Pets in temporary accommodation

Fastlane

kelpie35 wrote: »

Could you not go and stay with your aunt?

Is there anyway you could visit your dog for a few hours per day?

She doesn’t have room for anyone to stay with her, considering she has a 2 bed house her, her partner and : kids living with her as well as my name.

I’d love to see my dog everyday but my aunties house is 20 miles away, so economically, I can’t.

Fastlane

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

If I agreed to rent a property out and the tenants agreed a no let’s rule I would not be at all amused if they then started trying to play at my heart strings to change the agreement once they had moved in. I’d probably regret renting to them and start to plan how best to get them to move on.

As others have said, either stay with your aunt, or just visit and take the dog out for a few hours each day.

It’s tempory accommodation, we had no choose where we ended up. It was a matter of the council giving us a peice of paper to sign and then saying you’re living here for now. As for the letting agent they arnt bothered one bit, they said we can have the animals as long as the council said it’s ok.

As for staying at my aunts I’ve already replied to that on another comment

Fastlane

Davesnave wrote: »

Who picks up the tab if the dog, ferret, alligator etc does damage during your tenancy? Have the council guaranteed a sum by way of deposit to cover accidental damage?


I suspect this is why the agency wants the council's agreement, probably in writing, before they will allow a pet.

We’d happily put down some kind of deposit of it meant were aloud our dog. But as soon as u mention a animal they try to shut you down straight away. As for damage the flat is a sh*thole. We’ve cleaned it top to bottom and it still has a damp smell/ leaking radiators and rats. Plus the neighbours upstairs who let their dog sh*t by our front door and leave their massive pile of rubbish down the side of the house.

theartfullodger

Who is named as your landlord on your license or tenancy agreement? Please let us know.



Assuming this is Council temporary accommodation whilst they evaluate your case it will be a probably be under Part 7, have council as your landlord (even if property owned by someone else) and you have very few rights, in particular pretty much nil over pets. You can ask.


Likely more important is to find how your homeless application is going and if you might be eventually be turfed out onto the street (hope not..) or offered somewhere more permanent, likely a private let directly with a private landlord, possibly a long way away.


Nothing to stop you finding a rental directly yourself that accepts pets.

Fire_Fox

Fastlane wrote: »

We’d happily put down some kind of deposit of it meant were aloud our dog. But as soon as u mention a animal they try to shut you down straight away. As for damage the flat is a sh*thole. We’ve cleaned it top to bottom and it still has a damp smell/ leaking radiators and rats. Plus the neighbours upstairs who let their dog sh*t by our front door and leave their massive pile of rubbish down the side of the house.

Fastlane wrote: »

Another thing is both of our neighbours have told us that the lady who stayed her before us had 3 dogs. The flat is hardly new and just about meets basic needs (not complaining) and has rats.

You can/ should report the vermin and the damp to the letting agent, and then Environmental Health at the council.

It is possible the current problem with vermin is partly or wholly the result of there being four dogs in the building up until recently. Dog sh*t, dumped refuse and accessible pet food is a veritable banquet for rats.

[Deleted User]

You are in pretty much the same situation I was in three years ago or so. I was allocated a 2 bed council maisonette as emergency accommodation and had a housing worker (charity) who managed to point out to the council that other families on the estate had pets, our dog helped our emotional well being and I was permitted to have our dog in the accommodation. However, there was an overall rule that there should be no pets allowed in emergency accommodation so I was rather surprised I was allowed to do this.

Obviously, you aren't in council property but private rental property rented by the council, and your housing manager isn't as amenable on this as mine was in the end. But you could ask, enclose a letter from the lettings agency, perhaps get a councillor involved or MP.

BUT at the end of the day, remember you aren't in one room, as so many people end up in with emergency accommodation. Its not easy, but not as hard as it can get. We moved into a cockroach infested place (the kids got used to me screaming when yet another one popped out at me), had to deal with that, damp, on a not nice estate (drunks and drug users can make a lot of noise) etc etc. But it was still better than a single room hostel so when all is said and done, considered ourselves lucky. Once it was cleaned and insect free (had to clean thousands of cockroach carcasses off the walls and cupboards once the infestation was finally dealt with), it stayed that way, no shared facilities.

It does seem that if you are in emergency accommodation few of the normal housing rules apply. Unfortunately. A family of five in a single room is perfectly acceptable, I will never quite understand that.

Fastlane

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You can/ should report the vermin and the damp to the letting agent, and then Environmental Health at the council.

We’ve reported everything to both the letting agent and council, but don’t get a response. The most recent email we sent go a automatic reply of ‘I’m away on holiday so won’t be back until the 3rd of June’.

On Tuesday one of the radiators was leaking so we contacted the letting agent who said someone will come out and sort it. That was 5 days ago...

Fastlane

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You can/ should report the vermin and the damp to the letting agent, and then Environmental Health at the council.

Everything has been reported to the letting agent and council. But they’re not bothered. The last email we sent about the problems was replied with ‘I’m away on holiday, I’ll be back on the 3rd of June’.

On Tuesday one of the radiators was leaking so we called the letting agent, they said someone will be out to fix it. That was 5 days ago...

Fastlane

deannatrois wrote: »

You are in pretty much the same situation I was in three years ago or so. I was allocated a 2 bed council maisonette as emergency accommodation and had a housing worker (charity) who managed to point out to the council that other families on the estate had pets, our dog helped our emotional well being and I was permitted to have our dog in the accommodation. However, there was an overall rule that there should be no pets allowed in emergency accommodation so I was rather surprised I was allowed to do this.

Obviously, you aren't in council property but private rental property rented by the council, and your housing manager isn't as amenable on this as mine was in the end. But you could ask, enclose a letter from the lettings agency, perhaps get a councillor involved or MP.

BUT at the end of the day, remember you aren't in one room, as so many people end up in with emergency accommodation. Its not easy, but not as hard as it can get. We moved into a cockroach infested place (the kids got used to me screaming when yet another one popped out at me), had to deal with that, damp, on a not nice estate (drunks and drug users can make a lot of noise) etc etc. But it was still better than a single room hostel so when all is said and done, considered ourselves lucky. Once it was cleaned and insect free (had to clean thousands of cockroach carcasses off the walls and cupboards once the infestation was finally dealt with), it stayed that way, no shared facilities.

It does seem that if you are in emergency accommodation few of the normal housing rules apply. Unfortunately. A family of five in a single room is perfectly acceptable, I will never quite understand that.

We do class ourselves as lucky. We thought we’d end up in a hostel of some sort. We’re obviously bearing with the problems the flat comes with. We could’ve ended up with a lot worse.

My mum is friends with someone who is close to a local MP so I’ll ask her to look into it.

Can I ask how long you were in the massionette before you got moved someone more permanent?

Facknats

Poundland sell 'dehumidifier tubs' which helped tremendously when I had a damp smelling flat. Report the vermin if they are in the house.

You're 18, could you perhaps put in a job application at Tesco's etc? It may help you guys get the cash together to find a private landlord who will accept your dog.

Sorry if I sound a little hardline- I haven't stayed housed, clothed and fed living with Bipolar disorder by expecting the council to give half a toss about my anxiety and you might find you have a tough time doing so against the background noise of struggling public services. They will likely need that house in as habitable condition as they can so that when you are able to transfer to permanent accommodation the next family in your situation can be housed asap. As you've seen from your neighbours, not everybody can keep pet hygiene under wraps so sadly the ones who can look after their dog suffer.