I can understand some landlords if they have had a bad experience. I have contacted numerous agents asking landlord to reconsider and offered additional rent etc. Still getting a no. I am not in a financial position to get a mortgage after a legal battle over custody of my kids with an abusive ex. Working full time now but donāt have a deposit. A mortgage would work out cheaper than renting tooā¦ I am trying to stay positive but it is beginning to have an impact on my wellbeing. I hope you manage to find a new home with an understanding landlord.
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Hi Cheryl
We are in Nottinghamshire.
I know right? Thatās what I donāt get. Most mortgages work out cheaper than rent but a mortgage company worry you āwonāt be able to afford the monthly repaymentā even when you are paying more than that in rent each month.
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this has been one of my gripes as a landlord . A tenant has paid rent for years , no problem but cant get a morgage at a similar sum . Its not fair.
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Iāve had several bad experiences in particular with tenants that have dogs. Ive had to clear alot of dog mess off gardens, change carpets due to dog urine, change doors because the dog has chewed them, change glass in French doors that has been badly scratched and damaged, fill holes and reseed in the garden were they have been digging, have to deal with neighbours complaining the dog has been left alone all day long barking and every potential tenant claims their little angel is well behaved meanwhile I see a different picture, cost, work, time, dirt, damages, noise and smell. Not one of the tenants left the property in a good state which has ultimately led me banning dogs altogether. There has been issues with cats also tenants cutting holes in doors to install a flap, cat spray on carpets but nowhere near as bad as dogs.
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I have to ask any tenantās ,would you be happy to share a flat with someone who regularly pees on the floor,(and occasionally worse) wrecks the carpets and chews the skirting whilst making incessant noise at all hours of the day?
Of course you wouldnāt !
Thatās basically what you are asking a landlord to put up with.
BTW I have 2 cats and a dog and I am a landlord!
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I am sorry that you have to clean up and endure these issues with your own pets. I may be lucky that I have none of these issues with mine as they are fully house trained and no longer puppies.
If my pets did any damage this would be rectified. I have pointed out that I am looking for a long term let and so it is myself and my family that live with the animals nobody else.
The house we rent is treated as our own and redecorated regularly and cleaned daily. we have done our best to ensure no damage is done to the garden by erecting a wrought iron decorative gate to prevent them damaging the lawn.
I am frustrated by the aggressive tone of many of the landlords that have responded to my post. And thank the few that can understand our predicament. I have seen some of the horror stories aired on TV and Iād like to consider us as ideal tenants despite the fact that we have pets.
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Iām sorry that you have had previous bad experience. I would certainly never leave any property in such a state. Not all pets are destructive.
Hi. Cheryl,
Sadly it would seem you are the needle in the haystack type of tenant and most landlords are not used to that. The majority of tenants donāt look after a property like they would if they had worked for it, even when handed over newly refurbished with all the finishing touches.
Itās often not the dogs themselves, itās peoples lack of supervision of the dog. All young dogs go through a chewing and house training phase, itās just what they do.
If all tenants cleaned up and rectified damage there wouldnāt be an issue. But the fact that there is, shows they donāt!
Rent isnāt all profit and builders costs are high.
Horrible for responsible pet owners to be in such a situation.
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I only own flats as rental accommodation, so dogs would not be suitable, nor permitted by the Freeholder, but on two separate occasions I have relented over cats. I can see everybodyās point of view, but do feel for the OP because she sounds a very considerate tenant. Unfortunately there are, I believe, more bad tenants than there are bad landlords. I wish the OP the best of luck in getting her situation sorted out.
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My pets are house trained and generally well behaved but accidents will happen despite everyones best efforts.
I allowed a tenant to have a puppy once because I do actually love pets and this puppy was so cute.
Not so cute when he was peeing on the floor during an inspection!
Anyway Cheryl I really hope you get your accomodation sorted out you do sound like a perfect tenant I cannot think of any logical reason why a landlord would want to muck you around.
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Unfortunately Cheryl every tenant say that, the ones I have let too with dogs and cats said they would cover any cleaning of flooring, caring for the garden and repairing damage leaving the place spotless and of course much later at end of tenancy they did not leave the property in a good state and would not cover the cost of repairs, cleaning of carpets etc which far exceeded the 5 week deposit which they contested. You always get the promises when they move in but when you point out the work needed when they leave it always falls on deaf ears and empty promises.
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Worse still are the tenants who introduce a pet after they have taken the tenancy, in complete disregard for their contract, quite frequently.
I have a tenant currently who has recently complained of smells in the house. my agent inspected the property and found a cat food bowl, but she denied having a cat, and a hamster, and refuses to get rid of the hamster because of her 3 children. She also refused a rent increase of only Ā£35 on a Ā£625 monthly rent after 4 years unchanged. She is a benefits tenant as well. She constantly complains of minor issue of maintenance, and sometimes even child friendly issues that are unchanged since she originally signed up. We send around tradesmen on a regular basis to keep her happy, and they often point out issues she canāt be bothered to report.
No doubt we will have another mess and big bill to deal with when she leaves!
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When looking for a tenant, 99.9% of landlords would want an out-of-the-box vanilla, quiet, well behaved, polite, working professional tenant with a 995 credit score, Ā£20k in the bank, wealthy parents as guarantors and NO pets. Anything less increases our risk. Insurers do exactly the same. They assign risk based upon the statistical likelihood an event will occur. Chances are greater a young male driver will have a smash. The same way the risk of a pet causing a mess or damage is not zero.
Letting a property comes with risks. Even if only one in ten pet owners leave a mess behind, the risk of costly repairs and renewals increases, so why would I increase my risk if I donāt have to? And hereās the irony - the plethora of increased legislation designed to enhance the protection for tenants (such as the banning of section 21), from a landlordsā perspective, has made it far more difficult to deal with bad tenants. As a result, landlords are far more cautious, less flexible and not prepared to take risks.
BTW I have a dog I love very much.
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Mr T, read your contract. if there is nothing in it, serve a Section 13. You have to give one month notice for the rent increase. If the tenant doesnāt pay they are in breach of contract and in rent arrears and you an evict them if you wish. A landlord can raise rent once per year. The wise landlord will set the rent fairly in the beginning to both himself and the tenant and not need to create tenant stress. That said buy to let mortgage rates are high, rents have increased,but not enough to cover the price hike of the mortgage.
Beware of cats also Anne. I had 2 tenants who introduced cats, against the terms of their contract, and both caused damage to carpets and curtains, including some expensive bespoke carpets and voils which we put in a penthouse we used personally previously. Some people have no respect for a rental property.
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Yes, pets all do damage, of one sort or another. However, sometimes the good tenant is worth making sacrifices for. Thatās how I do things and it has, so far, paid off.
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That simply isnāt true I have a 9 year old boxer who makes absolutely no mess , my own houses have never smelt of dogs in the 9 years Iāve had him and if you didnāt know he lived with me you would not know, I appreciate that does not apply to all animals but Iām currently looking for somewhere after leaving a new refurb property in Alwoodley after 14 months and as my reference shows the house was immaculate the day we left and the landlord would have done anything to keep us however due to a down turn in business when we went into lockdown I had to leave to save money. Iām looking again now as being self employed I cannot currently obtain a mortgage and itās very frustrating that pet owners are all tarred with the same brush.
its probably the same brush all Landlords are tarred with
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I am self employed, my biggest helper was the Halifax who gave me a good mortgage on my home . 3 years accounts are needed. Times were different 14 years ago tho.
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