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No pets policy in apartment complex.. but the apartment is owned?
VioletSummers
Posts: 1,363 Forum Member
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Asking for a friend here as I don't think this is enforceable!
My friend has bought a one bed ground floor apartment in an 8 flat complex. To be clear, he owns this outright. He was planning on getting a small pet for company, a hamster or a small cat, but a neighbour told him there is a strict no pets policy and he can be evicted. But he owns the property!
If he owns the apartment, they can't exactly demand he sells up and leaves over a small pet... can they?
My friend has bought a one bed ground floor apartment in an 8 flat complex. To be clear, he owns this outright. He was planning on getting a small pet for company, a hamster or a small cat, but a neighbour told him there is a strict no pets policy and he can be evicted. But he owns the property!
If he owns the apartment, they can't exactly demand he sells up and leaves over a small pet... can they?
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More likely leasehold with arrangements in place for things like repairing the roof , looking after any common parts etc.... And any restrictions like no pets or not attaching sat dishes ..
etc.. Or not to be used for immoral purposes ...
If he does he could be in breach of his lease and thrown out......
In a block one of my friends lives in it did take two years to remove a "lady if the night" who also seemed to trade all day .. !!!!!! And the flat fell to the freeholder who was the company that is owned by the other lease holders....... A wind fall which paid for much renovation and topping up reserves.
If anyone kicks up a stink I'm just going to say I'm looking after her for an ill relative or something and quite frankly, I'm prepared to move if some nosey little get sticks his beak in. I wouldn't want to live near people like that.
I will add, before I signed anything the Redrow guys said "it would be fine" to have a cat.
I once worked with a guy in Cambridge, who would have had to get permission from the Dean of Trinity College, if he wanted to get a dog or keep chickens on his own land, as there were "covenents" in place.
There's two main reasons for that - one, is purely aesthetics. Having a block of flats with towels & bedding hanging out all of the windows is very uncouth, and presumably the freeholder(s) would want to keep the estate & general area looking smart. It's the same motivation behind clauses which prohibit leaseholders from storing items on balconies - again, it looks untidy and can be offputting to future buyers.
Secondly, it also prevents the waving of flags. No one would want to live in a block of flats with a large BNP flag hanging down the side of it, and so such activity is prohibited.
I know someone who rented a house a no pets rule and straight away went and bought a dog. Do they think landlords are thick .... Anyone can smell whether a dog has been in a house recently when they do their house inspections.
Wouldn't it just be easier to rent a house which does allow dogs?
The OP's friend has bought a flat & is a leaseholder, not a rental tenant.
Even so, if the lease says he can't have pets then he can't have pets. He should have checked the lease before purchasing the flat as he is now bound by the covenants in it.
If he were to get a small pet (hamster, gerbil etc) I can't see how anyone would find out. A cat might be problematic, especially if it's an outdoors cat, but it might work. However, if OPs friend did get a pet and it was found out about, he would be breaching his lease.
Breaching the lease can be serious, and can ultimately lead to forfeiture - the leaseholder is out on their ear, no chance to sell up, they forfeit the lease & the property because they failed to keep to the terms. Realistically that's VERY unlikely to happen over a pet, but it's a possibility.
OP - the best way forward for your friend would be to look at getting a small pet such as a hamster, gerbil, degu etc., and ask the freeholder for written permission. I can't see anybody reasonably objecting to such a request. No pets clauses are generally there as a blanket clause to prevent leaseholders from getting noisy dogs, or other large intrusive pets that could cause a nuisance to others in the block.
You can't buy a flat freehold. If you own a freehold you technically own that plot of land from the ground to the centre of the earth and up into the sky. (Ignoring oil and mineral rights etc). So if you owned a flat freehold and there was another flat above or below you you'd own that as well.
The only way flats can be sold is one company or person owns the freehold and either rents out or sells leases for each flat. 999 year leases are common.
And even buying freehold often comes with covenants that tell you what you can't do. I own my house but the builder put a covenant in saying replacement windows must be wood for example.
This is true. In our previous house there was a covenant saying we couldn't make any structural changes or additions to the house within 10 yrs of its build date without written permission from the builder. We only found that out when we sold the place and were asked for the evidence that our conservatory had been approved
Good on Canada - at least in this instance..
Pets are vital company for some people in society - people who live alone, often the elderly - and it's been said that enjoying pet ownership can add several years to your life.
You can actually, I have one which I inherited and its a bloody nightmare.
Apparently there are only two areas in the UK where freehold flats exist....Scarborough and I think Bournemouth.
If you ever get the chance to buy a freehold flat....DONT!
As others have pointed out, even owning the freehold doesn't automatically preclude you from certain restrictions if they are in the deeds.. Off the top of my head I know we cannot erect fences or walls in our front gardens, cannot park lorries, something about caravans I can't remember and we have no comeback if the local hunt rides across our land.
Providing the pet is well behaved ( eg no barking dogs! ) I agree with this ruling 100% although I assume there is a clause that any damage to decoration would be rectified by the tenant in a rented property.
I know the reasons behind it, but it always made me chuckle - it wasn't the only restriction. When the solicitor went through them with me I was half expecting him to say that I had to practise archery on Sundays as well!!!
I wouldn't have hung my bedding out anyway as it was a ground floor flat and the local kids would probably have nicked it!
As for flags, didn't stop the people above me having a permanent huge St. George's cross flat displayed in the front window! Not that I minded - rather that than some of the nightmare families that lived elsewhere in the block!
Well you think wrong...99.99% of flats are sold leasehold and there are nearly always rules/covenants that apply to them.
Having pets which are likely to be or get into in common areas is frequently forbidden (IOW a budgie is okay but a cat/dog is not). So are things like storing bikes/buggies r erecting washing lines in common areas.
There are also covenants/rules or local by laws that apply to freehold properties as well...often forbidding the erection of fences round front gardens, storing caravans on the drive...that certainly applied to a property I once owned.
Your friend should review the paperwork they received on the purchase of the property or contact the freeholder to get a copy of the rules/covenants that apply...they may already be in breach on other matters.
I already know all that thanks, but it doesn't answer my question. Why would anyone buy a property that has such restrictions in the first place? Buying a home is the most expensive and important layout of cash you'll ever make, so why burden yourself with somewhere you don't have full control over.
I own two properties, and both have zero covenants attached to them. I made sure of that.
Think you mean "in England and Wales" - freehold is the norm in Scotland. And not an issue.
OP (if you're still here) I can't believe your friend bought a flat and nobody brought these restrictions to his attention at the time?
Because you do not have control over everything in a block of flats ... That is why it is leasehold so that the conditions which make living there nice and practical can be enforced...
Things like keeping the roof in good repair... And common parts secure and clean etc .. Paid by all and then other good neighbourliness like not hanging clothes out of windows, attaching sky dishes and keeping pets,.....
But many flat owners are shareholders of the freeholder .. So they own a chunk of the freehold....- and thus can influence any convents etc... And the general conduct of the neighbours,
It's personal choice. I wouldn't live somewhere where I couldn't have a pet but I quite like the idea that I don't have to tolerate a lorry parked outside my house or high fences obstructing the view of the road.