Eeeekkk Cost of renting with pets!

MentalMinnie

blueybug wrote: »

No council tax is always on top of the rent. The letting agent said what band it was, but it isnt that band

Eek! TBH, i don't think you have any come back, it's your responsibilty to check these things. Does your contact state anything about the council trax, or what band the property is?

whalster

the lets with pets thing is good as said above , also take a look on Facebook under tenant or landlord forums/pages there are a lot on there .
I accept pets basicaly the right pet in the right house generaaly works but I have a couple advertised on private landlord directory at the moment , its free to list and as all letting agents should do when I list a house it asks me mandatory fields LHA yes/no pets Yes/no how much all or any fees are how much credit checks are etc etc a tenant can then see all this information clearly before making an enq.
You know why letting agents don't put this in their windows don't you , they would never get anyone over the front door step!

Better_Days

whalster wrote: »

the lets with pets thing is good as said above , also take a look on Facebook under tenant or landlord forums/pages there are a lot on there .

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately nothing in my area under 'Lets with Pets', will have a look at the f/b forums though - didn't even know they existed!

ognum

have you looked at Gumtree?

saskay

Better_Days wrote: »

Looks like we will be exchanging early next week, so have started to ring round some LA's to view some rental properties (we are going into rented while we look for somewhere to buy that we like)

We are going to look at a property on Thursday but the LA wants £100 per pet :eek: (we have two cats and two dogs) plus a £25 per pet 'licencing fee', plus £60 for the inventory and putting deposit in a deposit scheme, plus £282 application fee, plus 6 weeks rent deposit.

I did expect to pay extra for the pets but was surprised by the level of the charges.

Unfortunately this is a rather quiet time of year for lettings round here, I have checked gumtree and the local paper as well as RM and Zoopla. Anything I have missed?

You must be in England/Wales. In Scotland charging extra for pets [a pet premium] is illegal - though an additional deposit may be asked.

LittleMax

blueybug wrote: »

Ive been in my new rented home 2 weeks.

Now I find out today that the council tax banding is costing 250! a month!
I was told 160 so I'm fighting to try to get it reduced as 250 I cant afford

It sounds like you have only been given 2 months to pay the balance of council tax for the year. Usually you pay 12 month's council tax over 10 monthly payments. Because you moved in mid December you will be liable for 3.5 month's Council Tax to be paid over 2 months, this works out a much larger amount each month. You can ask the Council if they would spread it over three months, but they won't generally let you spread it beyond March as next year's payments will then be due.

Hope that helps.

BigG10

We are just about to rent our flat out (hopefully) in West London and we don't charge anything for pets. We are living in the property at the moment and have a cat and house bunnies. They don't smell at all and all were rescued pets. I think it would be both hypocritical and outrageous to charge for pets. They are part of your family. Only thing I would like is to do a home check to check on the welfare of the animal!!! Just need to let our flat now.

Davesnave

MentalMinnie wrote: »

I wonder if people think we're classy cos we have a poodle...?!:rotfl:

No, they thought your friend with a Staffie was likely to be a chav, or worse!:D

Seriously, it's far better to visit agencies in person, rather than attempt to rent with animals by 'phone. That way they may evaluate you using all their senses. Whether their judgement is based on prejudice or not, if you come over as trustworthy and responsible, you may find more flexibility. :A

The above was certainly our experience when renting a few years ago. We visited a couple of agencies where the advertising line was 'no pets,' but the reality was less harsh.

As regards cost, if you are in an area where prices are falling, then this may be factored into the cost of renting between houses. For example, in Devon, prices have fallen about 3% this year, so apart from the negotiating strength of being ready to roll, there may be a monetary benefit in hanging fire. Against this is the effect of inflation, which can no longer be easily offset by interest on capital in short-term accounts.

Better_Days

Interesting reading everyone's experiences, thank you.

Well we have secured a letting (hopefully), for £100 pet deposit and paying for carpet cleaning at the end of the tenancy (plus the usual deposits of course). The only uncertainty atm is that we haven't yet exchanged so can't sign the tenancy agreement. Hopefully early next week it will all go through.

Davesnave, unfortunately it wasn't practical for me to go round the LA's in person due to my poor health. However, if this let does fall through I will suggest to my DH that he does so .

The rental market here is pretty buoyant and prices don't seem to be dropping. We did negotiate a small reduction in the rent for agreeing to pay 6 months in advance. This I think this has also encouraged them to hang on even though exchange has been delayed.

BigG10 we have had house rabbits in the past and they can make great pets (although you do have to bunny proof all your wires!).

ognum did look at Gumtree, but no luck there, unfortunately.

MentalMinnie

Well, we found a house that would have our girl and we're due to move at the beginning of March, no extra deposit required, however, sadly, we had to have her put to sleep on wednesday

I spoke to the new letting agents to advise them, to ask whether we'd be ok to get a puppy in a few months and they were absolutely fine about it.