No pets without prior consent? Please Help?!

movinghelp

Firstly I love dogs. I grew up in a detached house in the country and we had a Labrador who barked extremely rarely (if he thought there was an intruder) and when he died aged 10 we got a new Labrador who I think I heard back less than 5 times over his 12 year lifespan.

Now I live in a semi and our neighbour has 2 dogs both of whom bark constantly. It is unbelievably frustrating. They set off other dogs in the neighbourhood and the barking can last hours if they’re unaccompanied at home.

The neighbours have already apologised and to be fair I don’t think they’re doing much wrong, they’re home with the dogs most of the time but it does remind me that almost every dog owner thinks their dogs are faultless. Many are wrong but the biggest difference is when someone actually admits their dog is causing a nuisance. Took the wind out of our sails. 

lookstraightahead

I remember renting in a flat which supposedly allowed no pets. At the time I was frightened of certain dogs. Then a new person moved in with a huge dog and there was one communal door to the flats. I had to wait outside for my partner to come home at night so we could go in together.
im fine about dogs now so long as they don't run up to me, but some people are scared of animals and choose accommodation accordingly. In the same way one would choose a hotel with no digs allowed. 

DCFC79

OP have you given thought to buying a house somewhere ?
A house would be better for a dog, it would have some outside space especially when its summer, mine likes to sit in the sun.

AdrianC

TanJ23 said:

youth_leader said:

I was a bit shocked the other day when a neighbour commented that my dog had barked for so long she had felt concerned, and was going to come round to see if I was alright.  

That’s a concern also that someone would make things up to try and get the animal removed! If no nuisance is being caused it shouldn’t concern others 

By definition, though, if they are "concerned", then it's causing a nuisance. Nuisance is in the eye of the beholder.

FaceHead

Does the OP also have to ask permission to have a child in the flat, which might cry a cause a nuisance to others?

It seems ridiculous to impose conditions on what people can do in their own homes on the off chance it might cause a nuisance to others. Living in a flat comes with some expectation of noise from neighbors.

If a nuisance is being caused then action should be taken, rather than the leaseholder pre-judging what could be a nuisance, e.g. requiring permission for a either a dog or a goldfish. 

Having to pay for permission to do something reasonable in one's home is yet more absurd. Even if you did make the concession of accepting that you have to ask for permission to do the reasonable, I'd argue that the if the freeholder didn't grant permission without payment, that would constitute unreasonable withholding of permission. 

[Deleted User]

FaceHead said:

Does the OP also have to ask permission to have a child in the flat, which might cry a cause a nuisance to others?

It seems ridiculous to impose conditions on what people can do in their own homes on the off chance it might cause a nuisance to others. Living in a flat comes with some expectation of noise from neighbors.

If a nuisance is being caused then action should be taken, rather than the leaseholder pre-judging what could be a nuisance, e.g. requiring permission for a either a dog or a goldfish. 

Having to pay for permission to do something reasonable in one's home is yet more absurd. Even if you did make the concession of accepting that you have to ask for permission to do the reasonable, I'd argue that the if the freeholder didn't grant permission without payment, that would constitute unreasonable withholding of permission. 

As a general rule, adults wouldn't be allergic to or scared of children 

lookstraightahead

FaceHead said:

Does the OP also have to ask permission to have a child in the flat, which might cry a cause a nuisance to others?

It seems ridiculous to impose conditions on what people can do in their own homes on the off chance it might cause a nuisance to others. Living in a flat comes with some expectation of noise from neighbors.

If a nuisance is being caused then action should be taken, rather than the leaseholder pre-judging what could be a nuisance, e.g. requiring permission for a either a dog or a goldfish. 

Having to pay for permission to do something reasonable in one's home is yet more absurd. Even if you did make the concession of accepting that you have to ask for permission to do the reasonable, I'd argue that the if the freeholder didn't grant permission without payment, that would constitute unreasonable withholding of permission. 

There are lots of properties where not more than two people are allowed, or single occupancy.

AdrianC

FaceHead said:

Does the OP also have to ask permission to have a child in the flat, which might cry a cause a nuisance to others? 

Pets and children are rarely perceived as analogous.

It's not socially acceptable to put your children up for re-homing because the dog's allergic to them, for a start.

eddddy

TanJ23 said:

the other thing i didn't mention was that we would have a share in the freehold when we move in as do all the other residents on the estate, so i assume it would boil down to voting in the end, 

No - it won't boil down to voting. It will depend on what the covenants in the lease say.

If there are covenants in the lease relating to pets (or anything else), the joint freeholders cannot override those covenants by voting, or in any other way.


(But disputes over the lease might get a lot messier if a bunch of joint freeholders are managing the building. They often tend to be less professional, and more emotional about managing the building than a professional management company would be. That may or may not work in your favour.)

TanJ23

Thank you for comments again I appreciate people taking their time to respond even if some of the responses aren’t what I wanted to hear 🤷🏻‍♀️ If we could afford a house we most certainly would get a house, we’d been searching for the right place for well over a year and like I say it’s my first mortgage so I am a bit clueless at the moment about these things I only recently learnt what a lease is! 

As I said previously I completely understand dogs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and some are allergic and frightened of them, the fact the lease states we can ask for permission seems positive and that there isn’t a definite no pets policy in place otherwise we wouldn’t consider it