dogs and lettings

prudryden

Conrad wrote:

This issue for me would be smell. I find Doggy types dont seem to notice the smell ALL dog owners houses reek of.
If you were the owner you would want the property returned as found. You might not object to dogs but Im betting something might be unacceptable to you. Try and equate things you find unacceptable with different things you may accept but others would object to.

I cant bare the thought of Dogs having trodden in other Dogs poo then walking in your house. Watch any Dog and you will see it walks through others poo.

Ive never even accepted a cup of tea in a Doggy house.

How sad!! Totally irrelevant for this thread. Your time was not well spent in writing this.

BobProperty

rjm2k1 wrote:

I read somewhere that there was a recent european legislation case where they ruled that it was against human rights to forbid pets in this manner. Don't know if it was true, but might be worth researching.

This was mooted as theoretically possible at a landlord meeting I was at a few years back. I don't think there has been a case.

Lynz - just get a cat flap, a Jack Russell will be smaller than my avatar and he uses a large cat flap.

lynzpower

Bob
isnt the issue getting a catr flap put in would damage the LLs door. or would we have to buy a new door. We dont really know how to proceed

PLenty of people saying "oh dont tell the LL" which is one way of going about it (not the way Id prefer I add) but im not happy about replacing the LLS door without active consent IYSIWM

Conrad

rjm2k1 wrote:

I read somewhere that there was a recent european legislation case where they ruled that it was against human rights to forbid pets in this manner. Don't know if it was true, but might be worth researching.

Us Landlords have the right to shape our lives as we see fit. I have enough worry and stress without adding potential flash points to my life.

I dont want to worry about Dog smells, people having thier benefits cut (ie caught for fraud so I suffer) etc. I focus my energy on engineering a happy life with my children, Im simply not going to take unnecessary risks that might keep me awake at night.

No one with pets plans to wreck the house / cause odours / transmit foot - poo, just as no one getting married thinks they will split - up, but reality often dictates bad outcomes, so again I seek to remove all potential stress from life where possible.

Stress is largely self - inflicted, dont blame careful LLs for wanting to avoid it.

Conrad

prudryden wrote:

How sad!! Totally irrelevant for this thread. Your time was not well spent in writing this.

Only irrelevant to yellow nailed, long grey haired, brass ornament loving Doggy types.:rotfl:

liz545

The office of fair trading indicate that 'No Pets' would be considered to be an unfair term (http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/DAAEFE58-1AAB-422A-AFED-BDE6C654A4EE/0/oft356.pdf page 68, if anyone's interested). So ask if you can have one; specify that you will cover the cost of carpet cleaning and any damages occasioned by the dog, as permission cannot be withheld unreasonably.

sooz

presumably your dog needs to go out, rather than use a litter tray [can you tell i have a cat yet??]. in which case, i'd avoid the agents, and try the private ads for a flat/house with garden, and mention the dog only when you're viewing the property. face to face it would be easier for someone to make a decision rather than just to say no pets on the phone.

if you really like the place, but the landlord is consdering the dog request, then i'd try offering to leave a larger deposit, or you to organise having the carpets cleaned after your tenancy.

i had one viewer who didn't tell me about his dog, wanted my flat, and then got really really angry when i said no. i did consider it, briefly, but decided that since it was a first floor flat, with no garden, and he planned to be out all day and leave the tv on for the dog, the other residents might object. :rolleyes:

prudryden

liz545 wrote:

The office of fair trading indicate that 'No Pets' would be considered to be an unfair term (http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/DAAEFE58-1AAB-422A-AFED-BDE6C654A4EE/0/oft356.pdf page 68, if anyone's interested). So ask if you can have one; specify that you will cover the cost of carpet cleaning and any damages occasioned by the dog, as permission cannot be withheld unreasonably.

Exactly. I think the OFT actually uses the term "potentially unfair" and then gives a suggestion of what they would prefer. To my knowledge, there hasn't been any case history thus far.

The OFT is attempting to be fair to both Landlords and Tenants. The spirit of the guidance from the OFT is basically reason and common sense. While a goldfish ban would be deemed unfair, a large fish tank with 500 litres of water on the third floor would be fair to ban.

scorpio_princess

Conrad wrote:

Us Landlords have the right to shape our lives as we see fit. I have enough worry and stress without adding potential flash points to my life.

I dont want to worry about Dog smells, people having thier benefits cut (ie caught for fraud so I suffer) etc. I focus my energy on engineering a happy life with my children, Im simply not going to take unnecessary risks that might keep me awake at night.

No one with pets plans to wreck the house / cause odours / transmit foot - poo, just as no one getting married thinks they will split - up, but reality often dictates bad outcomes, so again I seek to remove all potential stress from life where possible.

Stress is largely self - inflicted, dont blame careful LLs for wanting to avoid it.

Surely you can't be saying that only pet owners and those on benefits make bad tenants? Just because you only let your property to 'professionals' (I assume), doesn't mean they can't cause you problems - after all, thats the price you pay when you choose to become a LL. It's always going to be a risk - say you turn a dog owner down, but let the place to young, single guy on a good salary, who then proceeds to trash the place, with hold rent for no reason, and leave the place filthy? You could have missed out on an honest, meticulously clean tenant, who just happened to have a dog. It just doesn't follow that ALL dog owners have unruly animals and let all manner of things get traipsed through the house, just as ALL professionals aren't necessarily honest, upstanding citizens.

My parents will be looking for a rental property soon as they're selling their house and don't want to be in a chain, and they have a dog. I know i'm biased, but he's the most well-behaved dog i've ever seen - a highly-trained border collie. I've seen more dirty and unruly human beings! What i've advised them to do is to be totally honest from the outset, and offer to pay a higher deposit. To be honest, they'll be in a position to pay 6 months rent up front anyway, so I reckon they could 'persuade' some landlords/agents!

Oh yes, one more thing - Conrad, you may have your own opinions on dogs and dog owners, but did you really need to be quite so offensive?

wendykearney

I had thought of offering to pay the 6mths up front. I'd always worried about my house smelling of dogs and so i asked each E A that came to value if they could smell anything, all said no so i asked a friend who hates dogs and she said she's never smelt then either..
I have my own carpet cleaner so cleaning carpets etc not an issue. The dogs can even supply their own refernces! lol

At the end of the day i'm not looking to rent an up market property, just a terrace or cottage short term, none of the houses i've looked at have been more than basic. Funnily enough the 2 better end properties both allowed dogs no problem so going to view them at the w/e.

How do smokers get on cause i've not seen one yet that allowed smoking..

wendy