Leasehold clause no cats which may be a nuisance...

davidmcn

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Seems to me there are two ways of reading that statement:

1. That you can't have pets that are a nuisance to others (i.e. your interpretation); and

2. You are not to have pets fullstop because they may be a nuisance or annoyance to others.

My guess is that the intention is 2 but it should have been worded more carefully.

No, the intention is 1. If the intention was 2 then there would be a full stop after "pet", there wouldn't be a need to qualify it.

dirty_magic

This is probably more relevant to dogs in case you have a dog that barks all the time. How annoying can a cat be?!

themull1

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Well, 'not a noisy one' was her clarification. To be fair, some washing machines can vibrate violently and noisily (especially if you sit on them ladies )

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T

As to the cat query, i think it means no cats allowed.

agrinnall

themull1 wrote: »

As to the cat query, i think it means no cats allowed.

No, it means what it says, and what is says is that pets are only barred if they may be a nuisance - and then you're into interpretation of the word 'may' in this context. I would say that unless the OP's cat is having late night parties every night or is setting fire to the neighbour's front door then it's worth taking the very small risk.

And don't mention it again to the solicitor, I doubt whether they will ever do a home visit so they'll have no idea if the cat is there or not.

SailorSam

Save a lot of mess in my garden if my neighbours had been made to sign a clause likethat.

AdrianC

Greenone wrote: »

hmmm... by that reasoning, I am also not allowed a spin washing machine...

You have a pet washing machine?

Look, it's quite simple. You can have a cat, but only until such time as another resident claims it's causing a nuisance. At that point, the lease says you cannot keep it.

lxpeanut

The problem with this is it probably means the landlord can decide if they like you and will allow the cats or not. When I moved into my flat two of the other flats had cats despite a no pets clause. A friend was taken into hospital and needed her cat looking after so I asked my landlord if he would allow me to take it in. He said yes as long as it doesn't cause any problems. Since then I've had two cats. However one of my neighbors had also had cats but the landlord decided he had a problem with her and started to make accusations against her eventually saying she had to get rid of the cats. He claimed they were being allowed to pee in the hallway but considering there are other cats in the building I've no idea how he decided it was hers (not mine I dont have access to that hallway). She decided she had to move out even though it meant being charged for breaking the lease. So basically allowing cats as long as they arent a nuisance can mean the landlord has a way to force people they dont like out.

TBagpuss

I would read it as not allowing any pets. It specifes dogs, cats, birds abnd then adds any pother pet which may cause a nuisance. So I would read it as you cannot have a cat or dog at all. You may be able to have other animals such as gerbils, hamsters etc but only if they don't cause a nuisance.

The best thing to do would be to check with the landlord/freeholder.

AlexMac

Despite the fact that your solicitor appears not to be able to read and analyse text, I'd suggest this is a non-issue, as long as you behave reasonably and your moggies aren't free-range, feral wildcats. Just hope that your lawyer is a little more precise when it comes to scrutinising, interpreting and reporting back to you on other parts of the lease and title!

I appreciate your concerns, as the buyer of the last flat which we sold got cold feet at the last minute about a rather more severe restriction on animal niusance; especially as she was buying our garden flat precisely so that her dog could run around the rear garden (which was technically shared but which virtually no one but us ever used as only we had direct access). It took an informal, non-legalistic letter of comfort from the Company Secretary of the shared freehold (who happened to be my cat-owning mate who lived in a flat upstairs) to set her mind at rest, but it could have been a deal-breaker. Your common-sense lesser restiction isn't such a problem. And even if anyone did object, the remedy would be to ask the freeholder to take action against you; probably ultimately by going to the courts - at worst to determine (end) your lease - where evidence an judgement would prevail. So that won't happen.

Still- it's your call, because I've rashly assumed that reason and common sense will generally prevail, whereas you might just be buying into a block of socipaths?

Just as 'google-brain' is alleged to strip people of their ability to know or remember stuff (because they mistakenly think that the sum of human knowledge can be rapidly and accurately looked up on the interwebby thingy), I worry that there may be an emerging phenomenon of 'forum syndrome' (the suppression of common sense and judgement)?

Every one of the half-dozen leaseholds I've ever owned has similar lease clauses about pets, noise and nuisance. Some (the local authority/ex-Council ones) have also gone into wondrously detailed lists of the specific types of offence (racist, genderist, homophobic, etc) which should be particulary avoided and the types or sizes of dogs which should be kept on a leash, blah, blah.

In practice, there has never, ever been a problem, as I'm sure will be the case with your new home

Kevie192

TBagpuss wrote: »

I would read it as not allowing any pets. It specifes dogs, cats, birds abnd then adds any pother pet which may cause a nuisance. So I would read it as you cannot have a cat or dog at all. You may be able to have other animals such as gerbils, hamsters etc but only if they don't cause a nuisance.

The best thing to do would be to check with the landlord/freeholder.

That's how I read it too; dogs, cats and birds are a definite no but you can have other pets as long as they don't cause a nuisance.