Pet friendly accommodation?

SusieT

I have a house that I bought (sadly just before the prices crashed so currently in negative equity ) as a BTL and the tennant has a pet (large hairy dog!). I don't charge any more for her than I would anyone without a dog and the times I have been to the house it has always been imaculate. She is the perfect tennant - always pays on time, lets me know of any problems and was happy for the repair man to liase with her when the boiler played up so he could get access to the house to mend it (I paid the bill).

I think it all depends on the tennant, some houses I have been to around here are not looked after at all and thats with just a couple of adults living there. If the tennant is clean tidy and looks after the place I would always be happy for a pet to be allowed.

BadgerFace_2

You say you'd advertise the property at a higher rent, surely this just penalises people that don't have pets?

I think you should seriously consider what you want from this, it sounds like you just want more money. No (decent) pet owner would argue they should have the place cleaned or a higher deposit...But I can't think of a genuine reason for charging a higher rent. If you just want more money, then put the price up, by the sounds of it your prices are competitive anyway.:)

Flower08

As a cat owner myself i have in the past paid higher deposits to allow me to have her there, but no way would i be willing to pay higher rent - i cant see any valid reason why you would want to charge higher rent.
Surely the higher deposit would cover any costs for damage etc... having said that i have always received my deposit back in full - if you have a well trained pet there is no reason why there should be any damage.

chucknorris

Flower08 wrote: »

As a cat owner myself i have in the past paid higher deposits to allow me to have her there, but no way would i be willing to pay higher rent - i cant see any valid reason why you would want to charge higher rent.
Surely the higher deposit would cover any costs for damage etc... having said that i have always received my deposit back in full - if you have a well trained pet there is no reason why there should be any damage.

Read the downloadable booklet from the link on this thread it explains it better, in fact here is the exact extract:

Pet payment: You may also want to ask pet-owning tenants for a non-refundable pet payment to cover the cost of professionally cleaning the property once they have moved out. This would cover the cleaning of carpets, soft-furnishings and curtains.
It is good practice to provide the tenant with a written estimate for professionally cleaning your property so that they know the pet payment you are asking for is fair.
Any pet payment taken by the landlord or letting agent should be taken at the start of the tenancy and would be non-refundable.

N79

chucknorris wrote: »

Read the downloadable booklet from the link on this thread it explains it better, in fact here is the exact extract:

Pet payment: You may also want to ask pet-owning tenants for a non-refundable pet payment to cover the cost of professionally cleaning the property once they have moved out. This would cover the cleaning of carpets, soft-furnishings and curtains.
It is good practice to provide the tenant with a written estimate for professionally cleaning your property so that they know the pet payment you are asking for is fair.
Any pet payment taken by the landlord or letting agent should be taken at the start of the tenancy and would be non-refundable.

This would be a good solution as this is clearly not a deposit but a charge.

N79

lizzielondon wrote: »

didn't see N79's post- didn't know about the premium

N79 could you have 2 separate deposits to get round this? a regular security deposit and a pet damage deposit? Or would this also count as a premium?

No a deposit is a deposit is a deposit. A court will see though such a transparent attempt to evade the housing acts! The total deposit taken in connection with an AST can not exceed 2 months rent.