I must say that renting with pets makes your job much harder, because not many landlords want to accept tenants with pets.
When I was looking to rent a place, I discovered that my beautiful dog pretty much ruins my chances of getting a house by 80 percent – out of 10 houses I asked about, 8 do not allow pets.
A quick tips that will save you some time: when you ask the real estate agent “Are pets allowed on that property?”, if the landlord has clearly said that – they will let you know immediately. Otherwise in a very few cases the agent will call and ask him, usually they just tell you to inspect, apply and see if you’re approved (naturally for you that could be a waste of time, if the landlord doesn’t want pets after all).
Another quick tip that will help you to get reliable information – always speak to the property manager, not the receptionist at the agency. Property manager is interested in actually renting the property and knows everything there is to know about it, when receptionist can only open the computer listing to see what’s there (and that’s in the best case).
What you need to know about renting with a pet is:
1) Pet must be registered with the local council - it’s the law and in the application form they ask to provide registration number
2) Don’t even try to apply for studios, flats or apartments, not even units – they do not allow pets. The reason is that most of them belong to body corporate and their rules say “no pets”.
3) Some of the houses will allow pets, probably the ones with large back yard and no wall-to-wall carpets.
4) When you were lucky to find a landlord that doesn’t mind pets, references for your pet are very important. Try to get your neighbors, the landlord or the real estate agent to write a reference for your pet. Photos help too.
5) In some cases the bond will be higher because of possible damage to property from your pet.
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Thanks for the article as well as for the tips. Keep it coming.
At times, it can be a challenge to rent with pets because most landlords fear the worst with pets actually. And they are fair to think about that with their property, but as you did say, it makes things alot more challenging.
Big Kev…the man looking after the landlord insurance in the UK.
That’s right, some pets are bad news, but instead of making pets owners life harder the landlords should just ask for a higher bond and keep it if there is any damage. I do feel strongly about this, having suffered from this “pet owners discrimination”.
It’s also vitally important to include a pet resumé for each of your pets as it highlights your pet’s best qualities and demonstrates your commitment to responsible pet ownership.
Great article and glad to have found this website.
[...] before our eyes. The fact that we had a dog didn’t make things any easier - it limited us to houses with a large back yard (all the units were out of the question) and we had to pray for a landlord who didn’t mind [...]