToTheStairs oh yes don’t want to give the impression it’s hyper and causes allergies lol

@missbattenburg Of course!!!

Glad I could help - good luck!

@embarressedabout This is my beautiful boy!! He's a 2 year old rescue pup. I hope it works out for you!

As a landlord I face this problem with my tenants. There's some new legislation called the Tenant Fees Act 2019 which appears to:

1. limit the deposit I can take from you to 5 weeks rent, which can't be exceeded by an extra pet deposit. So if my normal deposit were 4 weeks then I could take an extra 1 week, but if I normally ask for 5 weeks then I can't take any more.
2. limits what I can deduct from your deposit when you leave, there being specific prohibition for "fumigation or de-infestation at the end of a tenancy".

So it seems that even if I succeed in taking a higher deposit, if you leave my house flea-ridden at the end I can't deduct the de-infestation cost from that deposit. And the problem is that fleas are capable of surviving professional cleaning of carpets, and anyway could get into other soft furnishings.

Also if you get the wrong pet and they chew carpets or woodwork (my own puppy did this once), you could easily end up with damage that significantly exceeds the whole deposit, not just the extra pet deposit.

I've allowed pets in the past but am now feeling decidedly nervous about doing it again.

I would say no.

I've allowed pets in the past and came to regret it; with the new legislation on how much deposit we can lodge with DPS, as Filka points out, it's very complicated.

With no clear way of protecting my properties against pet damage, it's against my interest to allow pets, sadly.

Also if you ever needed to find a new rental, you'd find your options very limited once you have a dog.

That's a shame, and also why renting is hugely unfair on tenants. I understand needing to protect your property, but doing this to the point where families can't treat a house as a home makes life miserable.

Having written and signed confirmation from both tenant and landlord that the pet is allowed and any damage will be paid for by tenant should be enough. Inventories should have photos of the house anyway, and you could take newer photos before getting the dog or pet.

@thestarvingcaterpillar aww, he looks very sweet

Another landlord who has come to regret allowing a dog.

It would be a firm no from me.

I agree @walney - as property prices mean many people face a lifetime of renting we should be increasing their rights to lead a full and secure life in rented properties. For me that means:

a) much longer tenancy terms, giving people greater security where they want it
b) giving people the right to keep pets, even if numbers and sizes are limited. To balance this there should be a specific allowance for an increased pet deposit
c) rent controls and a transparent rent index

I don't agree that it's unfair on tenants to not allow pets. Limiting potential damage and costs is a practical part of the business - a happy tenancy often requires understanding and compromise on both sides.

Renting is very different to owning, with positives and negatives. You can't have it all, as such. Same with owning, too!

Certainly when I rented, I never considered having a pet as I would have been worried about damage/cleaning costs and finding available properties.

I do have sympathy for tenants wanting a pet, but this sympathy has been abused in the past and I've found holding a firm no pets policy has really helped install boundaries and protect properties.

I said yes to a tenant's little girl having a hamster. The next inspection, they had a parrot. The next inspection after that, they had a kitten.

The hamster escaped and bit through trunking, then electrics and the telephone line, the parrot was often let loose in the kitchen and I had to replace kitchen cabinets after the tops were covered and warped in bird poop, and the wee kitten pee'd and pooped throughout the downstairs and the carpets were stinky/stained. It also scratched the carpet at the bottom stairs to bits.

The damage cost to me was well over £1000, but the DPS only (legally) awarded a small fraction of the fees from the deposit.

If I'd had said no to the hamster, they wouldn't have got the bird or kitten and I would have saved a considerable amount of money.

It's not fair for me to pay for damage caused by tenant's pets if legally I cannot be reimbursed those costs.

many people face a lifetime of renting we should be increasing their rights

So the government gave them a load of extra protections and rights against landlords in the Tenants Fees Act and one consequence of that is that the business risk to a landlord of allowing pets is no longer acceptable (even if it was before).

The problem with rights is that there are always obligations to counter-balance them.