Looking to rent but have 2 cats, help!

theone999

Davesnave wrote: »

We live in rural Devon too, but some years ago we found ourselves needing to rent for a while in Bath....and we had 2 cats + 2 ferrets.

It took us only 24hrs to find 3 places we might rent. The key to this was a willingness to visit all the agencies in person and provide 6 months money up-front + whatever they wanted extra in the way of deposit. For obvious reasons, we didn't expect the best of the property on offer, but nor were the houses we had a choice of complete dumps.

All the agencies had 'No pets' clauses in the adverts and all said much the same thing; that it was 'flexible,' depending on the potential renter, whom they preferred to meet first ....but I think the 'flexible' money up-front helped a lot too.

It's like any other kind of insurance: the higher the risk the more one has to pay.

I'm in exactly the same situation as the OP, trying to move with 2 cats.

I find that some estate agents don't bother to ask the landlord, if it says "no pets", even when expressly requested to do so with an offer of increased deposit / professional cleaning etc.

I've been looking at the legality of pet clauses online and apparently, "no pets" would be an illegal wording in a contract making it null and unenforceable.

So do you know of anyone who just rents somewhere and when confronted about pets tells the landlord their contract is illegal? I'm getting so many rejections when the law (consumer act 2015) says landlords can't refuse pets carte blanche that it might be easier to not be upfront about it.

Davesnave

theone999 wrote: »

So do you know of anyone who just rents somewhere and when confronted about pets tells the landlord their contract is illegal? I'm getting so many rejections when the law (consumer act 2015) says landlords can't refuse pets carte blanche that it might be easier to not be upfront about it.

No I don't know anyone. In my village nothing's secret!

If I'd been forced into lying to put a roof over my head, then of course I would have done that, but it wasn't necessary.

WibblyGirly

I'm having the same problem too. Emailed multiple agents and either don't get s reply or the landlord says no pets. I'm
Keeping my eye on a few properties that have been up for a while in the hopes they may become more desperate for a tennant and will allow a cat. Failing that we'll just have to move him in as I've found the landlord can't do much about it anyway.
I hate renting at times like this as it's like being treated as a lesser person being told no pets, can't decorate, inspections. Can't wait until I can buy and do what I want in the house I'm paying for.

LEJC

theone999 wrote: »

I find that some estate agents don't bother to ask the landlord, if it says "no pets", even when expressly requested to do so with an offer of increased deposit / professional cleaning etc.

That may be because the EA and the LL have already had conversations previously about the suitability of pets in the property.

I've been with my current EA/LA for 5 years and they are well aware of my thoughts or willingness to allow pets across the different properties I have with them.

It's not always just a LL choice not to allow pets, in some flats they are not allowed as part of the lease,in others there are permission charges to be met so its not as clear cut as the decision of the EA,

for the record I have several properties with different criteria,some set by me and others imposed upon me that I must in turn impose on to any potential renter.
I am not anti pet however and I can and have seen both sides of the situation when renting to those with pets.

One property I have I have chosen no pets,,,its reasonably newly refurbished and quite frankly I do believe its not best geared to animals with its positioning near a busy main road.
I have 4 further properties split that one will not allow pets full stop as a condition of the head lease,1 will and actually has a pet in situ and 2 could possibly house pets if I were to apply for permission from the management company at an additional charge of £150 per property....this is a cost that should I rent out to pet owners presumably they would be happy to cover????
Permission could then be revoked should the management company have issues,either in the form of complaints from other leaseholders or people not acting responsibly.....at that point the pet will need to be removed.
So with this in mind I feel that even whilst I may be happy to house pets and their owners in a rental...we are all very much at the mercy of the neighbours also being pet lovers.

Its not always a case that all LL's are anti pets....but its a big decision for a LL to turn their property "pet friendly" and then find the tenant only stays 6 months.

Always 2 sides to a story....and I am a pet owner myself.

Kittylah

theone999 wrote: »

I'm in exactly the same situation as the OP, trying to move with 2 cats.
I find that some estate agents don't bother to ask the landlord, if it says "no pets", even when expressly requested to do so with an offer of increased deposit / professional cleaning etc.

I've been looking at the legality of pet clauses online and apparently, "no pets" would be an illegal wording in a contract making it null and unenforceable.

Yeah I've had lots who won't ask/can't be bothered but a few after offers of more money or just being extra nice have tried for me. I've done all mine on the phone too so that helps, as email is easier to palm off. :doh:

I can't say I've heard of any legalities around pets other than the whole needing leases for flats etc. So I can't really comment on that and tbh I'm trying to see it from a LL's perspective too, rather than just assuming I'm entitled to have my cats somewhere cause an Act says so. I wouldn't want a mad LL because of a law! No matter how clean and perfect an animal is now, it can ALWAYS go wrong. And although most are fine, sometimes it can really cause damage. It's just tough work finding one who is okay with the risk.

WibblyGirly wrote: »

I'm having the same problem too. Emailed multiple agents and either don't get s reply or the landlord says no pets. I'm
Keeping my eye on a few properties that have been up for a while in the hopes they may become more desperate for a tennant and will allow a cat. Failing that we'll just have to move him in as I've found the landlord can't do much about it anyway.

I wouldn't advise that personally. I mean, I know lots of people who get away with it but it can literally go as far as getting evicted if you don't tell them, and more likely fees and a very upset LL, then who knows maybe that could effect a future reference for breaching a Tenancy Agreement, I don't know?? Sorry to sound scary but yeah. It's obviously down to you but know that is a huge risk if anything goes wrong. :eek:

Shall post more updates soon guys. Had some good & bad experiences! :A

SensibleSarah

OP I can sympathise! I was once 24 hours from homelessness with my 3 cats as I couldn't find anywhere to rent with them through agents etc and had to move out of my old place on a set day as new person was moving in. Very stressful time!
Fortunately for me, at virtually the last hour I found out that friends of friends had a house to let in my price range (though the area wasn't ideal - I had no options left) and although they weren't convinced on the pet front, as they 'knew me' then they were happy to give it a go. I agreed to pay for professional cleaning when I moved out and all was fine. Ended up staying for 18 months, after which I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a little house.
So my advice is to keep plugging away - ask your local friends & family to keep their ear to the ground too and hopefully something will turn up.

ripplyuk

I think it's getting worse in the last few years. I regularly look at agency websites for my area (just out of interest) and the vast majority of rental properties now state 'No children/pets/smokers/DSS' at the bottom of the advert. Some also add 'Single professionals only'. Given how totally unrealistic this is, I'm starting to wonder if it's something to do with the agents, not the landlord. Perhaps having long voids helps boost their fees? I'm not sure.

OP, my friend rents, and has 2 large dogs. She has never been upfront about it to landlords. She just doesn't mention them and moves in. Of course, it's soon found out, but none of them ever evicted her for it. Of course, I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, but you might decide it's better than ending up homeless.

Murphybear

FBaby wrote: »

You have no idea why the place wasn't rented. Any LL who would rather lose £4,000 then rent with cats must have a very good reason. Maybe the place is a total mess, overpriced and even those with cats wouldn't be interested anyway!

As it's reminded here over and over, being a LL is running a business. To run a successful business, you assess your potential income against the risks. If you can maximise your income reducing the risks to the maximum, of course that's the choice you make. If however, your income is limited because of the bar you set in terms of risk, you have to reassess your position.

The reason why you are struggling to find a property is because you are visiting properties that attracts demand which means that the LL can be picky and go for the perceived least risky business.

Looking at properties that might have been listed for a few weeks is definitely the best strategy.

Yes, I do know as it happens. It wasn't cats, it was dogs. Lots of people in rural Devon (and this place was difficult to get to) have dogs. There was nothing much wrong with the house, it was the pets that caused the lack of tenants.

Kittylah

ripplyuk wrote: »

I think it's getting worse in the last few years. I regularly look at agency websites for my area (just out of interest) and the vast majority of rental properties now state 'No children/pets/smokers/DSS' at the bottom of the advert. Some also add 'Single professionals only'. Given how totally unrealistic this is, I'm starting to wonder if it's something to do with the agents, not the landlord. Perhaps having long voids helps boost their fees? I'm not sure.

OP, my friend rents, and has 2 large dogs. She has never been upfront about it to landlords. She just doesn't mention them and moves in. Of course, it's soon found out, but none of them ever evicted her for it. Of course, I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, but you might decide it's better than ending up homeless.

You might be right Ripply... It's quite obvious it's being put on most for a reason, maybe it's advised or put on even if the LL hasn't stated their opinion... hmm... but I can see a lot of LL's legitimately not wanting these sorts of normal people either because money, especially where I live in London. (Single professional... I can't even get my head around that...)

See the problem is when you call the agents, 90% of them have asked if I have pets straight away, it's like the 5th question. That's sort of what I wanted advice on, how is best to deal with it? :undecided

I feel if I say no, that's literally putting me liable for it. So it is difficult, I want to be honest so I'm resorting to offering more money essentially if they get fussy.

Plus at the end of the day, like I've mentioned previously, I don't want an unhappy LL. Imagine the hell that would ensue if I need something fixed and they'd just found out I had cats :silenced:

WibblyGirly

Kittylah wrote: »

I wouldn't advise that personally. I mean, I know lots of people who get away with it but it can literally go as far as getting evicted if you don't tell them, and more likely fees and a very upset LL, then who knows maybe that could effect a future reference for breaching a Tenancy Agreement, I don't know?? Sorry to sound scary but yeah. It's obviously down to you but know that is a huge risk if anything goes wrong. :eek:

Shall post more updates soon guys. Had some good & bad experiences! :A

I"m not bothered about a reference, I've rented for 10 years and never had to provide one before. I'll only be in property for 12 months anyway as I'm moving to attend uni for a year. After emailing about numerous properties it's gonna get to the point where we just have to do it. I'm not sending my cat back to a rescue. We've got one we can view next week if its still available that allows a pet so hopefully it'll all work out.:j