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Speaker 1: Right, We've got some trouble brewing around the new rental

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Speaker 1: rules allowing pets for tenants. The changes come into force

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Speaker 1: in December, requiring landlords to have reasonable grounds to refuse

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Speaker 1: pets and allowing pet bonds to cover potential damage. But

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Speaker 1: many renters say, actually nothing's change. Landlords simply reject applications

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Speaker 1: evolving pets and avoid scrutiny. So Mike Atkinson is a

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Speaker 1: Spire Properties managing director. He's with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Mike, good morning, Thank you for

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Speaker 2: having me.

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Speaker 1: What is happening? Are landlord's rejecting people with pets even more?

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Speaker 2: Now? I wouldn't say even more, but in terms of

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Speaker 2: when a tenant is actually looking for a rental property,

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Speaker 2: the landlord can always choose the lower risk tenancy and

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Speaker 2: they see that as someone that doesn't have a pet.

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Speaker 2: So there's nothing in the new law that prevents a

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Speaker 2: landlord from just choosing an application that doesn't have a pet.

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Speaker 1: And is it fair enough that they are rejecting pet owners? Well?

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Speaker 2: I think so they do carry It does carry extra

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Speaker 2: risk and landlords are just looking to remove that. Something

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Speaker 2: could be done in terms of maybe some better insurance

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Speaker 2: policy protection that landlords can have because it's just about

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Speaker 2: managing potential losses caused by pet damage.

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Speaker 1: Indeed, we talked about the pet bond that's new. Does

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Speaker 1: that give it or should that give home owners confidence

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Speaker 1: and taking on a tenant with a pet.

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Speaker 2: It does give them a little bit of extra confidence.

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Speaker 2: But you can have a situation where a pet can

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Speaker 2: damage the entire carpet of a rental property and that's

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Speaker 2: going to greatly exceed two weeks rent, and so people

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Speaker 2: are just trying to avoid that situation.

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Speaker 1: And are we hearing about ten and s actually making

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Speaker 1: an application and then revealing the pet after they've moved in.

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Speaker 2: That hasn't happened to us yet, but if I know

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Speaker 2: eventually that will happen because the current law means that

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Speaker 2: once you've got the property, it's much easier to get

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Speaker 2: a pet, but it is still difficult to get one

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Speaker 2: with a tet. So it does make sense that eventually

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Speaker 2: people will start sort of gaining thisss them all, right, but.

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Speaker 1: Your advice will big still list the animals on their

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Speaker 1: application and remember that the owners actually do have some rights.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, their owners have got rights, and it's a bad

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Speaker 2: way to start off a tenancy, if you sort of

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Speaker 2: dishonest right at the start, your landlord is going to

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Speaker 2: be annoyed if they think that you gained the new

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Speaker 2: law to get your dog or cat in, and that's

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Speaker 2: just not a great way to start a tendancy.

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Speaker 1: Mike, all the best, and I thank you for your

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Speaker 1: time today. Mike Atkinson has just joined us from a

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Speaker 1: Spire property. He's the managing director there.

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Speaker 2: For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to

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