tng1

Hi everyone, my husband and i will be moving to the UK early December. With so much to do, that I dont even know how to think straight, our main worry is we need to rehome our pets, which we would rather not do.

We would love to take the to the UK, but we will need to rent a place and I understand finding a rental place in London or Surrey that will take 3 dogs would be hard. If anyone could offer a positive light to this that would be great. We would love to take them.

Also we do not have any friends and family that our willing to help us in this department .

We want to do whats best for them, is it best we part with them now and find them a good home or has anyone managed to get a rental property in the UK London or Surrey that excepts dogs?

Any thoughts would be reassuring.

Thanks

Guinness

I can only answer this through my own experience, My partner and I are moving back to the UK at the end of Oct. We are taking 2 cats and 2 dogs with us to Yorkshire. Finding a place to rent with pets is a big challenge as there are many people applying for the same property.
We ended up hiring a company to act on our behalf, I also had to use my parents as guarantors. It took a month for them to find us a place, but we have a place that will work just fine. I would suggest hiring someone to look on your behalf as it will be a huge up hill struggle.

tng1

Thank you Guinness for your reply. That is very reassuring, although i know it will be hard. My husband is really supportive and being more positive and rational with everything which is good, as I am a natural worrier about everything and working myself up with how much we have to do in so little time.

Do you mind letting me know the agency you used or if they are only for the area of Yorkshire. Ill also have a look for some and see what they say.

Guinness

HI no problem, I got very stressed out over this whole thing and having County Home Search working for us was great. They are nation wide, Lisa is the Director and she was great. Nick Elliott was on the ground looking for us, he did find it a challenge though but they assured us that they have never failed yet!! good luck and I hope everything works out for you all.
http://www.county-homesearch.co.uk/

Woodbridge

Hi there, I am landlord myself (Suffolk area) and I always welcome pets. Our house is rented out at the moment though. Our Daughter is renting a flat in Ipswich and she has a cat and going to get another one. So it is possible. Good luck.

Nicky & Dave

Hi Guinness, out of interest how much do County Home Search charge for their initial registration fee? I'm also moving back next year with loads of cats (!), and I was considering using a relocation company to help find a suitable rental.

sallysimmons

I've asked County Home Search some initial questions by phone and email and found them very helpful. I definitely plan to use them myself as we have 3 cats and want to be in a very popular area.

One thing I've considered if a place advertises no pets, is to offer a higher rent and a bigger deposit without being asked. It might not work every time but there must be landlords with whom it would work.

Guinness

HI Nicky and Dave
There were not cheap, it was $1,200 but worth it

ottotheboar

In my opinion for all it's worth I think the biggest problem is actually being able to ask the landlord. Most agencies seem to make a blanket decision of "no pets" and never communicate with the landlord. Over the last 16 years or so we have never been asked if we consider a tenant with pets. Our current tenant after around 2 years asked if she could have a dog and I agreed. My worst tenant was a woman with two young children who would swing on cabinet doors and break them. She bailed out early on the tenancy agreement and I was told it was not worth chasing her for what she owed. I would take dogs and cats any day over those children.

Guinness

ottotheboar
you are so right, it is not pets that trash rental properties it is the humans! but I know that my agent asked every agency to ask the landlord on our behalf and 99% said no. The property that we finally got the Landlord said yes no problem to cats and dogs, all he wanted was a 100 deposit, and for us to have the carpets steam cleaned before we left. I thought this was all very fair.

sallysimmons

Is it $1,200 + one month's rent - or was it $1,200 all in?

I also meant to ask you if you did all this from afar, or were you in Britain and able to view the properties?

sallysimmons

I worry about this. There's a house for rent now in my chosen town, and the ad says 'no pets.' But I know for a fact that it used to be a holiday rental and they allowed pets at that point. So it seems the 'no pets' rue is the agency's and not the individual landlord's.

Guinness

sallysimmons so far I have not been asked or the extra one months rent from Country Home Search yet!! I did all of this from Canada, and relied completely on Nick Elliott and all his photos! he took 42 photos in all. He is going back sometime next month to do a final inspection for us

Cumbrian Lass

I am not sure if you can come over first and have someone help you out for a little while,and use their house as a base until you find some thing.But we came over a month ago and stayed at my parenets for two weeks until we lined a house up for us and the dog.
We actually viewed lots of houses and at first we didnt tell them we had a dog.We actually judged for ourselves,if the house and garden was going to be suitable,then we dropped the bomb shell. But if you meet the owners and tell them how super clean you are ,and you would really look after their property,then you could ask them about the dogs. I found everyone of them said "yes" even though none of them wanted pets in the ad's. You might have to leave a bigger deposit or even pay 3-6 months up front.Offer the carpets to be profesionally cleaned when you leave and let them you would use a baby gate to stop them from going upstairs. I am very strict with my dog anyhow,and she never has been allowed to go upstairs.We got a house with only a little carpet down stairs,so i have only laminate to clean. The garden is cleaned up every day and i know the house will be cleaner when i leave it than it was when we moved in ha ha!!!!!
I am sure you will find some thing........although i know 3 dogs will be alot harder than 1.Are they small dogs?? if so i cant see you having a problem
GOOD LUCK!

khitan004

Oh god, you just reminded me of this nightmare! I too can share similar sentiments of disgust at estate agents pissing us about with 2 cats. With so many people applying for each property it is just easier to say no. We were even turned away from a property owned by Portsmouth Diocese! How Christian of them! We really only got the place we are in now because the previous tenant had a cat. If you can bypass the agents you stand a better chance.