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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Dogs Are not a Landlords Best Friend


Landlords hate pets, it's official, landlords don't like anything furry on four legs.

Why don't landlords like pets?


Well, they make a property smell, they're dirty and ruin the decoration, they disturb the neighbours both with noise and special packages left in communal areas.

The Dogs Trust are about to launch a campaign to show landlords and letting agencies that renting properties to tenants with pets can be straightforward.

As the rental market becomes more competitive with continued over supply it might mean that more landlords will be accepting pets because a property with a dog in it is better than an empty property.

However landlords should remember that 'a dog is for life and not just for a six month assured shorthold tenancy'.

My advice is if a landlord is looking to rent out a property to a tenant with a dog, a landlord should follow some basic tenant checks, with the dog as well as the tenant.

Go and meet the dog first before agreeing the tenancy. Is it big? Is it well behaved? Is it friendly? There's probably no need to do a credit check on it or ask for employer references, but it worth assessing if the dog is your kind of tenant.

Dogs are probably not a a landlords best friend but, landlords might have to grow to like them.

Love to landlords in a cold economic climate
Darling Margo

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like dogs. I've recently let my property to a couple with two dogs. My logic is that with other landlords being less keen to let to tenants with pets then my new tenants will be more reluctant to move once they are settled in. This gives me a long term let as well as two cute little dogs to raise a smile at.

Margo Leadbetter said...

They chew your skirting boards and salivate on your sofas too.

But they are so cutey cutey.

Ahhhh. I love the way his ears flop over his face.