No pets allowed???

catkins

olly300 wrote: »

As a dog owner you won't realise that your dog moults or leaves any smells behind.

I've lived with both cats and dogs, and being a contact lense wearer I've found little fine short animal hairs on my hands after washing them if I've been in one of the rooms they have been in.

I only realised this was a major problem when I've lived with people who are allergic to dogs or cats. As even though the animal is no longer there and the place has been cleaned properly they will start having symptoms due to the animal hairs.

So while not all cats and dogs will chew or scratch furniture and leave a mess behind, and even if the owner cleans up after them unless the animal is one that is specifically breed not to moult, the hair can cause problems for a good while afterwards.

My dog does NOT moult - there are actually quite a few breeds which do not.

It is ridiculous to state that as a dog owner I do not realise my house smells. I have a very good sense of smell. When I had mice I could smell them. Also my mother in law would definitely say if my house smelt - she would get great satisfaction in saying that.

I have been in houses that smelt of animals so if I can smell it in other houses surely I would smell it in mine?

chickmug

catkins wrote: »

As I said above, if my house smelt (I have a large dog and 2 cats) my mother in law would tell me. She is a very nasty woman and has made rude comments but she has never once mentioned about any smells in my house.

The smell of dog does NOT permeate fabric.

I just cannot believe most landlords do not have a problem with children and yet refuse animals. Children can cause far more damage than an animal.

When I have looked at houses to rent some of them have been filthy and disgusting - I would not let my dog live in them.

Some pets cause problems, some children cause problems and some tenants cause problems - I accept all that. But putting my professional hat on whilst I have never done the rental side unlike the sale side of property, as an agent, I have many friends who have and listened to many a horror story at our regular meetings.

I am sorry that I, for one, never let to those with pets or kids with the houses I own. And as I have said I do wish you well but on a public forum you must be prepared to listen to all points of view surely - and I along with others have given mine.

I don't feel it is fair to knowingly proceed until you have checked the matter out with LA/LL otherwise this shows a lack of integrity in my opinion.

westv

On a similar note if you rent a holiday cottage in this country many companies charge dog owners extra. Is that fair? Probably not but that's life I'm afraid. Either pay up or go elsewhere.

jillie1974

a girl i work with has laminate flooring and a dog, her dog has had the odd accident (peed everywhere) ruined her laminate and now has had to get all new laminate flooring.
my other friends dog chewed loads of furniture in their rented house. they have had 3 applications refused because they have the dog.

Bermuda_John

if a tenant had a dog without me knowing i would evict them. you cant trust them after that.

tbs624

I have already said early on in the thread that I think the OP should talk to the LL and get his/her agreement, but on a wider note the OFT has said that it views blanket"no pets" clauses as potentially unfair contract term and they maintain that in another EU country this has already been upheld. The thinking is that the specific circumstances have to be considered, or a goldfish in a tank could be excluded from the property.

Most decent tenancy agreements tend to say something along the lines of "the T may not keep pets at the property without the LLs written agreement, such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld" . Some add a clause to the effect that the LL reserves the right to revoke that agreement if the pet causes damage or nuisance. The OFT does say that they would be unlikely to object of a tenancy clause prohibited "the keeping of pets that could harm the property, affect subsequent tenants or be a nuisance to other residents"

The bottom line is though that no T should simply assume that it is okay to bring in a pet, nor say that they don't have one then bring one in, as the OP seems to want to do. If agreement is given then the LL has every right to insist that a larger deposit is paid and that the T should pay for flea treatment/specific cleaning on exit.

tbs624

Mrsmoneypenny wrote: »

...(the agent is very keen on spotting damage, she visits every two months)/....

Slight side issue to the OPs query but your LA needs to recognise that she could be viewed as interfering with the Ts right to quiet enjoyment of the property - inspecting every two months is far too intrusive, especially for a T whom you say has been with you for a couple of years.

Mrsmoneypenny

tbs624 wrote: »

Slight side issue to the OPs query but your LA needs to recognise that she could be viewed as interfering with the Ts right to quiet enjoyment of the property - inspecting every two months is far too intrusive, especially for a T whom you say has been with you for a couple of years.

Yes I suppose it may look intrusive, but funnily enough no tenants have mentioned this when they sign up or the agent arrives. They always give notice I dont know whether we have a really good agent because everything seems to be running like clockwork and if the tenants have anything that they need an answer on they feel very confident to speak to the agent.

It also makes things so easy because if there is a problem the tenants have got to know that we/the agent are approachable.

We all seem to be benefitting from the way things are going.

catkins

westv wrote: »

On a similar note if you rent a holiday cottage in this country many companies charge dog owners extra. Is that fair? Probably not but that's life I'm afraid. Either pay up or go elsewhere.

I have never paid more to stay in a cottage with my dog. I think that is unfair. Why not charge more for children?

catkins

jillie1974 wrote: »

a girl i work with has laminate flooring and a dog, her dog has had the odd accident (peed everywhere) ruined her laminate and now has had to get all new laminate flooring.
my other friends dog chewed loads of furniture in their rented house. they have had 3 applications refused because they have the dog.

That is because the dogs have not been trained properly. My dog has never ever chewed anything he should not have even when he was a puppy but I made sure he was never bored and not left for long periods