No pets allowed???

louiseg0151

Thanks for all the interesting responses. I have now moved got the house and in the process of moving in. The tenancy agreement states "No animals are allowed in the property without permission in writing (which we will not unreasonably withold)". I have also met one of our neighbours and she said the previous tenants had a dog so I am just drafting an email to the LA to request written permission to have a dog in the house.

Fire_Fox

catkins wrote: »

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?

All dogs don't moult (lose their hair seasonally) but all dogs do lose hair continuously throughout the year just the same as humans. And most dogs do smell at least a bit unless you are fastidious with your cleaning. I have enjoyed living with both dogs and cats BTW.

It's all very well for the OP to say she doesn't intend for the dog to go upstairs and will use a babygate, but how will the landlord police that? It's also all very well to say the dog is housetrained, they still get an upset tummy every now and then. The damage deposit is there to protect the landlord, but if the two parties disagree on doggy smells then he may not see his money for a while.

I specified no pets and no smokers when I let my flat but ended up with a smoker (useless agent!). He cleaned the place very thoroughly when he left, and only the 'office' seemed to look stained, but the hall carpet stunk. I very much doubt he was smoking in the hall as it doesn't even have a window never mind anywhere to sit, but it stunk all the same.

dawnie1972

Well i've finally found the new home i've been looking for, landlord is fine with me having 3 dogs, and has dropped the initial asking rent by £75pcm. However, i'm panicking about the agent contacting my current landlord for a reference as having loads of problems, he locked my dogs out in the garden and left them whilst i was at work, he went round one day and one of my dogs had been sick now he will only allow them in the garage - despite the fact i have the carpets cleaned regularly, pay on time etc etc.

sugarpants_2

I hope you manage to keep the yorkie.
I live in rented and my kids would love pets but our stinking horrid landlord says no. Hed allow for a rabitt but wants £100 deposit extra incase it damages the lawn!!!! So funny. So looks lke all the kids will be having is a boring old goldfish. I hate renting!!
So I really hope you have a nice landlord unlike mine. Good luck and let us know what happens:rolleyes:

clairet707 wrote: »

As both a landlord and a tenant Id say no too... Sorry

Cats and dogs both produce smells and accidents...

Our current house (rented) has had a cat in it before and H is allergic to cats, he has spent the last two weeks sneezing and our landlady is refusing to pay for the carpets to be cleaned (they were filthy dirty as well as slightly smelly)

The house we rent out, the people we bought it off had a cat and we spent ages getting the carpets cleaned before we moved in, it was a major hassle as it was a cream carpet (note to self dont buy cream carpets...) so we would want the carpets to remain that way as long as possible

I personally love cats (as does H - he grew up with them but has become allergic to them over time) so we are not anti pet (though admittedly I dont like dogs) but they cause far too much mess and hassle

sugarpants_2

After reading this Im no considering writing my landlord a letter and see if we can have a small dog?! I bet hell ant £1000k deposit for that! LMAO

Hope your LA lets you keep the yorkie. Bless. They are tiny and the only trouble I can imagine is perhaps a slight bark from time to time.

Also if the current tenants had a dog it shouldnt be a problem. Good Luck again!

clairet707

sugarpants wrote: »

I hope you manage to keep the yorkie.
I live in rented and my kids would love pets but our stinking horrid landlord says no. Hed allow for a rabitt but wants £100 deposit extra incase it damages the lawn!!!! So funny. So looks lke all the kids will be having is a boring old goldfish. I hate renting!!
So I really hope you have a nice landlord unlike mine. Good luck and let us know what happens:rolleyes:

Why have you quoted me on this?

lostinrates

I have found this thread really interesting.

As an animal owner, one of the reasons we have stayed with my parents rather than renting while loking to buy in UK is the difficulty of finding places to rent with the animals in UK.

I too have been in ouses where the place has been made odiferous by animals: but on the other hand, I make considerable effort to keep our place so it doesn't. Part of that is ensuring where we live is suitable (no carpets, painted rather than papered walls in rooms where dogs go for ease of cleaning), hard standing not grass immeadiately outside entry doors.

If all animals smelled and were not kept in a smell free way, then indeed, selling all properties where pets have lived would be very hard. But my parents (who used to keep five giant breed house dogs, and sometimes more) have bought and sold easily several times. My parents once rented a cottage haveing sold but not bought, with three large dogs and a cat. It was a small bungalow and had tatty carpets. My parents arangement with the LL was they would pay a double deposit, and rather than cleaning carpets on the end of tenancy replace them and repaint, as the carpets were on last legs. This was MORE than adaquate and the LL certainly got the better deal from that.

That said, to rent with our lot I would be happy to make a simialar arrangement, and pay a larger deposit.


I'd say if you arrived at our home in the morning you would know we have dogs and cats. But while they are being fed in the morning I whip round, pick up and replace the bedding (I wash the dogs bedding pretty much everyday, unlike many people I think I can smell our pets and am determined that I shall smell them for less than half an hour a day, from when I'm up till I've done the morning whip round), hoover, and wipe the walls of the key areas where they sleep. For example, there is a corner on a wall where they brush past and if not cleaned then an undeniable film of dirt gathers. The same where a lot of people push doors open above handles.

Similarly though, I wipe light switches, door handles and bits of walls/doors where people touch, and am often a bit surprised to see the ick on them in other peoples homes. A lot of people who have pets develop a more comprehensive cleaning/maintainance plan than the averge person, and I think our place is at least as non-smelly as he average house.

Fire_Fox

Broadly speaking there are four types of people - clean people who happen to have pets/ smoke, clean people who have no pets/ do not smoke, filthy people who have pets/ smoke and filthy people who have no pets/ do not smoke. The clean people obviously make better tenants irrespective of their pet or smoking status, whereas filthy people are even more likely to damage the rental property if they also have pets and/ or smoke in the house.

Sammy_Girl

When we rented a property in 2005/2006 we didn't have a dog and the tenancy agreement stated no pets. A few months after moving in we decided to get a dog but checked with the LA first because of the agreement. They in turn asked the landlord who agreed on the premise that we got a small dog and got the carpets professionally cleaned when we ended our tenancy. You don't know unless you ask - always best to be honest. Incidentally we fully intended on having a small dog in the form of a Jack Russell - but our bundle of joy ended up being a JR cross (with a Pointer :eek:) so actually grew to be quite big. Nevertheless, all parties were happy.

Good luck OP, and well done on taking on Pooch. Saves another one from ending up in Rescue.