Renting with dogs

Jowo_2

I just want to point out an imbalance in the posts on this topic.

A number of landlords come onto this forum complaining about damage to their properties caused by tenants pets, plus complaints from new tenants who move in and get fleas or complain about the smell caused by the previous tenants pets.

And every tenant having problems finding a rental property with pets insist theirs will not cause a problem and can't understand why landlords are reluctant...

weevil_

Because some pets are different than others, it's down to the owners and what they let their pets do. The worst ones have made it bad for the better ones and unfortunately LLs see all pets as the same thing so you're no more likely to be allowed a hamster than a dog.

My current tenancy said no pets but I asked if I could bring up my corn snake from my Mum's because basicly they're no different than having a fish tank. My landlady even came round to freshen his water when I had to stay away longer than intended and offered to feed him.

moromir

redlady_1 wrote: »

The day you let your house it becomes a business. The object of a business is to maximise profit. If that means renting to people with pets (as there appears to be a lovely gaping hole in the market to do so) with all the protection in place, then I would be quite mad not to do so.

My bolding.

This is an overly simplistic viewpoint.

The object of a business is to maximise profit within risk margins acceptable to the owner of the business.

Landlords have the right to consider pet owning renters a risk they are not willing to take.

RosieDG

I've been a tenant for a few years. In that time I've tried to keep the house in good condition. Despite my efforts, over the years sometimes my kids have been sick. They've had "accidents" when recently potty-trained. They've spilt drinks, ketchup etc on the carpet. They've knocked over pots of painting water. One of them drew on the walls when she was a toddler.

I've done my best to make the damage good. After my toddler drew on the wall my friend repapered with lining paper and we painted it to match the other walls. Still, I don't expect to get my full deposit back.

My dog has caused no damage at all.

tigger23

RosieDG wrote: »

I've been a tenant for a few years. In that time I've tried to keep the house in good condition. Despite my efforts, over the years sometimes my kids have been sick. They've had "accidents" when recently potty-trained. They've spilt drinks, ketchup etc on the carpet. They've knocked over pots of painting water. One of them drew on the walls when she was a toddler.

I've done my best to make the damage good. After my toddler drew on the wall my friend repapered with lining paper and we painted it to match the other walls. Still, I don't expect to get my full deposit back.

My dog has caused no damage at all.

Thank you - good point :T

We are hoping to have children in the next couple of years, and as the vast majority of properties also state no children alongside no pets, it seems we will find it even more difficult to find a property with children and animals.

We will be letting our house out whilst we're renting and have every intention of allowing dogs - damage can be repaired/replaced (isn't that what the deposit is for?) hairs/stains can be removed and so can smells if cleaned properly.

Re: allowing 1 but not 3, I am having to bite my tongue and not reply back to the estate agent to find out why, as I do not understand why 1 is acceptable (with all the so called mess/damage and smells it brings) but 3 aren't.

Thanks for all your replies so far...I've just contacted someone on Gumtree so fingers crossed this one will work out Our of the 5 estate agents I emailed yesterday, only 1 even bothered to reply!

Sandringham_2

Having read may of these posts I have come to the conculsion that you will never convince people that don't like dogs that renting a property to someone with 3 dogs is a good idea so don't bother talking to people like that. What you need to do is to find a Dog owning landlord that understands that dogs are part of your family. This may seem like an odd suggestion but why don't you contact the local vets/kennels near where you want to move to and explain your problem... you never know they may know of someone ( who may know someone etc) who may be in a position to help you out. You could also ask them if you could put a wanted card up for you, Also you could try an add in the local paper and put cards up in the local supermarkets.

Good luck with it anyway.

S

mostlycheerful

“A furious householder recorded his neighbour's dog barking and played it full blast at 3am to annoy her after being driven crazy by the terrier's constant yapping, a court has heard.
Andrew Nicklin recorded the sound of Catherine Farrell's tiny dog barking and replayed it to her at top volume during the early hours of the morning.
He also banged on Ms Farrell's fence and played his drums loudly because he was so incensed about the noise made by her 12in tall Shih-Tzu Yorkshire terrier cross called Buster.
…Nicklin called Ms Farrell a 'Brain of Britain moron' over the garden fence…He wrote to the council saying the dog was constantly barking…”

dailymail dot co.uk/news/article-1306402/Warring-neighbours-driven-barking-mad-curious-recording-dog-night-time.html#ixzz0xkTBNAZu

tbs624

Its not just dogs making a noise that cause neighbour difficulties: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/8352729.stm

seven-day-weekend

TaxPayingMug wrote: »

I rent two houses out and never ever let tenants with dogs live in my properties.
Regardless of what the owners may say dogs DO smell.

Even after having the carpets professionally cleaned, that stale dog smell still lingers for ages.

And three dogs smell three times as much, no matter how small they are. I know, as we occasionally borrow a house that has three dogs in and the doggy smell is everywhere.

To the OP, all I can suggest is that you ask the Landlords, even if it says 'no pets'. Some just want to KNOW about the pet, rather than the tenant just move in with a baby alligator or something.

When we were renting our investment flat, we said 'no dogs' but other pets please ask. The main reason we said no dogs was because of the smell.

Tuscan

Had a look in to this myself recently as we are selling up relocating to a very rural area and renting for a few years and have 3 dogs (mum dad son), we will be moving in about 18 months 2yrs. one of our dogs is 7 and one 13 and the other 15, i dout very much that the 2 older ones will still be with us when we rent because of there age.

having looked a lot on rightmove etc its seems some say no pets, some dont mention either way and theres a fair few that say yes subject to talking to LL, i have a good friend thats a pro LL and has many rentals, he tends to say no pets when advertising a property but he will except 1 dog if asked but not 3.

I asked an agent in the area we intend to move to about having 1 dog and he said most people around there own dogs as its a farming/rural area and most LL's are ok with it but not all, from what i can tell defo going for a more rural area seems to suggest having a dog isnt a major deal breaker and if you can rent from a farmer that also seems to help even more so if its to be a long term rental.

what i would say and this is from a dog owner and lover, i would NEVER EVER have 3 dogs again as they do smell and its a constant battle to keep the house clean and fresh, one dog is no problem though..

But what i would also say is that im a builder and work in different houses every day and meet plenty of dogs, some houses stink to high heaven and some dont, what i have noticed is that the very very small dogs dont seem to smell.

But the worst smelling houses ive ever had to work in over the years and theres been a few of these and this is a true fact, have been pet free just the people have been utter utter filth. the saying i wouldnt let a dog live like that is so so true in these cases...