No pets allowed...

[Donatello]

I need some help from the collective brain that is PH.

My girlfriend and I rent a property at the moment but are saving for a house. We have lived in the property which is rented through a letting agency for over 2 years now and never once have we caused a problem.

We are both extremely keen to get a dog back in our lives (we both had dogs throughout our childhood lives until we started renting at 19 & 23)

We signed a contract which states something like 'No pets shall be kept at the property...' and we have kept to this and never even had family bring pets round as we have not wanted to breach the rules.

Is there anyway we are allowed a dog at the property? Could we contact the landlord directly and ask the question and make it clear that if there is anything he is unhappy with when we leave, we will cover the costs?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I miss having a dog

Thanks in advance,

Tom

[AndyKH]

I would get in touch with the landlord directly. Our contract states that we aren't allowed pets, but we dealt with the landlord directly before we dealt with the legal stuff, he had cats before us and was more than happy for us to move in with our cat. We've had 2 annual visits now with no mention of the animals.

[itsnotarace]

Contact landlord directly, then get it in writing if they agree

Then pass a copy of letter/email with permission from landlord to lettings agency

[AndyKH]

I'm sure most landlords just want the cash from renting and really can't be bothered with the hassle of dealing with the contract/legal side of things if they are using an agency, I know this to be the case with our landlord. I think the 'No pets' rule is a standard part of a basic contract.

[carl carlson]

Our last hosue had a no pets clause in the contract. We contacted the landlord and asked her directly if we could get a dog. She was more than happy to accomdate this as long as we paid an additional 300 on top for the deposit.

[parakitaMol.]

I have this in my contract for tennants too.... I would consider allowing a pet on merit, depending on the animal and specifically it's size, maybe as some suggest offer a larger deposit.

Try and speak to your landlord directly, maybe say what kind of dog you intend to get (small with smooth non-moulting hair might be more kindly considered than a large hairy dog!)... good luck!

[Mrs Grumpy]

I rent out a flat. The management people will not allow ANY pets, so I have no say in the matter

I agree that if you contact the landlord directly, offer to pay a further precautionary deposit and to have the place professionally cleaned when you move out, then you may be onto a winner.

Good luck!

[Jasandjules]

As above, speak to the Landlord, however get any yes in writing. Ideally I'd write a clause and add it into the rental agreement.

[balders118]

Just to add another side...

I had a no pets clause. I contacted the agents, who spoke to the landlord who said I could get a cat. So you could probably go through them too if you for whatever reason can't go straight to the landlord.

I had to sign a new peice of paper basically saying that when we move out the house will be deep cleaned at our expense.

[Donatello]

Hello all,

We wrote directly to our landlord and have received a response already. He seems a very reasonable chap and has said 'I have no issues with the principle of you keeping any pets at the property..' and has gone on to say he would like us to clear it with our neighbour first.

Obviously as we rent and they don't, he wants to make sure his tenants do not cause any problems for his permenant neighbours.

So we will be speaking to them shortly and fingers crossed, we get a positive response!

Thanks for all the advice He is getting the letting agent to contact us with an addendum to the contract which will cover pets.

All seems very positive!

[Lippitt]

Awesome! Just make sure you really do get it in writing - our landlord said we could have a cat, but didn't want to bother getting the contract changed, then he changed his mind so we didn't have a leg to stand on... he was a very strange man though!