Rentals and Pets

Hi All,

I've just arrived in Wellington and have started to look for an apartment or house to rent. My partner will be joining me in a couple of months with our 3 cats, and I've noticed that there are very few properties listed as "Pets OK" on Trade Me. Has anyone had any luck reaching out to property owners/managers that state they do NOT allow pets, but explaining your situation and offering a higher bond or something? I figure it can't hurt to ask, but thought perhaps someone might have some personal experience with this and was curious how they approached it.

Thanks,
Jason

Getting a rental in Wellington is extremely difficult at present following the recent quakes and extra students starting at Vic Uni so anyone with Pets will really struggle, your only hope is to have excellent references already printed out which you can attach to any applications,GO to every open home , don't rely on online applications,make friends with a property manager at the open home and follow up every few days with them, OR give up and park the fur babies in a great kennel like we did!

Did you have much luck with finding a place to rent and your pets? We will be looking to do this if we do make it over. Also in Wellington.

Possibly different in Wellington but we had no issues getting a rental home in Auckland with our cat.

The agent told us that the 'No Pets' stipulation is often used as an excuse to refuse tenents that the agent feels are unsuitable (for whatever reason).

Our rental agreement said no pets. We proved ourselves as good tenants and then raised the question of getting a cat. Our landlord said as we were good tenants he’d allow it as long as we rectified any damage and had the carpets cleaned when we leave - which is fair enough! So I’d agree the ‘no pets’ clause is often negotiable...

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Awww... that's a lovely face. :)

That's great to hear :-) Once we settle down it would be lovely to get a couple of kitties, and one kid really wants fish! Your post gives me hope, MLVB...

We arrived in Wellington a year and a half ago with our cat and dog and had the same issue. We stayed in short-term stay places for the first two months while we rental shopped. I basically just contacted every rental that looked like it would work for us, even if it said no pets, to ask if they would consider pets. Most said no, but a surprising number were open to cats. We finally found a place that would allow a dog as well ,provided we paid a higher bond and had the carpets shampooed when we moved out if they needed it.

The one thing about it is that you have t be open to living where ever you can find a place that will allow them. If you're set on a certain suburb it may take a while to find a place, though it might be easier with cats. When we were looking there had just been a Stuff story out about a tenant that had let their dog basically destroy the place and the courts had ruled that the tenant didn't have to pay for it, so finding a place that would allow dogs was rough.