Should Landlords Relax Pet Rules?
I personally have never been against the idea of allowing tenants to have pets, especially if they have got a disability; however I can understand why some landlords are sceptical about allowing them.
Quite a few of my friends have allowed their tenants to keep pets in their property lets, but regretted it after their tenants allowed their pets to not only damage their furniture and mess inside, but refused to cover the repair costs.
Now this is not to say that all pet owners are like that – all of mine have been lovely – but it is easy to see where the fear has come from when there are cases like these hanging about… You just never know.
Yet, I have to agree with the Dog Trusts Lets With Pets campaign about being more flexible with your tenants and their pets.
By simply arranging for your tenants to pay a little extra rent and putting in their tenancy agreement that they must pay for the property to be professionally cleaned at the end of their tenancy, you can avoid any unnecessary costs.
In fact, when I have implemented such rules with my tenants, they have been more than understanding about why I am doing it and have been very open to it all.
And you have to admit, with 43% of the population owning pets, you would be a fool to ignore such a promising tenancy group, especially when they will be more inclined to become long term tenants so they don’t have to look for new accommodation…
Anyways, I know I will definitely be more open to idea, but let me know what you think.
Wendy xx
