Livingi n rented accommodation?

I've just come across an article that claims that rabbits (and chickens) are exempt from any 'no pets' clause in rented accommodation:

Clicky

It doesn't specifically state that you have the right to keep them in the house, but then it doesn't state you can't either, and as that is part of the 'land' that one rents and one pays a security deposit to do so a landlord might find himself in some trouble for trying to evict a tenant on the basis of having pet rabbits....

Interesting! I hope Icedancer sees this!

And Lorna.

Council know I have rabbits & cats they aren't bothered, this is a pet home as was advertised most of people in the blocks have one or 2 dogs aswell as cats

My letting agents are ******* (add whatever word in you like!). Apparently a pet is "something with four legs". How they've come to that I have no idea, but it means I can have my fish tank, even though if it exploded it would be 60litres of water on the floor, and we'd be allowed a bird. I've always wanted to borrow a swearing parrot for when they do an inspection

I'm tempted to print that off and send it to them though! Now I've got two its going to be a bit of a palava hiding them! I've thought about putting them in the shed, but Dougal is such a big girls blouse he'd probably get scared! He can only just go through the tunnel without terrifying himself

To be fair when we moved in we had guinea pigs, and they did say we could keep them outside, and the lease does say "no indoor pets". One time we didn't bother putting the piggies somewhere else and the agent (old owners, we have new ones now) came in, said hello to them then told us off!!!

I am tempted to tell the new owners that we used to have pets indoors and we were allowed. They get £750 a month off us, why shouldn't I have two rabbits!!

Stick them in the shed when they come around - it is only for a short time. I think they could still have you for indoor pets but not outdoor ones under that law.

It probably depends on what sort of lease you have - if it is fixed term and you want to renew it, I'd keep quiet. If it's a rolling lease it might be worth finding out exactly what your rights are. It might still be the case that they could evict you with 2 months notice without any reason, or it might be more difficult for them than that.

But it seems* that the law states that they cannot use the rabbits (even indoors, as it all counts as 'land' you are renting) as a reason for evicting you, or forbid you from having rabbits, no matter what is written into your lease.

Alternatively, it might be worth approaching the owners and asking for permission to keep 2 rabbits. If you show them how you house them, so that there is no danger of the landlord's property being damaged (plus you will have paid a hefty security deposit anyway) they may be willing to give permission. The no pets clause is such a standard one that it has not necessarily been written into your lease so much as not written out of it.



*I say 'it seems' because I have only read this on the internetz and would hate for you to get thrown out of your house if it is wrong

I'm tempted to put them into boarding, the home check lady runs one about ten minutes away. Its just annoying they come every three months, its way to regular. I've been living here for seven years in September, I haven't trashed it, I'm not going to trash it, give me some leaway!

The new owners are awful, the first inspection they done the guy was looking down the toilets!! I was tempted to leave them dirty for the next one

Sparky - its a rolling lease, renewed yearly every September. We are easy tenants, eeven when they didn't fix the downstairs loo for seven months we didn't winge that much

I could ask, the trouble is they are near useless. They take forever to do anything, and I don't thing the landlady likes the new agents because she questions everything they ask her. Mind you so would I, they are rubbish! The guy was in IT, then suddenly decides one day he'd buy an estate agency with his wife (who also had no experience) and they didn't have any training or anything!! They also had no knowledge of renting. Shocking really

Oh and this is the really funny part, the agency is a five minute walk from my house. When they do an inspection they post the document to Swindon for them to enter it on a computer programme, and Swindon then posts it back to us!!!

And for some reason its a company in Portsmouth the rent money goes to

Velvet.Tears wrote:Council know I have rabbits & cats they aren't bothered, this is a pet home as was advertised most of people in the blocks have one or 2 dogs aswell as cats

The council are a bit different, they say as long as your pets are looked after and their needs are met they don't mind you having pets. Its private letting agency's that are sometimes a pest. Its probably on the better points of living in a council house.

We hide our animals at the MIL's, the landlady thinks I have 3 rabbits and a few piggies We used to hide our tarantulas and the zillions of crickets that we feed them with, but one day we forgot and the agency inspecter siad we didn't have to worry about them, it was cats and dogs it was aimed at

Our landlady ditched the agency 2 years ago and deals with us directly and what a ****** ***** **** pain in the ****** ***** she is Oh.... don't get me started on her 'royal highness' stupid **************