Hi,

A quick request for advice:

I have a small (about 40m2) studio apartment in bratislava on the 4th floor.

Tenants are requesting that they should be allowed to keep a dog in there. I initially turned them down, but they have sent a pleading email in perfect english asking to have one. The sofa/bed has aparently been taken elsewhere for storage and been replaced by their bed.

I hate to be the bastard landlord, but I really don't want a dog in that flat.

They are otherwise perfect tenants.

Any opinions?

Hi Minsk,

I have been in your position a few times with UK BTLs, and on the only occassion that I got soft I lived to regret it.

The deposit is never enough to cover the potential damage and its just not practical to have a dog in a small apartment.

Maybe you can recommend a goldfish!...or even a dog fish.

Hi Minsk,

I can understand your reluctance to give the okay on this. However, I'd offer two things to consider:

1. The culture in Slovakia is not the same as the UK - in my experience, dogs are far more a part of their owner's life, and really do live as part of the family. I wouldn't therefore compare experiences with tenants owning dogs in the UK with tenants owning dogs in countries like Slovakia and Czech Republic.

2. If the tenants are really keen to keep a dog there, request a further deposit. As a private tenant in the UK in the past, I've always offered to pay an additional deposit. I had no qualms doing so, because I knew I was a responsible dog owner, there would be no damage, and I'd get my deposit back in full.

Cheers!
Helen

Hi Minsk

Do you have a Management Agreement with the other owners? This should be your first port of call. All other owners should be consulted, it is simply not up to you to inflict dogs on other owners/tenants.

We have had issues with this in Cyprus and as Helen says it can be a cultural issue. The Cypriots generally don't like dogs (they are superstitious about them) whereas the British move to Cyprus and insist on owning dogs.

The Avllida Owners met and agreed that apartments are not suitable for dogs but one Owner had already moved British tenants in with two fairly large dogs who spent much of their time on the balcony. The dogs barked when the owners went out but were superbly behaved when the owners were home so the owners thought there was no problem. The dogs also pee over the verandah and leave little packets here and there, although the owners do pick up the dog mess. I had a lucky escape when out there in December, I was talking to some other owners in the communal area and it was a bright sunny day - suddenly water showered alongside us - it was one of the dogs who had learned to balance on the edge of the verandah and aim between the railings sending a jet of pee about 6 feet away from the verandah wall - it was quite spectacular actually and did make us laugh but I did think that if one of the Cypriot residents had got showered we would have had a poisoning on our hands - happens alot out there.

I didn't have an issue with those dogs personally, or the disgusting little 'Handbag' dog which one of the footballer's wives' owned and left to crap everywhere when she was too lazy to walk it. But I did have an issue with 2 large dogs owned by someone visiting for a week who let them run wild in and out of other apartments when doors were left open - also crapping everywhere and not getting cleared up.

Like people, no two dogs are the same so IMHO you just shouldn't inflict them on people who live in such close proximity without fully consulting those people.

Jo

Interesting, so can PS request "no pets" agreements when dealing with service providers such as REM and Rednet ?

This is a sore point David. Neither PS or the Solicitors engaged by PS helped us at all with the Management of Avlida, the Developer only agreed to do Maintenance under duress, we were left to sort out Management for ourselves and infact told in no uncertain terms to 'sort ourselves out'. So we organised an Owners meeting in the UK and drew up Management Agreement with rules etc. Not an experience I would recommend but at least we set out some rules which are essential in apartment blocks.

I believe that PS are trying to remedy this as we speak as it has become a mess.

Jo

Thanks for all the advice. It is all very much appreciated.

I eventually decided to turn them down again. I'm not happy about them keeping a dog in such a small space.

Just one comment in response to David's post/question - even if PS and the relevant L&M agent DO include a clause in the tenancy agreement to prohibit pets being kept by tenants in the apartments, unless ALL the apartments in a development are managed by the same L&M agent, using the same tenancy agreement (both highly unlikely), there would be nothing to stop others apartment owners or tenants keeping dogs.

The only sure-fire way would be for the building management company (usually the company you pay your service charges to), to prohibit any owner or tenant keeping dogs in the property, and as I say, you have to take the culture of the place into account - if it's the 'norm' there, you'd be severely restricting the number of potential tenants for your apartment! I'd get some local feedback on this, and in particular, ask your L&M agent.

H.