Renting with Pets

otoodles

We are having to sell our house because of debt and have several pets who we do not want to part with, but if we can not find a pet friendly landlord we will have to. We have searched the internet and rental companies but its always a no to animals. Any ideas where to try?

BitterAndTwisted

A lot of agents will say "no" to pets but get them to treble-check with the landlords. if you offer a larger deposit and invite the agent/landlord to visit you in your current home they might be persuaded that you are responsible pet-owners who will look after a rental property properly.

CheeseCat

It really irks me when people see 'getting rid' as the first option. Pets should be family imo

I have rented a variety of properties and I have four cats! You just have to be upfront when contacting agents to view properties, even the places that said 'no pets' on the advert were ok most of the time, its more of a typical Estate Agent blurb than a landlord stipulation. I often found if i asked the EA to ask the landlord themselves it was fine.

Offer to have the place professionally cleaned when you leave etc - and you may have to pay a larger deposit (I did for one place) but I wouldnt offer that one - see what they say

animum

if you can ask a landlord directly about pets, you may have better luck. its a long time ago when I was in a similar situation, but despite signing a tenancy agreement that stated no pets, when I actually asked the landlord, he said it was fine. I did have to get rid of a rabbit, but took two cats with me. most of the time, if you are signing a rental contract, it is usually a standard clause that is in there..may depend on what pets you have, be prepared to compromise.its horrible having to lose one, but if you can find somewhere that will maybe accept one or two, then its better than osomewere that accepts none. there are animal friendly landlords out there -good luck.

Westywoodpecker

To be honest, I'm a new LL & advertised that I didn't mind pets as we have a dog/cat of our own.

Our tenants have just moved out after 8 mts & now I'm left with five soiled areas of my new carpet, obviously caused by pet faeces so I feel a bit let down.

I'm not sure I'll do that again, but that seems unfair as I'm sure your more responsible.

kittypimms

I rent (have done for years) and have 2 large dogs. Have also rented with 3 snakes, numerous fish etc, al declared and on the TA (at my request).

I've applied for "no pets" places in the past - and found that if you ask the agent to speak with the LL, and offer an extra month's rent as deposit, and write into the CT/ TA that you will have the carpets cleaned on departure, many will reconsider.

After all, as has been said many times, children can do far worse damage to a home than pets (if they are properly cared for!).

Westy - sorry to hear of your carpet soiling - have you tried "Whoopsie" foam from the £ shop? works an absolute treat. One of my boys was unwell a few weeks ago all over the carpet, and this (followed by a vax clean) brought it up like new.
I can sympathise though, my Ex partner's family rented out a house to a couple who had permission for 1 dog in the TA. They have just moved, and we found they actually had 5 dogs and 3 cats. The place was not in a great state (carpet damage, yard covered in faeces and many other non-animal related things sadly), and sadly against my advice (I work in contracts), they had taken no deposit. So are stuck wtih the bill for replacement.
Hopefully you managed to get your costs back from the deposit, and I really hop it doesn't put you off renting to pet owners again. Maybe write into the CT that you will do more frequent visits? Sadly this is one of the things the ex's family did not do - so the problem escalated.

It's rotten renting as a pet owner - and rescues are full to the brim ATM with pets that have been thrown out as landlords will not allow them to stay with families. Hopefully the OP can find a solution

N79

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

A lot of agents will say "no" to pets but get them to treble-check with the landlords. if you offer a larger deposit and invite the agent/landlord to visit you in your current home they might be persuaded that you are responsible pet-owners who will look after a rental property properly.

As people have said, adverts may say no pets but there may well be more flexibility in reality - it will depend on the number and type of pets you want to keep and the size of the house.

You may have to pay a higher deposit (but not more than 2 months rent) and you may have to agree to pay for flea treatment when you vacate in order to secure permission. Then again, you may not.

olibrofiz

I live near Northampton. Small 3 bed terraced next to me has just gone up for rent, pets allowed. The owner had 2 dogs & 3 cats, rabbits etc, and the current tennants have been in for a year and have a dog.

I have two dogs so I'm really hoping the next tennants are dog friendly too! I guess you just need to keep enquiring. Good luck

iletflats

Does it seems reasonable, therefore, to draw up a contract which allows for pets but only which have been 'vetted' by them?

I've read a few posts like this today and it seems that honesty is the best policy.

But then again, if you have a 'pets allowed within reason' type clause I guess it's open to abuse by some.

Difficult I guess.