I’ve taken in a new tenant. During viewing, the tenant assured me she will be living alone and responsibly, there will be low wear and tear and asked for discount. I offered her a discount then.
After signing the tenancy agreement (she has not moved in yet), now she is saying she wants to keep a pet snake. My lease with the freeholders does not mention pets. However my main grudge is that discount was offered in good faith based on low wear and tear, and I was told not told about pets then. The RR doesn’t allow me to say no to pets, and now it seems I can’t ask for more rent either? Any advice here please? How bad are snakes for the carpets? Any other damage I need to worry about?
The RRA says you have to consider pet requests not that you have to say yes. You have to have a reason to say no and it can’t be based on past experiences.
Some resources here
Also
(Note this says
This means that a landlord cannot require a tenant to take out pet insurance and cannot be reimbursed for the cost of pet insurance. If they do, it will be a breach of the Tenant Fees Act.
Also
Do prospective tenants have the right to rent with a pet?
No. The right to request permission to keep a pet in the Renters’ Rights Act only covers “tenants”, and not prospective tenants or applicants.
This means that landlords can still turn down applicants who wish to let a property on the grounds they have a pet. They can continue to have “No Pets” on adverts and listings (in contrast to “No DSS” and “No Kids”, which will be banned as constituting rental discrimination).
That said, as soon as they move in, tenants will be able to ask to keep a pet. In my view it’s far better for landlords to say they will accept reasonable pets, make themselves comfortable that the person is a responsible pet owner, and set expectations in a Pet Policy.
-I don’t know what the position would be for tenants who’ve signed but not moved in yet, but perhaps moot as they could wait till moved in then ask..
I think as with any other pet request, RRA allows you to consider this but you can ask for more details (size species how many ) whether a new pet or whether held at previous rental addresses so you can ask previous LL what damage caused. You can ask what sort of enclosure the snake will be kept in. I don’t think you can assume that if kept in an enclosure a snake would cause more damage or wear n tear than a dog or cat, a snake might be better.
You can also point them to (if using it) the Openrent APT and ask whether they would be taking out pet insurance to cover pet damage?
“9.30. Not to keep a pet unless requested in accordance with Section 16A of the Housing Act 1988 and the Landlord has provided their consent in accordance with that section. Where the Landlord consents to the Tenant keeping a pet, the Tenant may be required to obtain and maintain pet damage insurance if reasonably requested by the Landlord. The Tenant remains responsible for any damage caused by a pet to the Premises, fixtures, fixngs or contents (fair wear and tear excepted).”
(Under RRA it’s no longer legal to require pet insurance but @mod_harry or @mod_emma or @dan4 from OR legal can hopefully explain what is allowed by ‘reasonably request’ and how to actually do that. )
Think sole occupancy means humans but if you have evidence they misled you materially when applying you may have a legal case (if someone applied already having pets and didn’t tell you before signing contracts) - just like if you had misled them about the facilities or what is provided differed from the advert. @David122 may be able to advise further.
You can consider pet damage insurance (tho tenant should pay anyway or can be recovered from deposit). Eg £2500 of further cover costs 134 quid a year. | NRLA . Think you can’t charge directly for it but could increase the rent to cover in future.
Hi David240, thanks for all this information. I’ll go through them and see if there’s anything I can do. Thanks for pointing out clause 9.3, would be good to know OR’s position as to how one can suggest pet insurance to the tenant without getting on the wrong side of the law?
I assume I can’t ask for higher rent now, at least for a year because of RR and even after that, any rent increase will be challenged?
I have another property that currently is being advertised, how can I avoid this in future? I will advertise the no pets preferene in the advert. If a prospective tenant mentions they might want a pet, would it be legal to reject them because of that? Or is it something one can’t give as a reason for rejection? If they give in writing that they don’t intend to get pets but change their mind in future once they have signed the tenancy agreement, I suppose there’s not much I can do?
No you cant ask for higher rent now but in a year’s time you can increase it - I wouldn’t tell tenant at time that the extra 12 quid a month for pet insurance was for that I would just calculate increase as whatever you would have done anyway then add 12 quid. Just say that your costs have increased
For future you can still say no pets for prospective tenants when advertising. And check with existing LL if they have pets/any damage caused.. But it doesn’t stop them starting the tenancy and asking to have a pet then
Also this rather worrying case - points to need for tenant to show they have experience of snakes and will keep it suitably enclosed and they need to tell you species and size- consider consequences if it escaped Local Authority temporary housing for the homeless & a snake I don’t know if it’s possible to ‘snakeproof’ a property but it’s reasonable to check whether the prospective tenant has considered properly how to keep it secure and what they would do if it escaped. Get some expert advice on what a responsible snake pet owner needs to be doing and see if your prospective tenant has the essentials covered.
Hi David240, the article you forwarded regarding Local Authority temporary housing was quite interesting and definitely makes one think in a different away.
I checked my original advert again and it seems I had mentioned no pets in there, and I had been assured verbally that no pets would be kept when I was asked for discount. The tenant has no experience of keeping snakes or pets before, which is why it didn’t come up during referencing stage either.
Though the request is legal, I don’t think this a very good start to the relationship, asking for discount saying no pets and then changing their mind.
Further, I do loads of repairs and maintenance in the property myself, including attending to any emergency requests. I’m on the autistic spectrum and find this quite distressing, so will not be able to do any repairs/emergency checks myself specially if the snake might not be in a cage all the time (the tenant might not be there to put it in a cage for me beforehand). The tenant leaves for works for days as she works all over the country which can become an issue. I know the legislation perhaps don’t care for landlords or their disabilities.
I will do a few visits to pet shops to do more research on this matter. If any other landlords have any experience of damages caused by snakes please kindly do share.
@Priya4 agree it’s not a good start. You may want to discuss with tenant.
If you would find distressing doing maintenance in your own property then that’s similar to having a pet allergy I’d think so may be a legit reason to refuse along with any concerns if they don’t provide good evidence of being able to keep it properly (if they don’t have plans for an enclosure etc). @David122 may be able to advise further and get legal advice.
Just say no, and if T goes to a tribunal then fight it out there – if you win you win, if you lose you lose. Better to win but not the end of the world to lose.
@Colin3 think it’s a fair point from @David79 tho - if tenant is away for days or weeks at a time and doesn’t include any detail or consideration of how snake will be cared for during absence in their proposals (not just feeding but checking other environmental conditions like temperature or humidity or simply that hasn’t escaped!) or any other recommended regular pet care for a snake, that would be a legit pet welfare concern. Just like if they proposed having a dog and didn’t have provision to deal with during absences.
having a pet allergy is specifically mentioned in the gov uk examples
"When you can refuse a request for a pet
It may be reasonable to refuse a request in some circumstances, such as:
another tenant has an allergy"
The Independent LL blog suggests
“The landlord has an allergy to the pet in question.” would be a legit reason to refuse a pet
But I guess to be tested by caselaw. Makes sense to me that if allergies for another tenant (who would occupy a property) are a reason to refuse, then allergies for a LL (who has reason to enter both for inspection visits and maintenance and evaluation of any repairs needed) would also be legit. as a refusal reason - but it’s a conflict of rights so hard to predict/generalize outcomes..
Suppose you as a LL have a severe cat allergy- should you really be prevented from doing inspections etc yourself and have to pay others to do these, just because tenant wants a cat?
There’s a range of views on the matter here too some saying landlord allergy not a reason to refuse but could be if previously LL main home or if tenant has been deceitful about intentions when applying
Another tenant having an allergy is not the same as the landlord having an allergy as landlords are expected to use other professionals to do jobs they cant due to the allergy, such as inspections and maintenance.
The Govt made no reference to landlord allergy as a reason in the guidance document. The N R L A and a couple of prominent lawyers have said they think its unlikely to be accepted as a reason.
It may well be tested in court before the Ombudsman comes on-stream, but given the risks, I dont think any landlord can assume its safe.
I had a new tenant who asked if they could have a snake, I agreed.
Ended up they had10 at least and because they have to be kept warm and humid created mould all over the house and they kept some under their bed which ruined the mattress, they tried to claim against me. They lost but I will never allow again, they have left and the house is snug dry without problems. Pets are a no no.
Its not our job to ‘police’ a tenants care for their pet. Only to establish that the property is suitable or otherwise for the pet, and that it wont cause inconvenience to others. A dog it left alone, might bark, a snake will hardly cause others any inconvenience.
Hi Leslie1, that’s is extremely useful information..I was doing online research but first hand experience like yours is invaluable. Pet shop guys said something similar - that the snake cages take up space but snakes are relatively cheaper and smaller in size as they curl up and don’t move around much, so once a person buys a snake, they tend to come back and get more soon. Many repeat customers for them!