The Letting People are proud to be supporters of the Dogs Trust’s ‘Lets with Pets’ scheme.
As the Lets with Pets website says:
“Finding privately rented accommodation that allows pets can be very difficult. Many pet owners are forced to live in unsuitable properties or keep their pets without consent from their landlord. In some extreme cases, we know that owners are even having to give up their pets or else face becoming homeless.”
In order to join Lets with Pets The Letting People needed to agree to the following three principles:
- To ASK all landlords if they will consider pets
- To ADVERTISE which properties consider pets on the website and property details
- To ADD a pet clause to the tenancy agreement when a pet has been agreed
Fortunately there has been many success stories of landlords who have seen the benefit of allowing cats and dogs (and even a snake!!) to reside with their owners on the basis of additional pet clauses in the tenancy agreement that safeguard both parties. Obviously some additional ‘wear and tear’ (over what is contractually called ‘reasonable’) might be expected and this can often be offset with the payment of additional rent.
The Letting People usually recommend that the tenant pays a modest £20-40 per pet, per calendar month additional rent so that the landlord has an additional ‘cleaning fund’, should it be necessary, at the end of the tenancy. (This is considered to be a reasonable cost as it is now also usual for holiday lets to charge a £20-£30 per week additional cleaning charge for each pet.)
As 48% of the UK population now own a pet it, and more people are unable to obtain a mortgage to buy their own property, there is a huge growth in tenants looking for properties that will take pets. The Letting People are pleased to encourage landlords to consider the importance of Lets with Pets and to highlight the benefits to them.
More information at www.letswithpets.org.uk
