UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello

Against my better judgement, I am about to agree to the presence of one cat in a joint tenancy (house sharing, 4 (past students now working) tenants in their early to mid twenties) we are about to sign.  What is my best course of action? 

• An extra deposit by the tenant whose cat it is? If so, how much should I ask (nicely kept 3 bed)?
  
• A cat insurance "extra" in our building insurance (does such a thing even exist?). Can I ask the tenant to pay for that "extra"?
  
• A cat insurance taken by the tenant?  (how do I check it is valid for us?)
  

You will have guessed it, not sure what is the solution that offers the best protection to my property.  In all honesty I don't mind the cat but I want that built in protection from the onset in black and white.

Other than that, should it be a clause in the AST (would every tenant become responsible for the cat's actions?) or an addendum or a pet policy?  Any advice from landlords accepting cats gladly received.  Not sure where to start....

Extra Deposit, choose your figure - I ask for £150 - that's then the end of the matter. The notion of making every Tenant responsible for the actions of a cat is somewhat a strange one.

Forgive me for asking,but what type of cat is this? Unless this is an eccentric tenant with a pet cheetah,I don't think you need worry too much.The extra deposit by Hippogriff should more than cover any possible damage.

It's a Thundercat.

Not sure. A black cat?? No, seriously I don't mind the cat, if it is well behaved.
However my landlord insurance does not cover pets even with a surcharge (direct line) and I have been advised by them to find an insurer that does. Hence my question.
In the meantime I saw this and I freaked out.....https://www.todayshomeowner.com/stream/734-7-how-prevent-pet-damage-woodwork.mp4
£150 would not cover that, me think....

It's risk factors, balance of probabilities and stuff like that, yeah? Of course the worst can happen.

The worst does happen, until something worse happens.

But the chances of it happening are _small.

So you take something you feel comfortable with. If that's £150 great... if it's £150,000, ask the Tenant(s)... they might go for it.

You can't ban a Tenant from having a pet anyway. Landlords like to think they can... but, actually, you can't. It's like a Human / Pet right or something. It's just clauses are written into ASTs, people sign them more or less blindly, and both sides think they're very enforceable.

Black cats are known for being unruly blighters.

Go with it, only if they change the colour of the cat.

Black cats bring luck,everyone knows that.My son and his wife have 7 rescue cats,plus some ferals in the garden.Their home is immaculate.The worst animal- related damage I  had was my son's pet hamster,who escaped and went rogue.He nested in our bed,destroying many of the springs.On the good side,he put my ex-husband in hospital,biting to the bone when he tried to extricate him from the lovely little nest he had created.I still think fondly of Hammy.

Hammy the Hamster is a little too unimaginative for my liking, tho'...

No,Hammy was my ex-husband.

How did you choose him with a name like that? I know women can see past many flaws in their men, but still... at some stage you've got to say "nah, it's too much, he's called Hammy!"

It was the 60's.I have to own up,the hamster was indeed called Hammy,my son was a very boring child,he chose the name.His father was Henry,not much better.

Great question, I have always wondered that if a specific "Pet Deposit" is sought and given, midway through a tenancy, do the normal "DPS" rules apply to that as well ?

If it's a deposit, you protect it, regardless of what it's for.

I suppose you could call it an admin fee instead and just be sure not to make the mistake of ever giving any of it back!

Makes sense, thanks.

Possibly a bit late for your query assuming you've settled this and either moved your tennant in or rejected them but also consider adding a stipulation with pets that at the end of the tenancy, all carpets are professionally cleaned and shampooed with anti-bug treatment and ask for a copy of the invoice to prove this has been done. I think it's good practice anyway to insist on shampooed carpets so that every tennant moves into a property that is immaculately clean and then they know that standard is expected when they move out.  The bug treatment costs about an extra £20-30 on top of what having the carpets shampooed costs without the bug treatment.