A question that we get asked by a lot of landlords is whether they should allow a tenant to have pets at their property. There are a lot of factors that go into this decision, but at present, a landlord is able to make this decision on their own personal preference, which means that if you are someone that is not happy for a tenant to have a pet at your property, you are quite welcome to tell our office that you have a ‘no pets’ policy and we are able to advertise with this requirement.
If however, you are someone that would like to consider allowing your tenant to have a pet, there are a number of factors that you might like to consider prior to making an approval.
Firstly, you should consider what type of pet is being requested. Some landlords might be perfectly happy to approve a small bird in a cage, or a fishtank, but perhaps not a furry animal. Ensure that when your property manager lets you know that the tenant is requesting an animal, that you know as much information as possible prior to making an approval.
‘Will the pet be allowed to go inside the premises?’ is another good question that you might want to ensure that you consider. Currently, a landlord is allowed to request that the tenants have the carpet at the property professionally cleaned when they vacate, upon approval of a pet at a rented premises. You are also allowed to ask a tenant to have the premises fumigated at outgoing, when a pet has been approved.
The most important thing that you should be considering when you are thinking about allowing animals, is will your property be suitable for a pet? Some properties will have fencing issues, that may mean a small dog would be able to get out of the yard and cause issues in the neighbourhood. Or a great dane might be able to clear the fencing in a single bound, and then go on to terrorise the rest of the street!
If you are going to approve your tenant to have a cat at the property, you need to know that cats are required by law in nsw to be locked up overnight, so that they do not kill local wildlife, or roam the streets, so a cat will always be going inside the property.
The last thing that you need to ensure is that if a tenant is requesting to have a pet, that the animal is registered with the required authorities. Dogs and cats need to be microchipped, and our office will require a tenant wanting to apply for a property to rent to provide the microchip details prior to being approved to rent with a companion animal. Similarly, snakes, reptiles and some birds, will also require the owner to be licensed to have these types of pets, and an applicant for a rental will need to provide all relevant details prior to applying to keep these pets on the rented premises.
If there is a tight rental market, allowing pets is often a great benefit that might allow your property to stand out in the crowd, where other landlords are not happy to have pets. We have lots of lovely ‘furry’ tenants in our rental properties, they just require a little extra management from our team is all and it is best that we are all on the same page regarding requirements and regulation.
One other thing to keep in mind as well, is that it is not legal in NSW to request or accept a pet bond on a property (where a tenant pays extra funds to their bond for being allowed to have a pet at the premises).
If you have questions about allowing pets in your property, the best thing to do, is call our office and have a discussion with us regarding your concerns.
