Pet Clause Policy Form For Tenancy Agreements
Written by The Landlord on 04 Oct 2011
I’ve been sitting here for the past few minutes trying to think of a neutral opening paragraph about how tenants with pets can provide realms of good and bad pleasures for a landlord. But then it dawned upon me, and I think I understood the reason for why I was struggling to find a neutral and well-balanced opening line…
A tenant with a pet is one of those situations that a landlord can rarely ever gain any joy from, but can easily gain stress and frustration. I say that because what joy do I personally get from a well-behaved pet that belongs to a tenant? Absolutely zero. I’m not humble enough to get filled with joy because my tenant has a Sausage Dog that can fetch his slippers in the morning, and let’s face it, nor are you. The ain’t making your life any easier. However, if I get a tenant that harbours a snapping little terror that enjoys flooding the place with steaming piss, dismantling fittings like it’s a game, and uncontrollably releasing natural musky Old Spice odours, then all of a sudden I have a serious problem on my moisturised hands. No wonder I couldn’t think of a balanced statement.
Albeit, it’s almost a certainty that a landlord will at some point encounter a prospective tenant that comes attached with a malting bag of fleas. At that point, the landlord needs to decide whether they’re going to play ball or show the access-denied card. I’m not going to discuss the pros and cons of allowing tenants with pets, because I’ve already covered that jazz over in the Guide On Landlords And Pets article, but I am going to discuss pet clauses in Tenancy Agreements.
When tenants/landlords discuss “pets”, they’re typically referring to dogs and cats. Dogs are the most common pets in the UK, and if there’s any type of household pet that is capable of destroying a house, my money is on a dog. Smaller pets like fish, hamsters and rabbits aren’t usually a problem. On that basis, I’m going to focus this article with the assumption we’re all here because we want to protect our investments against dogs and cats.
Pet Clauses in Tenancy Agreements
Most good tenancy agreements will have a pet clause, but what it stipulates can vary from contract to contract. In general, they will say whether a tenant can or can’t keep pets. But even if the tenancy agreement does say NO PETS permitted, a landlord can change his/her mind with written permission.
In an event of any damage caused by pets, with or without any specific ‘pet related clauses’, the tenant will still be held liable and responsible. The landlord will still be protected if cute little Daisy decides to scratch the living crap out of your newly fitted carpets and misjudge the corner of the living room for a dumping ground. Damage is exactly that, so it doesn’t matter if it’s a tenant, their friend or their dog that cause it. The security deposit can be used to cover damages caused by pets. However, just so tenants are clear about what is expected from their pet-keeping abilities, landlords can provide a supplement Pet Clause Policy Form with the Tenancy Agreement.
If you’re a landlord that permits tenants to keep pets in your property, you may want to consider supplying a supplement pet schedule with your Tenancy Agreement.
I recently came across a website called Lets and pets that provides a neat little pet policy, which is a supplement to a Tenancy Agreement. But don’t worry, you don’t need to leave this website to get the information, because I’m going to break it down for you.
Adding a Pet Clause to a Tenancy Agreement
Here is an example of a pet policy clause which refers to the supplement pet policy:
The tenant agrees that they will abide by the pet policy as shown in Schedule 1 attached to this tenancy agreement.
On signing this tenancy agreement, the tenant will pay a deposit to cover any damage caused by their pet to the property or furnishings during the tenancy.
Now, before you randomly go adding the clause into an existing Tenancy Agreement, ensure the above clause doesn’t conflict with any other pet clause that may already exist. Moreover, just to clarify, the information provided does not constitute legal advice. You should contact a Solicitor for advice. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the information provided is accurate, no responsibility is accepted for any loss arising from your reliance on the content provided including any errors and omissions :)
Pet policy schedule
Now, below is the pet policy which the clause refers to, which you can use as a supplement with your Tenancy Agreement. Some of the clauses seem odd, in the sense that they’re either O.T.T and/or unenforceable. But there’s nothing to say you can’t remove some of clauses to suit your needs.
So in theory, your Tenancy Agreement could refer to a Pet Policy, in which the pet related clauses are stipulated. Remember, the pet policy acts as a counterpart, it is NOT a replacement for a tenancy agreement.
Download Pet Policy schedule
Here’s a copy of the Pet Policy schedule Form for you to DOWNLOAD and use:
Pet Policy schedule Form
Buying a Tenancy Agreement
The above schedule can be easily used with the Tenancy Agreements available to buy from this website. All the documents available for purchase have been created by award winning Solicitors that specialise in landlord law.
As usual, if anyone has anything add, please use the comment box below. It’s good to talk.
Right, that’s all folks. Enjoy :)
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16 Comments - join the conversation...
I agree. Some of the clauses do seem unenforceable and excessive. However, there's nothing to say the questionable clauses can't be removed.
Yeah, damage is damage, you're right about that. But I guess the pet policy makes it clear what is expected, which I think is the point of them. Never a bad thing.
How much more deposit do you ask for?
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It has to be secured anyway, so a good deterent for tenant and covers landlord in case.
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This has to be my favorite-
'15. Tenants may not breed.'
Has any private landlord ever actually enforced at court any of the above on a tenant?
3 out of the 16 might be enforcable, at a push, but not in context of the rest of the agreement.
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Well, 15 actually is enforceable, from what I believe. As soon as someone starts breeding and selling pets from the property, they're effectively running a business from home, where they're "trading goods" Most tenancy agreements actually say tenants aren't allowed to run businesses of that nature.
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But as I said, 3 out of the 16 might be enforcable, at a push.
BTW, I was refering to the ambiguity of the wording of clause 15 'Tenants may not breed'- it might be infinging their human rights somewhat.
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Oddly enough, 'lets and pets' (the website I got the resource from) is a registered charity, so you'd like to think the clauses were approved by a solicitor.
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Christina
http://www.chestertonhumberts.com/
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This means that you can keep your "can't keep animals without written permission of the landlord" but if the request is reasonable you cannot deny them their request.
What is reasonable and unreasonable is the issue. Great Dane in a one bedroom flat = unreasonable. Goldfish different matter.
Always take an additional security deposit to cover damage/restoration in line with the animal. Great Dane = big dog turds.
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We do take a pet fee as often the problems emerge after the tenancy ends (usualy fleas and occasionally tennis balls in septic tanks blocking the outflow), which we have to pay for further treatements which is funded by the pet fee - not unreasonable.
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I initially started this website because I wanted to document my every step from property idiot to property landlord,
in hope that people would find my site and help me along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.
The above seems excessive, as damage is just that and does not matter if its tenant, their friend or their dog. Deposit is used to cover damage.
The above also seems unenforceable and excessive also won't work for tenants who work.. see clause 6, Max of four hours, lol sure. Clause 13, nothing to do with landlord..
P.s. just replaced brand new cream carpet where tenant kept unauthorised puppies in corner of a room. Disgusting.
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