Considering not telling a landlord I have a cat.

[Mirrors123]

Please don't be mean, I am in pieces about potentially having to give up my beloved rescue cat.

I really need to move house. Buying is not an option for me so I have to rent. I have been looking for months and cannot find a single property that allows pets. I have one, well trained indoor cat.

Would it be a really stupid idea to just not tell the landlord and hope for the best? What would be the consequences if a landlord found out?

Helpful suggestions only please, the alternative is giving up my rescue cat who absolutely hated the shelter. Thank you x

[Fluffycloudland77]

Stevesone1 is your idol Fergus Wilson by any chance?.

[OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow]

My son did this-his original ll in a house share didn't mind, then he moved to a city centre flat. Lots of hiding of stuff-even taking it fir a walk in it's carrier during inspections, then he had to move swiftly (ea from flat mate) and my dd smuggled the poor thing into her flat. I thought they were both daft putting their tenancy and deposits at risk. (Yes, we've ended up with it now)

[YellWat]

Our tenants did this with a dog. Totally destroyed our trust. Now we want them out. I don't want to do anything to keep them happy as they have shown themselves to be dishonest and there bad tenants. We've had tenants we wanted to keep so have not raised rents etc. These ones I would do nothing to keep them so rent rises will come every possible time.

[YellWat]

*they're!

[mencken]

the effect of outlawing higher deposits...pets can cause massive damage and there's now no comeback. Well done, Shelter.

I'd take a tenant with a cat if they were otherwise good (didn't smoke, had run a house before and earned enough to pay the rent). But if you are in a high-demand area a pet makes you less desirable, sorry. Lying on a contract isn't a good start.

[HolyheadBound]

God, don’t do this. I’m a landlord and I wouldn’t mind one jot if you asked me for permission. But I would care a bloody lot if you just hid it from me.

^^this.

So much of a ll/tenant relationship is based on trust. I would absolutely consider pets, but I don't like liars.

[dreichsky]

I also agree with this. I do give permission for pets but if you got one without consent I would lose trust in you as a tenant and want you out of my house.
Although the removal of the pet deposit does mean I am less relaxed about this than I was.

[viccat]

There are a LOT of human tenants who cause a lot more damage than a calm adult cat. Same goes for "smells" so many are mentioning on this thread. I once lived above a family who liked to cook the most strong smelling foods several times a week (I think it was boiled goat meat or something - not spicy, just an overwhelming strong smell), it was horrendous. I bet they could definitely not smell my indoor cat though...

[MangoSalsa]

Looked after a couple of young cats for a colleague for a week once while I was renting.

She had to go home (abroad) for her dad’s funeral and was just desperate. Lived too far away for me to pop round to feed them once a day.

It was really stressful. They didn’t have any accidents/do any damage or get discovered but I was so nervous. They were amazing and it was a real wrench to drop them off when she came back.

[MangoSalsa]

So agree with pp- ask!

[Coyoacan]

I normally prefer total honesty, but really the LLs who are judging people for lying about a well house-trained pet are being desingenuous. There is a power imbalance between anyone with a place to rent and a prospective tenant. If someone has a pet and nobody will rent to them because of it, what are they supposed to do?

I live in Mexico City and everyone in my joint-owned building has had to move out for a year, while the building is being repaired because of earthquake damage. Nearly everyone has pets and an ongoing mortgage, so finding affordable rent and a place that accepts pets has been a nightmare.

Same when I was young and moved to Canada. Every job, even washing floors, asked for five years experience. How on earth you were supposed to get that experience, nobody said. So we all had to lie or remain unemployed.

[OrchidInTheSun]

Fact My cat has never had fleas. Fact My dog doesn't smell. Fact Some landlords are aresholes.

All these statements are true.

[OrchidInTheSun]

Although I don't know what an areshole is

[thecatneuterer]

@OrchidInTheSun

[Treacletoots]

Another one to just point out that this is a problem almost entirely created by Shelter and Generation Rent.

I'm a landlord and have allowed pets, once I was met with a 1500 bill to replace carpets that had been completely ruined by the tenants dog, and the deposit service sided with the tenant.

Other times, tenants have been absolutely fine and you wouldn't have realised they had a dog. However overwhelmingly important fact here is that they asked me, and agreed in advance.

Now that the tenants fee act has banned pet deposits I will seriously consider taking on new tenants with pets, simply because it could leave me very out of pocket should they turn out to be another like the first.

[Ellabella989]

I did this when I was younger and told my landlord when I was moving in that I would be looking after my mum’s cat a few times a year when she would go up to Scotland. He wasn’t bothered and he also never did any checks of the house the whole time I was there (even though the lease said he would be doing an inspection every 3 months)

[AwdBovril]

DH & I are looking to move at present - about half the places we've looked at so far have been amenable to small animals if we'd pay an extra £20-30 per month on top of the standard rent.

[Coyoacan]

DH & I are looking to move at present - about half the places we've looked at so far have been amenable to small animals if we'd pay an extra £20-30 per month on top of the standard rent

Well that is good news.

[scaryteacher]

I let my family home out - advertised as cat friendly, but no dogs. had several cats here over the past decade. Mine will be home tomorrow when we've unpacked.

[timshelthechoice]

I wouldn't say a dickie bird. We did this when we had a hamster.

[WhatALearningCurve]

Please don't do this. I work in property and I've had so many tenants lie about pets and you're always found out.

For starters It's rude and disrespectful of someone else's property, secondly, I'm incredibly allergic to cats. I come out in hives if I come into contact with cat hair and am uncomfortable for days. How is it fair to make me come into contact without knowledge? If I know I can preempt with medication, if I don't know then you're just working off the assumption that any issues are someone else's problems and not your own

[Youngatheart00]

Would your current landlord be prepared to give a reference re you / your pet?

I really think by approaching landlords direct and being upfront and open (“I have one clean and well behaved cat, I do not anticipate him causing any damage whatsoever but I am happy to pay for a professional clean at the end of the tenancy”) You will find somewhere.

Presuming you have an excellent record of payment?

Please don’t give your furry friend up.

[timshelthechoice]

Just tell them someone with a cat was visiting or you were looking after a relative's cat for a bit.

[DriftingLeaves]

I'm a LL and I don't allow pets. If you snook one in you'd be out on your ear.

Two family members have severe allergies to cat dander and they do the maintenance on the house we let out.

[thewomanontheshore]

Actually, as is clear from this thread, you're not always found out.