Renting with pets: Owner forced to give up his dog to get a home

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2mp2grx79o

Posted by topotaul

19 Comments

  1. CoolSeaweed5746 on

    Your choice to get a pet, their choice to refuse due to the inevitable damage and extra cleaning required.

    Non-story.

  2. We are being forced to go back to our home country as we can’t find an affordable rental that allows pets. So we are flying next week.

    Edit: At some point we thought to give up our dog, surrendered at Battersea, Windsor. Could not sleep for next few days, we could not cope up the idea of giving up him for the sake of staying in UK. So begged Battersea to give him back, got him back.

    So we are moving back to India along with him next week (which is a week before our current expensive rental contract ends in Maidenhead)

  3. SubjectCraft8475 on

    Having a pet in life isn’t a mandatory thing. If you want a pet and live somewhere bjt your own place or find a landlord that doesn’t mind or offer extra money to allow the pet

  4. Creepy-Escape796 on

    The trick is not to tell the landlord. You have the right to quiet enjoyment of the property so they can’t just barge in.

  5. If only there was a thing called a ‘deposit’ which landlords could keep if a pet caused damage to a property.

  6. dillydally1144 on

    Wish people wouldn’t feel they NEED to get a dog these days, if you’re renting and you’re not certain you will be able to stay in that location or find another location that will allow pets for that dogs life just don’t get one!

  7. Practical-Purchase-9 on

    Pets are known to be good for your well being and linked to living a longer life. For many, young or old, it’s the only companionship they have at home.

    But landlords? Fuck them, just because your dog might shed some hair or make a mess – for which you’ve already paid an extortionate deposit to cover damage (that they intend to keep anyway). You’re renting a home not a hotel room, you should be able to live a normal life there which includes owning a pet.

  8. OfficialGarwood on

    Honestly, it’s a bit bullshit that landlords can just blanket refuse people for having pets.

    Imagine if they refused families from having children. Toddlers can make just as much a mess as dogs can. In some cases, much worse.

  9. Idiots here with low iq here saying what damage pet can do, I’ve personally seen as part of my job one family’s dog do upwards of £8000 in damages – the flooring, carpet and doors and door frame frames all had to be replaced, even the underlay was damaged, their deposit was only £700,

  10. I would never have got a dog if I didn’t own. You move around too much with rentals. Over a dog’s lifespan, you can’t guarantee you’ll get a place that allows them.

  11. We always managed to find places that allowed our cats, but we are in West Yorkshire where there is a lot of low cost private rentals. We have lived in some rough areas but it was worth it. I’m in an HA bungalow now and they are reasonable and allow one dog or one cat though some people on the street have two. We have two cats and they were fine about that when we moved in. There are some restrictions, they don’t allow snakes, or poultry, or dog fostering for rescues. I think there must be some back stories behind the rules.

  12. Dazzling-Wash9086 on

    I had to give up my dogs 2 years ago when I got divorced. They live with her now.
    It was the most heartbreaking decision I’ve ever made in my life and I still think about them every single day.

  13. >He added: “I went through to the point of offering double, triple a deposit, an extra £1,000 on top, just in case. I said I’d redecorate and re-carpet everything after – and there was just no interest.”

    Landlords aren’t legally allowed to request more than 5 weeks deposit and they can’t legally force him to pay for redecorating and new carpet.

    He was basically asking a landlord to risk prosecution, so hardly surprising that there was no interest.

  14. I live in Canada now, and British landlords don’t know how good they’ve got it. Here in Ontario it’s illegal to ban pets, landlords can’t take a damage deposit, there’s no such thing as a no fault eviction, and there’s rent control so rent increases for most existing tenants are capped by an amount set by the government (it was 2.5% in 2024, and they’ve just announced it will be 2.5% in 2025).

  15. parkway_parkway on

    The only thing that matters is building more housing.

    The reason landlords can set strict rules is because of lack of supply, if they were competition for tenants they’d naturally be more permissive to get someone in.

    We should form a real testudo over this, every time housing comes up everyone needs to say in unison “build more housing” and not get distracted.

    [This is what you could have.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t120VqqJ9r4)

  16. I mean look at that dog, there are certain breeds that tenant pet insurance will not cover.