Renting with pets

bruciebounus

CapnCJ wrote: »

This is sort of a follow on from another thread.

Looking to rent somewhere, but between the 3 of us that are in on this caper we have 3 pets. 2 of them are lizards (A bearded dragon and a Leopard Gecko), and a tortoise. They're causing us huge trouble to be honest. Every letting agency we talk to has a blanket "no pets" stance, which infuriates me because any sane landlord will be fine with them - They spend all their time in vivariums. No noise, no smells, no scratching at furniture or peeing everywhere.

Is it a better idea to just not declare them?

I know its not that easy to find, but if possible look for a private rental. We have a cat and a dog and have found landlords willing to take us- it's easier to speak to the land lord directly than going through an agent.
One of our prospective landlords was not keen on the idea of the dog especially, and asked to visit our then home, I think to make sure the dog hadn't eaten the house! After they saw there was no damage it was fine and they were happy for us to have pets.

I think with your animals it should be fine, they wont be loose so shouldn't be able to cause any damage!

moromir

pinkshoes wrote:

Besides, as you are entitled to quiet enjoyment, then how would the LL ever know, unless you invite them in??

Fingers crossed theres no gas supply that needs attending to annually or any maintenance problems let alone a real emergency for the duration of the tenancy then ...

I have to say I'm really shocked that people are advocating lying about this. If the landlord doesn't want pets in his property, that is absolutely his right to say so.

If I were a landlord and someone treated me with so little respect as to lie rather than be upfront, (if I had a rental property I think I'd be ok with pets provided I knew what and how many) they'd be served notice on the next available opportunity. There are plenty of other people out there wanting a rental property who will pay the rent on time and look after it and have the decency to contact the landlord before moving pets in.

charlie792

I have to say though even some EAs tell you to lie about keeping pets, we found that when looking for a property as we had a hamster at the time, we enquired about it and they told us that all their properties were no pets but that a hamster could easily be hidden if needed and told us to put down that we had no pets on the forms...

Aquatronixjenny

Our LL originally said no pets. We invited them round our old house to meet our doggy and see the house (I am a bit OCD with my cleaning and my dog just smells of soap )

She said yes straightaway. I would never lie to a LL as it will just come back to bite you on the bottom...

Greymarl

I've rented twice with a dog and looked at loads of properties, at a reasonably high end of the market. Most landlords with houses with laminate flooring were fine about it once we said we would provide proof of our pet insurance policy and could provide references from our kennels/dogwalker if needed and they never asked for either (I appreciate that is going to be more difficult for different sorts of pets!) We also up front said our pet would not be allowed upstairs. We had to pay an extra month's deposit. I think if you show you have considered their worries about it then they are less likely to assume you're not responsible owners.

N79

Sometimes the reasons for a LL to reject a pet can be somewhat esoteric. For example, I'm normally fine with the family dog, cat, rabbit, gerbil or hamster. I might draw the line at 3 large dogs in a 3 bed house though. However I don't allow spiders because my employee that does inspections is hysterically scared of them and can't be in the same house without having a panic attack.

donnap83

dehydrato wrote: »

We rent out a house and we actively wanted someone with dogs to take it! - we have dogs, the garden is totally dog proof & opens onto a big park so we thought it would be wasted on non dog owners!

Despite telling the agent this we heard them telling people there were no pets allowed! We had a viewer booked (the agent didn't show up for the viewing but that's another story) who owned 3 German Shepherds and a terrier and we would have been quite happy with that.

If you see a property you like I would pop a letter to the owner through the door and explain the situation.

God, there should be more LL's like you!!:T

donnap83

I do think it's unfair that pet owners are penalised. I have a miniture poddle, and No one would take us as tenants, even though we could have provided references for her, and offered additional bond money "just in case"

digitalphase

I am in the same boat, as a tenant with two cats, various guinea pigs (who are always in the garden) and a few aquariums.
We have been finding it difficult to find a landlord who will accept them this time round as there is such a demand for rental properties in our area, that landlords can afford to be choosey.

The cats have their claws clipped, have two scratch posts (one of which cost £50-odd and is massive), are very well behaved. Hard to prove it though isn't it, they just have to take our word for it.

Sometimes it is still a straight 'no' even with offers to pay more deposit. TBH I could understand no dogs as they can be very destructive, but what is the worse a cat can do? Claw carpets? A lot of places we see only have carpets in bedrooms, and our cats are not allowed in bedrooms anyway.

I even had one agent ask "do you HAVE to bring the cats" when I rang about somewhere. I mean, what a stupid question! No, I don't have to bring them, I'll just rehome them :mad: Moron. TBH a lot of the time it IS the agent who is causing the problem - quite a few LL are OK as long as you ask them direct, rather than going on agent's word.

I wouldn't advise to lie either. You won't always get found out, but it isn't worth the hassle.

I can't believe you're having issues with pets who stay in a vivarium - madness

LittleMissAspie

I can't believe you're having trouble with pets that live in tanks either, it's just mad. It's a real bugbear of mine about renting, it just reminds me of when I was about 10 years old and begging my mum to let me have a hamster and she always said no. I'm an independent adult now, if I want a hamster I should be able to get one!

We managed to find a rental that would let us have a cat, we didn't have a cat at the time but part of the reason for moving (from a flat) was so that we could get one. When we found a suitable place we said we would take it as long as we could get a cat and they accepted. So, if we ever rented again, that would be my tack. Say you'll take the place as long as you get written permission to keep the lizards and tortoise, and if the EA just says no then ask for a written rejection from the landlord.