AIBU to say it's wrong for landlords to deny pets

[PankyE]

We really wanted to get a cat. 2 DC have been asking for ages and I have PTSD and anxiety so a cat would be lovely for me too.
Landlord said flat no to any pets whatsoever.

Absolutely gutted. Should tenants have the right to pets? Some landlords don't even allow children and that's worse obviously.

We pay rent so should we be able to do what we want? Like in a council or housing association property.

Yabu. We have in the past agreed to rent with the agreement of one cat. Turns out there were five cats. We had to refinish floors in entire flat. We stopped renting our flat after that. Our children occupy the flat now.

If I owned and rented out a property I would allow pets, but with a hefty deposit to cover any damages.

I didn't realise some leases forbid pets, I have no idea if ours does or no as it didn't occur to me to even check! I presumed that as we'd bought the property we could pretty much do what we wanted. Hey ho, the freeholder must have noticed the cat proofing by now so I presume he's not bothered!

We pay rent so should we be able to do what we want?

When you own your own property you can do what you want. Until then you do as your landlord says.

It isn't a council house or housing association property though, it's a private property where the LL can decide pets or no pets.

I would give a flat no as well, as animals can damage a property.

YABU, if you want council house terms and conditions, get your name on the list.

I think it’s a shame when landlords don’t allow pets because most owners are responsible and wouldn’t let them damage the property.
Pets aren’t automatically allowed in council properties either though. My mum lives in a ground floor council flag and isn’t allowed a cat or dog.
Would you be allowed a smaller pet like a guinea pig where the mess is more easily contained and unlikely to damage the property. They are very affectionate and friendly and just as good for cuddles.

You signed a contract saying you wouldn’t have pets.

If you’re not happy then move somewhere that might let you have pets. Prepare to pay a massive deposit.

And you had no reason to let your children get their hopes up. That’s on you, not your perfectly reasonable landlord/landlady.

We said no to pets in our house when we let it out, despite having 2 dogs ourselves when we lived in there. You can offer to pay for the landlords pet coverage add on the insurance. Given that this often adds £100's to the policy it doesn't seem viable.

YABU OP. I love my pets. I've had cats and dogs. Yet unfortunately every pet I have owned has damaged my home in some way, some substantially. It's incredibly common and can be very expensive. When I rented a house I specifically looked for a landlord that would accept my cats before moving in. They caused minimal damage during my time there but I paid an extra deposit for them (which i received 100% back as we left the place as we found it and rectified everything ourselves before moving out).

I don't blame any landlord for not wanting animals in their property.

Of course you don't get to do what you want because you pay rent because it's not your bloody house! I understand being gutted, we were gutted when we were renting that we couldn't get a pet but I can completely understand why landlords wouldn't accept them

& fleas

YABVVVVU.

It's the landlord's home, not yours.

They obviously want to protect their investment ! We have a buy to let and pets aren't allowed . You sound very entitled and to be fair most rentals don't allow pets and cats can love for 20 years so it's a mistake to get one in my opinion !

I think it's reasonable for landlords to be cautious and ask for a larger deposit. We are renting in London and have a cat, and when we were searching for a place a few years ago we made it very clear to the agents that we had a cat.
No damage at all has been done over the past 3 years, but if you're allergic there might be a smell? We didn't actually pay more deposit, but in our contract there's a clause that when we move out we have to opt for a deep clean, apparently for pet owners, which is fine.
But if you have young children, that must be a risk to any rental property as well

It's the landlord's home, not yours.

No it’s the landlords property but it’s the OPs home.

I do understand why landlords want to protect their investment though.

We have a property and have allowed cats and dogs in the past. We have had to clean up traces of fur and hairs, have had the bottom of doors scratched to pieces and also had to air the place out for days after with BOTH sets of animals. Our landlord asked that we don't have dogs as before us their dog scratched the floorboards and the skirting boards and the neighbours complained about barking at night so YABU and it's not the same as children at all!

I said yes to a previous tenant having a dog. I can only assume they had an untrained puppy because the carpets were ruined. Cost a lot more to replace than the deposit. So the last tenants I said no when they asked for a cat. They clearly ignored me because the house stank of cat pee when they moved out. Some tenants might be responsible but a landlord can't rely on that all the time.

blue

Regular checks would have identified a cat.
I know you have to give notice but the cat smell would still be in the house weeks later.

@RomanyRoots notice has to be given for checks. The agency did checks every 12 weeks. The cat wasn't present and some smelly candles can mask a smell short term. I had no reason to know , or evidence to prove the presence of the cat while they were there. It was after they moved out when the house was empty that the smell of stale cat pee became apparent. I know people in the past who have done similar things when renting, hiding pets.
I'm not some millionaire BTL landlord, I bought the house back when 100% mortgages were a thing as my first home. I met my DH and moved in with him. my house was in negative equity so I couldn't afford to sell it, hence becoming a landlord. It costs me a fortune to have that house. Tenants moan about bad landlords but don't seem to understand that damage they cause has to be paid for. I get things sorted immediately when my tenant needs something fixing. The house that I live in has to wait for diy as I often end up spending the money on the rental house.
Not all landlords are arseholes, and not all tenants are perfect and respectful that they are living in someone else's house.

Have a look at the living room wall behind my cat in this pic. Botcat goes through phases of wallpaper removal - there's another patch that's even worse under the window.

blue

I was a ll myself for a while, I certainly wasn't knocking you
I too had a no pet rule too.
We used to do our own checks as didn't use a management agent, tbh it was because I had heard stories about them missing things and using their own mates who jumped up the bill for LL.