Renting with a pet?

neilio

My house is on the market and we want to buy a new build. We have our eyes on a few developments and a few plots which aren’t available for a few months. We’re willing to sell our home and go into a rented property until the new house is ready. We have a dog.

I haven’t rented a home in years and I was never a dog owner before becoming a homeowner. What is the rental market for pet owners like out there? Will I struggle or are there a lot of pet-friendly rentals around generally?

That aside, that it’s a new build isn’t entirely relevant. We are looking to relocate to a different part of the country and have contemplated renting in the new area while we find a permanent home to purchase, new build or not.

boxer234

I always thought it would be hard but I found somewhere quickly and I have two dogs.  I offered a higher deposit but they cannot do that anymore so you could offer a slightly higher rent.  I think it really depends the part of the country you are looking at. 

Slithery

Try Openrent. That way you get to speak directly with the LL rather than an agencies usual 'computer says no'.

youth_leader

I found somewhere I liked to rent and asked the rental agent to approach the owner to see if I could take my dog and cat - he agreed.  

tinytiddles

youth_leader said:

I found somewhere I liked to rent and asked the rental agent to approach the owner to see if I could take my dog and cat - he agreed.  

Same - we did exactly this back when we were renting. We viewed the property and met the landlord and during the viewing we asked if he would let us have a cat and it was fine. When we left we gave the place a damn good clean (we would have anyway) and flea spray all round just in case and job done.

lindaCrow62

I went into rented accommodation last year and asked three times if the landlady would let me have 1 or 2 cats.  She said yes, I took the flat and moved in.  Three weeks later the estate agent told me that they hadn’t realised that the block management does not allow pets.  I was not happy😡. Luckily I hadn’t got the cats yet, but I am now looking to move, and nowhere will accept cats.  I’ve offered to pay a separate deposit for any pet damage, and to get the carpets professionally cleaned when leaving.  All to no avail😔

PollyWollyDoodle

This is worrying me as I’m looking to rent in the near future, I have sold my house and can’t find anything to buy. I have two cats. I’ve been told by friends that renting with cats isn’t a problem - one has had seven cats in a rental property! - but I haven’t actually got as far as finding out terms and conditions yet. 

Annisele

I think this varies quite a bit across the country, and depends in part on how hot the rental market is. Sometimes it also matters what kind of property you're looking for.

In parts of the country there's an under supply of rental property, and you might find several people wanting to rent the same place. That means the landlords gets a choice - and they're allowed to choose the people without pets if they want. Many landlords (but by no means all) will choose the people without pets, because of concerns about mess / damage / fleas / potential future tenants having allergies etc.

Then there's the flat issue. Where I am there are a lot of new build flats, and the leases usually have a blanket on pets (whether that's enforceable is another issue, but I can see why landlords wouldn't want to bother with the argument). So, round my way if you want a house you won't have much difficulty finding somewhere that takes pets, but if you want a flat it's near impossible. And of course in general the houses cost more than the flats, so the effect is that you to be relatively wealthy to afford somewhere that accepts animals.

pinkteapot

We rented with a cat a couple of years ago. All adverts will say "no pets" but in reality some landlords will consider them (some won't, and that's fair enough). 

We did find ours through an agency, so never spoke to the landlord directly. Just phone when you see a property and ask if there's flexibility. Our landlord was happy with a single pet (cat or dog), though the ad had said 'no pets'. We had to pay a higher deposit and agree to pay for professional carpet cleaning on departure. Probably a third to a half of the 'no pets' properties we enquired about would in fact accept a pet. Had we had 15 huskies or something it might have been different. 

I would start talking to agencies early though - if the area you're in has very high demand for rental properties and landlords can easily get tenants without pets, they might be less keen to accept pets as they simply don't need to. 

As an aside, I'm always bemused when landlords won't accept a pet but will accept as many toddlers as you like. 

pinkteapot

PollyWollyDoodle said:

This is worrying me as I’m looking to rent in the near future, I have sold my house and can’t find anything to buy. I have two cats. I’ve been told by friends that renting with cats isn’t a problem - one has had seven cats in a rental property! - but I haven’t actually got as far as finding out terms and conditions yet. 

You say that...

youth_leader

I found a rental and pets weren't mentioned, so I asked the rental agency to ask the landlord if he would accept my cat and dog - which he did.  I didn't have to pay more, just had to shampoo all the carpets when I left.