UncleEbenezer wrote:DiamondEcho wrote:2) The tougher the lettings market is the more flexible I get towards pets. Default is no pets but I'll listen if someone has a proposition to make. When I have taken pets IIRC I take an extra 1-2 weeks deposit. IDR having any notable problems with them so far.
Interesting. Do your properties listings on zoopla/rightmove show the usual "no pets"? I see those everywhere, even when it's a detached house in the middle of open land. I'm actually right now in the process of buying a house, not because I want to, but to escape "no pets" landlords (especially now that having a friend at home has become "doctor's orders"). In these days of deposit protection I'd have no problem with an additional deposit - even if it's substantially more than you're asking - but the barrier is having to get through an agent's reflex action to put that to any prospective landlord.
My property is listed via my high-street letting agent. They co-list via various on-line agents such as those you mention, though TBH relettings come up infrequently enough I don't recall now how those listings are phrased.
As landlord, if it's leasehold property, I'd strongly suggest reading the lease for any clauses such as no 'No dog, bird [etc] allowed in the property such it it might case a nuisance'. I've wondered at times how much scope for personal interpretation there is within such a clause. Anyway, last thing I'd want is to let to a tenant with a pet, having assured them it was ok, only to have a neighbour declaring I was breaching the lease.
I think you need to consider the overall arrangement. If it's let unfurnished then it might just be the tenants furniture that might be vulnerable to their 'scratchy' cat. If a pet is left alone for all/much of each working day, then again it has greater scope for problems, than more of a day-to-day mostly attended 'companion pet'.
On a TA that allows a pet, I've heard of people taking a reference from a prior landlord on the pet (!). That's because one challenge can be that the default for tenants seems to be to swear blind that their pet is as good as gold. That's when taking additional depo comes in, which IME is something such a tenant seems to understand/accept.