Hi everyone. I am renting a property in a block of apartments and have applied to keep a pet, I’ve provided reasons why I believe the property is suitable for a pet, and the landlord has agreed to let us keep a pet. However, the property management company who maintain the block have refused our request saying pets aren’t allowed. We are aware that other people in the block have pets. I cannot understand how the property management company, assuming they are freehold owners, can enforce this, can anyone shed some light on their experiences in this area please?
Yes they did say that they weren’t aware of them. I wonder what repercussions we would have if we got a pet, since it’s not a breach of our contract with the landlord I don’t know how we could be evicted
I cannot understand how the property management company, assuming they are freehold owners, can enforce this,
They’re called covenants. The LL/Leaseholder is running a risk by agreeing to the pet but most Leaseholders never read covenants anyway. The PMC does as that’s their job.
It is unlikely that the other property owners will be freeholders. It’s more like for them to be leaseholders so they will be governed by the terms of their lease and usually requires permission from the management company.
Due to public demand during lock down the government are encouraging landlords to allow pets . Apparently the government have released a model tenancy that includes pets for any private LL to download and use. However in a flat leaseholders have to request permission from the managing agent.
do you know if the consequences for breaching a covenant are more severe than a standard breach of contract?
what would happen our landlord if we were found to have a pet? I assume they’d be asked to rectify it and then they’d be forced to start eviction proceedings on us?
It’s very normal in ex-council properties for the council, who is the freeholder, to insist on the no pet rule. Leaseholders are often unaware of this. From the landlord point of view, it’s a great benefit of owning an ex council flat!
The end point of any breach of contract is forfeiture of the lease itself by the Freeholder but almost never happens. Rectification or compensation are the normal ways.
The LL/Leaseholder could get the lease checked to see if the “no pets” rule is actually in there as otherwise it would be a derogation from the grant of the lease. As the cost of challenging a lease would be more than they would get from the rent, would suggest it is unlikely to be challenged.
You might ask the LL to check the lease and take it from there - or wait until the Rental Reform Bill comes in, as there is a clause in that which is pro-pet owners.
Just to update the thread in case it’s ever useful to anyone else, we pushed back firmly as we had abided by the terms in our lease and were not made aware of the superior lease. The landlord and their property manager then managed to convince the freeholder to allow us a pet with a pet licence for a fee. So we got there thankfully after much stress and difficult conversations. Thanks everyone for the help
Do you feel it would be reasonable to have to pay higher rent for keeping a dog or cat, given the fact deposits are capped at 5 weeks rent? (Is this “fair” on landlord?)