I don’t doubt that you are probably a very reliable tenant. However in my 20 odd years as a landlord I have let properties to some people who have had amazing references and seem very clean and sometimes I have been let down, on the flipside I have also rented to tenants who I have had some reservations about but I’ve proved to be the perfect tenant. It’s just impossible to work out who the good guys are so with the added complication of a pet I just don’t want to take the risk.
I have also rented to one very clean looking woman, on a good income, with a very small dog that looked very well looked after, well groomed. I just got a good feeling about her. She had glowing references from her previous landlord even though she had the dog and his reference mentioned he had no issues with the dog. When she vacated my property after a year or so, it seemed spotless. However once the heating was switched on the new tenant complained of a smell of ‘dog’ and dog urine. I am sure the tenant with the dog was not aware of the problem as most people with dogs become ‘nose blind’. The carpets had to be replaced.
Another experience I had in my early days as the landlord was taking pity on a woman who had an old cat. In the contract I said she was allowed to have the one cat and we agreed that when the cat died no more pets. She has now got four cats and the house is filthy and stinks of cats! I dread to think how much it is going to cost me to sort it out when she moves out!
The other issue of course is that once the tenant with the animal gives you notice, there is no point in getting people to view the property while they are still there, because if potential tenants see a pet, and especially if there was a smell, ( which 99% of the time there will be) they will not rent the property. Then you have to wait until they have vacated the property so you can organise either cleaning or new carpets or both. This can take a few weeks to get organised. Only then can you do viewing, this will take a week or more finding the right tenant. Then you will find your new tenant is on a months notice.
By then you’ve probably missed out on at least 2-3 months rent minimum.
Without the complication of pets and because the market is so buoyant I rarely have more than a week between tenants because I make sure I get the right tenants and check they will allow me to do viewings before they move out.
Sadly people with pets need to realise that for many landlords this is like a job, it is their only income that they rely on to live . Taking the risk of having a pet in your property is a bit like taking up employment on an agreed and legally binding salary, and then being told your employer might have to claw back £2000-£3000 from you because of no fault of your own. You would have to be mad to take on a job like that but that is basically what you’re doing if you allow a tenant to have a pet.
So while I sympathise with you, I believe that this situation has come about because of the never-ending legislation that works against landlords ( because we cannot take a pet bond ) and as a consequence works against tenants because the landlords need to maximise their investment.
The only way I can see around it is if you offer a potential landlord an extra £10 or so per week as rent and sign a minimum two-year contract then at least he has got £1000 in hand in case of any damage.