Leaseholder refusing permission for our dog
Discussion
My girlfriend and I moved in to our apartment in March just before lockdown started. On the initial viewings we commented on how suitable it was for a dog and that we were looking forward to getting one. The letting agent agreed with the comment, moving on we decided to go ahead and went through the process of sorting out the lease and moved in.
A week or so after the move we requested permission to have a dog through the agent as required by the terms of our contract which was agreed, in writing. Mid-April we picked up Piper, a beautiful Hungarian Vizsla.
Within a week a 'kind' neighbour pointed out that the leasehold did not allow dogs to live here. The same evening we received an enquiring email from the letting agent.
It turns out the owner wasn't aware and the letting agent didn't avail themselves of this information and inform the owner.
The letting agent have tried to persuade the leaseholders to give dispensation as we have our own basement flat entrance and private good sized garden. However it doesn't appear that this is going to change and we will probably be served 2 months notice soon to have us out after 6 months which is really rather inconvenient.
Any advice for us? We haven't breached contact, our landlord has. The contract is for 2 years but with an option for either party to serve 2 months notice to ensure a minimum 6 months residency. A very frustrating situation.
A week or so after the move we requested permission to have a dog through the agent as required by the terms of our contract which was agreed, in writing. Mid-April we picked up Piper, a beautiful Hungarian Vizsla.
Within a week a 'kind' neighbour pointed out that the leasehold did not allow dogs to live here. The same evening we received an enquiring email from the letting agent.
It turns out the owner wasn't aware and the letting agent didn't avail themselves of this information and inform the owner.
The letting agent have tried to persuade the leaseholders to give dispensation as we have our own basement flat entrance and private good sized garden. However it doesn't appear that this is going to change and we will probably be served 2 months notice soon to have us out after 6 months which is really rather inconvenient.
Any advice for us? We haven't breached contact, our landlord has. The contract is for 2 years but with an option for either party to serve 2 months notice to ensure a minimum 6 months residency. A very frustrating situation.
m_cozzy said:
Time to move then or get rid of the dog. Nobody wants a bloody yip yip yip yip yip yap yap yapping dog living near them to be honest with you.
Well, you're a complete barrel of laughs aren't you? What on earth makes you think that the dog is a yappy t
t? I assume you must live within earshot?So said:
Why do you believe that the landlord has breached the terms of the contract?
They are subject to the contract with the leashold, they are the party that has given me permission to have a dog in the property as per my contract with them. I do not have a a contract with the leasholder therefore I cannot personally be in breach of a contract I am not party to, nor obliged to be aware of the content.catweasle said:
Is your landlord also the freeholder of the whole building?
No they are not, the properties in question is a string of Georgian terraces that were converted in the mid-90's to apartments. The particularly helpful neighbour also had the terms of the leasehold amended so that no resident could have hard flooring by virtue of the fact she could hear people walking around. The terrace is about 100m long and hers is at one end. She is proving to be just the sort of neighbour I would prefer not to live near.So said:
Gosh.
This is how it works:
The landlord is the leaseholder. He may or may not own a share of the freehold, but it's irrelevant.
The agent is an AGENT for the landlord.
The contract is between the landlord and the tenant.
If the tenancy agreement says that the tenant will ask permission before keeping a dog, then that is what they need to do. If the landlord says no, and the tenant keeps a dog, the tenant is in breach of contract.
Any amount of wishful thinking or posting pictures of the dog won't change that.
I assume you only read the parts of the OP that support your statement and not the part that stated permission must be sought before any pets are permitted, which was duly requested and received before a dog became resident in the property? This is how it works:
The landlord is the leaseholder. He may or may not own a share of the freehold, but it's irrelevant.
The agent is an AGENT for the landlord.
The contract is between the landlord and the tenant.
If the tenancy agreement says that the tenant will ask permission before keeping a dog, then that is what they need to do. If the landlord says no, and the tenant keeps a dog, the tenant is in breach of contract.
Any amount of wishful thinking or posting pictures of the dog won't change that.
We're fortunate that our apartment is the basement so the only communal area we have access to is the front gravel parking area. We collect any spoil so it can't be argued that is an issue.
The dog isn't noisy, occasional grumbles but the tennant immediately above doesn't hear it, never mind the grumbly one a few doors down.
Interestingly, the tenant above also have a dog but due to the challenging neighbour don't bring it out of the home - ever! Not even to their garden which abutts ours, a very sad situation. There is also another dog at the far end of the terrace.
This grumbly neighbour is a challenge, on the day of viewing the property she poked her head out the window and told us we weren't allowed to park here. Also spouted nonsense at my girlfriend when putting garbage in the bins stating it didn't look like recyclable goods, she was invited to get in the bin and check!
None of the other neighbours seem to enjoy her presence.
We will wait until the break clause is activated and then either challenge it or play along if they are going to pay for movers.
The dog isn't noisy, occasional grumbles but the tennant immediately above doesn't hear it, never mind the grumbly one a few doors down.
Interestingly, the tenant above also have a dog but due to the challenging neighbour don't bring it out of the home - ever! Not even to their garden which abutts ours, a very sad situation. There is also another dog at the far end of the terrace.
This grumbly neighbour is a challenge, on the day of viewing the property she poked her head out the window and told us we weren't allowed to park here. Also spouted nonsense at my girlfriend when putting garbage in the bins stating it didn't look like recyclable goods, she was invited to get in the bin and check!
None of the other neighbours seem to enjoy her presence.
We will wait until the break clause is activated and then either challenge it or play along if they are going to pay for movers.
A little more development on this over the weekend. I will wait for any notice in given, and then request access to all communication on the subject of our apartment since the first visit. There may be interesting details within, it may also resulty in getting put in the 'too difficult' box and left for a while.
Saturday early evening I had a bbq in the garden, 4 of us in total, nothing too fancy and no music pumping. Just the girlfriends parents visiting.
Wind was almost zero, smoke could be seen going either vertically or to the north. Madam a couple of doors down waits until I have just about finished all the cooking, pops her head out of the window and asks me to move the bbq to the far end of the garden. By this point, I had finished cooking and could not be arsed with speaking to her head bobbing out of the window. Her window is about 20m south of my garden, there would not be billows of smoke coming in, she may have smelt some of the bbq but ntohing excessinve nor abnormal for a communal living environment.
I politely replied that I would not be moving the bbq and suggested she might want to close herwindow.
As I turned my back on her and walked in to the home she screamed out of her window at me telling to to go forth and fornicate somewhere else using a few less syllabals. I sniggered as I walked in, and didn't go back outside for the rest of the evening.
No further news on the dog. Will just sit back and wait.
Saturday early evening I had a bbq in the garden, 4 of us in total, nothing too fancy and no music pumping. Just the girlfriends parents visiting.
Wind was almost zero, smoke could be seen going either vertically or to the north. Madam a couple of doors down waits until I have just about finished all the cooking, pops her head out of the window and asks me to move the bbq to the far end of the garden. By this point, I had finished cooking and could not be arsed with speaking to her head bobbing out of the window. Her window is about 20m south of my garden, there would not be billows of smoke coming in, she may have smelt some of the bbq but ntohing excessinve nor abnormal for a communal living environment.
I politely replied that I would not be moving the bbq and suggested she might want to close herwindow.
As I turned my back on her and walked in to the home she screamed out of her window at me telling to to go forth and fornicate somewhere else using a few less syllabals. I sniggered as I walked in, and didn't go back outside for the rest of the evening.
No further news on the dog. Will just sit back and wait.
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