Getting a pet mid tenancy

singingsister

Hi everyone,

We've lived in our current property (rented) for 5 years now.

We've decided we'd love to get a little doggie to join our family.

Obviously we want permission from our landlord, however a few years ago, we got 2 guinea pigs and he wanted "confirmation" that they were only going to be in the cage! We had no pet related (or any other infact!) problems and we now want to word an email to him asking him for permission to get a little dog.

We know we can only have a little one as we live in a townhouse with a shared (massive) communal garden so we are not looking outside our means.

We want to email our landlord asking permission to actually get a dog however I'm unsure how to word the email.

I get he is concerned about the condition of his property and I understand that. However, as I've said we have lived here 5 years with no problems at all.

Lots of other identical properties on our road also have dogs so we don't have a problem getting a home visit approved before getting a particular dog.

We are happy to pay some kind of "doggie deposit" so should the dog cause any problems the landlord has some money set aside.

We are 2 or 3 months into our 5th years rental agreement so I'm not sure how to go about getting this approved.

There are also medical reasons why we want to get a dog (no need to explain them here).

Does anyone have any suggestions of how to move forward on this? I've tried googling about a "doggie deposit" but they all talk about a landlord letting to a new tenant, I can't seem to find anything about what to do mid tenancy, or if indeed a "doggie deposit" is still legal since the tenancy laws recently changed.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advise for us?

G_M

My view on a 'doggie deposit':

Blake011

Try not to get your hopes up, and just be straight up with them don't beat around the bush.

Ive rented for 6 years and got my first dog within 3 months of moving into my first rental. The landlord was really chilled so I literally sent him a text “Hi we would really love to get a dog, understand you may have reservations but we will happily pay for any damages when we leave, only want a little one and will get a deep clean done if/when we leave, please call if you want to discuss” he came back a week later and said it was fine as long as we got no noise complaints.

Fast forward a few years later and we had a much more fussy landlord. We wanted another puppy, i knew the answer was going to be a no- so we moved somewhere else and got 2 dogs written in to the contract.

Some words of advice- if you get permission, get it in writing in case they go back on their word. Also a dog will damage you house.
Especially a puppy. Our dogs chewed carpets, skirting boards, made a hole in the sofa, and the youngest was impossible to house train and weed and pooed everywhere. And they are both tiny dogs who are not left alone for long! Its amazing the damage they can do when you go to the toilet or have a shower!! All of this had knock on effects on getting our deposit back- but to us it is worth it.

If for medical reasons look into the law around this as if it becomes a registered service/support dog there may be some laws to help you!

best of luck and let us know!

sevenhills

Under the 2015 Consumer Rights Act, a landlord can only refuse permission if it is reasonable to do so, for instance on grounds of the animal's size, the damage it could cause and its impact on future rental prospects.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43045552

Fishoutofwater

We rent a property and the tenants asked about getting a dog. We were more than happy for them to get a dog so long as there was an additional deposit paid as the property had just been fully renovated top to bottom, inside and out so we wanted to protect ourselves as much as we could.

Perhaps offering to crate train the dog, extra inspections, more deposit or end of tenancy deep clean may make easier for the landlord to say yes.

For what it’s worth we LOVE dogs so were biased towards them in the first place. Good luck.

ANGLICANPAT

Not sure I would allow a dog again in my rental . It caused murder with neighbours because of barking when owners were at work .

Socajam

As a landlord, the following I am not prepared to accept:

No animals whatsoever and no smoking

I would much rather take less rent from a tenant who will abide by above, than have a tenant who can pay more and want a dog and smokes.

dancing_star

"doggie"


How old are you, six?


Seriously, though, don't get your hopes up from the previous re guinea pigs. Doesn't sound like he's amenable to pets.

[Deleted User]

singingsister wrote: »

Hi everyone,

We've lived in our current property (rented) for 5 years now.

We've decided we'd love to get a little doggie to join our family.

Obviously we want permission from our landlord, however a few years ago, we got 2 guinea pigs and he wanted "confirmation" that they were only going to be in the cage! We had no pet related (or any other infact!) problems and we now want to word an email to him asking him for permission to get a little dog.

We know we can only have a little one as we live in a townhouse with a shared (massive) communal garden so we are not looking outside our means.

We want to email our landlord asking permission to actually get a dog however I'm unsure how to word the email.

I get he is concerned about the condition of his property and I understand that. However, as I've said we have lived here 5 years with no problems at all.

Lots of other identical properties on our road also have dogs so we don't have a problem getting a home visit approved before getting a particular dog.

We are happy to pay some kind of "doggie deposit" so should the dog cause any problems the landlord has some money set aside.

We are 2 or 3 months into our 5th years rental agreement so I'm not sure how to go about getting this approved.

There are also medical reasons why we want to get a dog (no need to explain them here).

Does anyone have any suggestions of how to move forward on this? I've tried googling about a "doggie deposit" but they all talk about a landlord letting to a new tenant, I can't seem to find anything about what to do mid tenancy, or if indeed a "doggie deposit" is still legal since the tenancy laws recently changed.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advise for us?

As this is a town house with communal garden I’m guessing that it could be a leasehold property meaning that the decision isn’t just down to your landlord but your landlord’s landlord aka the freeholder.

There’s a world of difference between getting a dog that’s already been trained to help those with medical conditions such as a guide dog and getting a puppy. Guide dogs etc are already well toilet trained before homed with whom they will be helping. Puppies and some rescue dogs still need to be toilet trained with can be a very messy business. Guide dogs, dogs for hearing, etc are also very unlikely to be left alone for any length of time so, Equality Act aside, I can understand why a landlord would be happier about a guide dog or similar than a dog that requires training and will potentially be left alone.

Given your landlords response about your request for guinea pigs I wouldn’t hold your breathe about a dog.

FBaby

As a Landlord I wouldn't agree. Dogs can cause so much problems, barking and troubling the neighbours, scratching doors that are perfectly fine but because they are say 10 yo would mean next to nothing if contested due to T&W but would need to be replaced for new tenants, and something that can't be evidenced on paper or picture yet would make finding a new tenant very difficult, the smell.

I rented the perfect property once because the previous tenant had two dogs and the place stank of them. I was able to have a significant reduction of rent agreed on this basis. I do love dogs so could just about tolerate it, but it did take a lot longer to get rid of than what I had anticipated.

The thing is, could they evict you on a Section 8 and breach of contract if you did, I'm not sure, so they might have no choice but to agree, and cross fingers that the dog is indeed no trouble.

warby68

I don't think your particular wording will make a lot of difference. The landlord will probably already have a view on this.

How to move forward? Write and ask - you will want it in writing - but obviously offer to be available to discuss concerns etc. You can worry about how to factor it into your lease if you get a positive response.