Housemates cat smells and breached contract

Peaches05x

Hi all,

So I have recently signed an AST agreement about 10 days ago. I found the room on Spareroom and The advert says that the current tenant of this 2 bed flat has a cat and a hedgehog. She’s been renting since November. After I signed the contract i found out that the Letting Agency does not know about the pets. I am of course worried because if anything happens and if she gets caught i will also be liable, specially if i dont report her? I don’t really want her to get into trouble because she seems like a nice person.

After also staying for 2 nights in the flat i realised that the cat has a foul smell and the whole flat smells...apart from my room. The litter box is also in the lounge/kitchen (its an open plan) which I think is very unhygienic.... don’t really want to make my food and even eat in there.

Now i’m really upset because I don’t want to stay in the house because of the smell and we are breaching the contract. I signed a fixed term contract until November and as per the agency I cannot leave then or even get a replacement if i want to leave.

Help please if anyone has been in my situation.

tacpot12

You are in a very difficult situation. Probably the best option is to move out at the end of the AST.

In the meantime, you and the cat owner could clean the litter tray out more often, and get some air fresheners for the public rooms. If you wash you hands and cook your food properly, you will not be affected by the cat litter being in the room.

If you tell the letting agent she has a cat, she will be offended and could make it very unpleasant to be in the house, meaning you would have to move out, but would still be liable for the rent.

I don't see that you would be liable to the landlord as you are not the cats owner, and you have not breached any terms of your AST.

AdrianC

Keeping a litter tray in an open-plan lounge/kitchen is hardly unusual, and will only be "unhygienic" (by which I mean has any odour at all) if it's not cleaned out regularly. Sounds like the issue is that you didn't understand what living with pets meant, and didn't find out before signing.

Rosemary7391

Did it smell when you viewed? If not, can you ask the current tenant to keep doing whatever they did to get rid of the smell then? Sounds like just a bit more cleaning/airing is needed...

HampshireH

Surely the letting agent knows she has these animals and is therefore in breach. You say you responded to an advert and then signed an ast.

If i were you I would be more concerned about your liability for the condition of the house. If you have moved in at an odd time then you I assume didnt have an inventory done.

Are you joint tenants? If so this could make you liable at the end of the tenancy for handing the property back in the condition it was originally let in. I.e. presumably not smelly.

That said if its that bad it would have been evident when you viewed.

Personally i will never understand why people put a poo box in a kitchen where they prepare and store food.

You wouldnt defecate in a box and leave it on the kitchen floor for the day so I never understood why cats are allowed to.

G_M

Peaches05x wrote: »

Hi all,

So I have recently signed an AST agreement about 10 days ago. I found the room on Spareroom and The advert says that the current tenant of this 2 bed flat has a cat and a hedgehog. She’s been renting since November. After I signed the contract i found out that the Letting Agency does not know about the pets.
1) who placed this advert?
2) who do you pay rent to?

3) if 1) & 2) above = the cat-owner/other occupant then you are a lodger, not a tenant
4) if 1) & 2) above =the property owner or letting agent, how come the advert mentions a cat if they don't know of the pets?
5) is the cat owner a joint tenant on your contract? If she arrived 2 months before you, how is this possible?



I am of course worried because if anything happens and if she gets caught i will also be liable,
Why would you be liable for a breach of an AST by someone else?

specially if i dont report her?
Reporting her will not help your relationship with the cat owner.

I don’t really want her to get into trouble because she seems like a nice person.

Then either move out or learn to live with the cat......


After also staying for 2 nights in the flat i realised that the cat has a foul smell and the whole flat smells...apart from my room. The litter box is also in the lounge/kitchen (its an open plan) which I think is very unhygienic.... don’t really want to make my food and even eat in there.

Talk to the cat owner and find a compromise.
I'm still unclear if she is your landlord, your joint tenant, or has a separate tenancy (HMO?)


Now i’m really upset because I don’t want to stay in the house because of the smell and we are breaching the contract.

Again- do you both have a single joint contract with both your names on it?

* If yes, then yes you (both) are breaching the contract
* if separate contracts with the owner/agency, then she is breaching hers, you are not breaching yours.
* if she is your (live-in) landlord, then you have no contact with the owner/agency so cannot be breaching it.



I signed a fixed term contract until November and as per the agency I cannot leave then or even get a replacement if i want to leave.

contract with who?

Please clarify

lookstraightahead

I remember having to have a litter tray inside and it stinks. If the other woman has a cat and isn't supposed to then she would probably move out with her cat, rather than rehoming her cat. Perhaps the landlord does know but didn't tell you.

-taff

What does she do with the cat when there's an inspection?

Silvertabby

AdrianC wrote: »

Keeping a litter tray in an open-plan lounge/kitchen is hardly unusual, and will only be "unhygienic" (by which I mean has any odour at all) if it's not cleaned out regularly. Sounds like the issue is that you didn't understand what living with pets meant, and didn't find out before signing.

Exactly. A litter tray will only smell if the 'solids' aren't removed straight away. So, you can either moan about the smell until your flat mate gets home - or you can scoop it yourself.

eilidhcatriona

I’d agree with the others about if you report her, it’s not going to make living there much fun.

A few cat-related suggestions...

We live in a flat and have 3 cats (well, 2 and a half, ones still a kitten). I know people say you’re not aware of the smell of your own pets, but I think ours aren’t bad - my parents have commented on the lack of cat smells, and they’re not shy about pointing stuff out!

We use wood pellet litter. I find this contains pee smells better than the clay like stuff. Solids you do need to scoop to remove the smell, no matter what litter you use. What litter does your flatmate use? Could you suggest a change? If it’s Catsan, that’s your problem right there - for an expensive litter, it does nothing to contain smells.

Also, the worst pee smells we’ve ever had were when one of them kept missing the tray. We’ve now got hooded trays, and they sit on long boot trays which catches any incidents (very rare with the covered trays). Is the cat actually getting all it’s business into the tray, or missing some?

And it’s not unhygienic to have a tray in the kitchen, as long as it’s cleaned regularly and the litter isn’t on surfaces where you eat/prepare food. I appreciate the smell won’t make you want to eat there though.

tacpot12

I should have thought about hooded trays. We have two for our cats and they do help keep the smell down, on the downside they make it harder to see when they need emptying so they are best for people that are happy to empty them to a routine.

They are not expensive - £20, offering to go halves with your flatmate would perhaps get them on-side with the need to do something to manage the smell.