New pet friendly standard government tenancy agreement

I will be completely ignoring this until such time as deposit rules are changed to take account PROPERLY for possible pet damage. Been there and been burnt before. Until then it's humans only in my properties!

I've always allowed pets. I'm a pet owner myself and would be lost without them. In my area by saying no pets it discounts too many potential tenants. We have always said " pets at landlords discretion ". For us that means 1 large dog or 2 small dogs or 2 cats. I have only been burnt once, it was a difficult to rent property and allowed someone in with 4 dogs and 3 cats ( never again ). If you do an inspection of their current property then you can see if there is pet damage.

Usual timid response from the NRLA.

Reply to the comment left by Janet Carnochan at 29/01/2021 - 11:11
Hi Janet
Thats great that you do allow pets. However, the removal of a Landlords choice is not acceptable.

The trouble is, like humans, there are pets, and there are pets. and although I don't have a blanket ban, I've never allowed dogs in my properties which are 1 & 2 bed, as I've seen so much damage done by them in other rental properties, ranging from ravaged woodwork and soiled carpets, plus the attendent smell, to gardens that resemble the Somme, with the amount of dog faeces present.

I'm not suggesting that they are all like this, but I don't wish to take the risk. Plus, when tenants express a wish to have a pet, I talk matters through with them, and they usually end up with a cat. On the whole, cats are fine in my experience, and 50% of my tenants have them.

What I foresee in the future, is the same scenario I've had with smokers, who tell the Agent that they are non smokers, but once in situ, it's obvious from the various indicators that they are. What we'll suddenly find with this legislation, is that tenants will suddenly, unknown to the Landlord, be acquiring multiple pets. I had recently been thinking of buying another BTL property, and have generally been upbeat about renting, but this, along with the mental health issues preventing pursuance of debt, has made me realise that the way things are going, that it's not worth the hassle.

The great reset. Make things more and more impossible for landlords so they are forced to sell their land and property for peanuts and then the filthy rich people will buy it and own most of the world. Simples

I don't think I'll be selling anything for peanuts! Plus, I don't think that the very wealthy look at this area for further wealth creation. There are many more lucrative areas for them to continue amassing further wealth.

I too allow pets in houses with gardens but the flats are a bit different and will depend on the desired pet I had a one bed house in Chelmsford with communal areas. I allowed a tenant with a small Dachshund, a sweet little dog. I did regular inspections for a while and all was well. I did notice they had a toilet tray and was assured they would pay for any damage. They asked to fit laminated flooring downstairs at their cost and I agreed. Well time when on I thought all was okay so did not visit as much when they said they were leaving I could not get an agreed date to visit from number of excuses so I did not get a chance to visit before they said they had left the property. When the agent did the checkout inventory they had difficulty staying inside the property due to the smell. Immediate alarms bells and I found that all flooring including upstairs and a complete repaint was needed top to bottom. To get rid of the smell and stains from the chipboard flooring I used a combination of white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda three times on the upstairs floors, The carpets, underlay were absolute sodden, wet and disgusting right through to the floor in the bed room where they slept! I had to shower after removal of the carpets. The landing was just as bad. The toilet pan although not to do with pets looked like a volcano. All in all although started well ended very expensive over and above their deposit (which they did not get back) This and all from someone who worked in a NHS hospital as a blood technician or such. A nightmare that cost a fortune to renovate, end result was to sell, I'd had enough. An NHS worker for god's sake!!!!

I have a tenant (still in situ thanks to Courts shut down and balls up over Covid to date...) that thinks putting dog mess in part closed bags under the upstairs floorboards is acceptable. Only discovered after they stated the ceiling in the room below must be 'faulty' as it had some mysterious brown 'water marks' showing through says it all.............

Reply to the comment left by SM at 29/01/2021 - 12:43
I totally agree. It should be the landlords choice.