Pets - Landlord says no but rental agreement says nothing

Tenant Discussion
1

Hi everyone, looking for a bit of advice. I’m currently renting a lovely ground floor flat a block of 4 -12 month contract but with a 6 month break clause which we will be using. My partner and I are putting in mortgage applications at the moment and buying a house before year end. We have had an amazing opportunity to get a puppy prior to moving out. (We were originally on a waiting list for a year but due to COVID, one pup from a current litter can no longer be transported to Canada, so we were offered to take him. Obviously I said yes!

I immediately asked our landlord if she would consider allowing us to have a puppy for 2 months until we leave.

Anyway she said no. I asked what her concerns were and tried to provide fair solutions for them; damages - we’d pay extra rent etc. neusance to neighbours - please dont assume that this will be the case, and see how it goes, if he becomes a problem we will house him with my parents until we leave.

She said it’s unfair on other tenants to say yes to us and no to them and that it is clearly stated in our agreement that no pets are allowed without written consent by the landlord.

I felt very deflated but understood her decision and left it at that. I decided to double check our contract just in case and the “pets” section only says “1.24 Pets The Landlord agrees that the Tenant may keep the pet described in the additional clauses section of this agreement at the Property during the Term. The Tenant must ensure that the pet does not cause disturbance to the neighbours of the Property and is responsiblefor all damages caused by the pet.”

Now the additional clauses section says “Additional clause(s):• The Landlord has given permission for 2 small lizards in a tank to be kept at the property.”

Now, our contract does not state that we 1. Need written consent from the Landlord to have a pet at the property. 2. We need to inform the Landlord that we are getting a pet. 3. No pets other than those agreed in the contract are allowed.

Whether this is the third party’s error when drafting the contract or not, legally, I believe there to be no issues with us getting a pet.

I would not be pushing this if we were going to be here for a year. However, we are moving out after 2 months of getting the puppy.

Any advice from both sides (tenant / landlord) would be appreciated. We are still on the list to have this pup at the moment. I’m having a bit of a moral dilemma.

2

Why not just house him with your parents right from the start.? She has said no . If its in flats the original deeds may stop pets. Buying a property usually takes longer than you think

1 Like
3

Get two lizards instead?

As Colin said she has said no unfortunately.

I say this from experience as a life long dog owner and lover, my concern would be the house training. There are, without any shadow of a doubt, going to be a lot of accidents in that time. What state are the floors going to be in at the end of it? No amount of carpet cleaning will get rid of the smell or of hygiene issues, as any fluid will sink below the surface of the carpet, not only into the underlay but into the floorboards too (or if you are ground floor the concrete).

Everything will need to taken up, cleaned and replaced. It’s major work.
A landlord has to think not only of your needs/wants as current tenants but those of any subsequent tenants.

1 Like
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Also, your contract does say ‘The landlord agrees to the pet described’.
So assume that rules any other type?

Good luck with your new home.

5

Your agreement specifically limits the pets to those in the agreement - which in this case is two small lizards (if you don’t have lizards I can only assume they repurposed the previous tenant’s agreement)

The agreement does not allow for any other pets

You have three options as I see it:

  1. Don’t get the pup
  2. Get the pup, keep it in the flat, hope nobody notices, if they do spend the next 6-8 weeks arguing with the LL but at the end of the day the worst they can do is kick you out (you are leaving anyway) or keep your depoist for damages (which they would have to prove)
  3. Keep the dog at your parents, but have it over to visit all the time. How would the landlord prove you were keeping it.

Even as a LL I can see that if you have the puppy then there isn’t a lot they can do.

6

I can’t see though how it would only be 1/2 months - housebuying takes a lot longer than that? or is the puppy not yet born?