Renting house with no pet in tenancy agreement

Prothet_of_Doom

tomhudson21 wrote: »

Haha, I said this to my girlfriend earlier. Let's procreate and have our child run amok. But I was told off for suggesting it during a difficult time and shamed for suggesting we bring another life into this world purely to spite our cat hating landlord...

Some people just need an excuse. I guess your Girlfriend isn't ready enough, for any old excuse. (She might be a traditional lass and want a ring on her finger first)

You know the best excuse is always Wednesday. It's Wednesday, lets not bother with condoms, as children conceived on a Wednesday are cleverer.

Prothet_of_Doom

G_M wrote: »

Yup. I've never really understood the 'can enter in an emergency'.

I sort of envisage the LL sitting in his car outside, day after day, so that he can spring into action if he sees smoke pouring out through the windows. And then, rather than dialling 999, he exploits his right of entry and gets frizled to a crisp!

I have a set of keys, but I haven't given my contact details to the neighbours, so in an event, it'll be weeks before I find out a sink hole has taken the BTL and my tenants.

EternalPessimist

Change the locks, you don't want risk coming home to find the landlord has chased the cat away.

stator

Change the locks and don't mention the cat to the agency or landlord again.
As long as you pay the rent on time they won't evict you unless there is major damage when they do an inspection.
Worst case scenario is that when you leave they try to deduct from your deposit for damages. You can argue about what's fair and what's not when that happens.
For now I would just keep quiet. It isn't the end of the world.

Guest101

Just going to leave this here: http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2016/10/04/tenant-penalties-breaching-tenancy-rules-pets/


Tells you everything you need to know (including how 'no pet' clauses can be unenforceable)

RavenQueen

My friends new LL was a no pet LL until my friend decided to up her rent and deposit. In her old place though the cats, she had 2 of them, scratched the wallpaper and she fully decorated through so he would give the deposit back but she was fine with this as it was one of the conditions.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

If you do decide to keep the moggy on the hush-hush, I would put away some money every month towards any possible damage, and also for having carpets steam cleaned at the end of the tenancy. Also be extra rigorous with flea treatment and regular litter tray emptying.

Chances of LL going to court and winning money for your breach of contract: low.
Chances of LL claiming extra £££ out of your deposit: high.
Chances of LL giving a bad reference: high.

It's all a balance of possibility.

teddysmum

Mossfarr wrote: »

I am a landlord and I have a 'No Cats' policy, and I would definitely issue a section 21 if any of my tenants got a cat. My husband is allergic to them so he wouldn't be able to do any maintenance or repairs in the property. Hiding the cat from us when we visit simply wouldn't work, as my husband would react immediately on entering the property! We do welcome other pets (and rampaging toddlers) but our reasons are clearly explained to prospective tenants when they come to view.

If there was no evidence that a cat lived there ( food bowls, litter tray, smell) then you would not be able to prove that someone kept a cat, based on someone's allergy.


My sister is allergic to cats and the allergy flared up every time she visited our late father, who never had a cat (or dog). Many months later, we found out the reason : He would leave his kitchen door open, in warm weather and a neighbour's cat was nipping in for a quiet nap, away from the children it live with.

rtho782

Unless it says that pets may not be kept "without permission which will not unreasonably be witheld" then it's likely an unfair term.

If they were being reasonable they'd either ask for a larger deposit or for you to agree to professional cleaning when you leave.

As they are not, I'd say they will struggle to evict you, so I'd keep the cat and move at the end of the tenancy.

In our last rental before buying, we had two secret cats, and a secret house rabbit. LL never knew, they never damaged anything, we got our full deposit back.

For inspections they went in vet boxes and got put in the back of my van or the garage behind piles of stuff.

franklee

G_M wrote: »

Yup. I've never really understood the 'can enter in an emergency'.

I sort of envisage the LL sitting in his car outside, day after day, so that he can spring into action if he sees smoke pouring out through the windows. And then, rather than dialling 999, he exploits his right of entry and gets frizled to a crisp!

Glad it's not just me thinking along those lines

Really when you think about it landlords are extremely kind and jolly brave to rush into a property about to explode from a gas leak just to save their tenants. Personally I'd retire to a safe distance and call the emergency services - unless it was my own granny trapped inside :eek: