How Can I Let My Property To Tenants With Pets?
In the UK in particular, dogs really are a man’s best friend. Over 40% of people in the UK have a pet that is domesticated that lives at home with them. A pet can be an invaluable member of the family, however, many Landlords in the UK might not allow tenants into their property with pets of any kind.
The UK Government stated that only 7% of Landlords advertise their properties for rent as ‘pet-friendly’.
Most landlords do not want pets in their properties, for a variety of reasons. The main reasons for this are the potential damage that pets can cause to the property, the risk of flea infestation, and the potential costs and additional work involved in preparing it for a new tenant after the departure of the pet owning tenant.
However, we must consider the other side of the story if pets are such an integral part of UK home life, and this is therefore part of our audience and demand in the property investment world. It is important to consider the below facts:
The majority of pet owners are law-abiding people who look after their pets responsibly, however:
· 78% of pet owners, according to a recent survey by the Dogs Trust, have experienced difficulty in finding accommodation which accepts pets
· 54% were never able to find a suitable property, and
· 8% had to re-home their pet
According to Landlord Law, pet owners are so grateful once they find a property that welcomes them and their pets with open arms, they look after the house really well and makes plan to stay for the long term. This is often music to Landlord’s ears – a tenant who takes great care of their house and plans to stay for a while which means no voids.
As a Landlord, there are a few things to consider. If your property is Leasehold, you will need to check the lease to see if pets are legally allowed to stay in your property.
If the lease prohibits pets, then you will need to get your lease changed first. You could have a word with your freeholder about this. If the property is in a large block of flats, getting the lease changed will be difficult, as the other leaseholders will have to be consulted.
If there are only a few other leaseholders though, particularly if you all also own part of the freehold, you may be able to get agreement, in which case you would need to get a solicitor to deal with the amendments to the leases.
Freehold properties
According to Landlord Law, If the property is freehold there is far less likely to be a problem. Some may have restrictive covenants prohibiting animals but these are rare and generally are aimed at farm animals such as pigs, rather than domestic pets.
If there are no legal problems You then need to consider:
whether you will allow pets at all. If the answer to this is yes, you then need to consider
what types of pet you will allow. Then
you need to consider each prospective tenant and his pet on a case by case basis