renting with dogs !

[yvonne]

We are planning to move permanently to France next Summer and although we hope to take several trips out over the next year to get a feel for places all the advice I read  is to rent and take our time before we make a decision and buy.

Our problem is that we are breeders of Belgian Shepherd Dogs   and have 6 dogs of varying ages - I know how difficult it would be to find rental accomodation here in the UK with this number of dogs - is it any easier in France ? - I'm thinking we could perhaps find a smallholding or similar with a barn we could partition off for the dogs and with enough land to run them on  - so far we have narrowed our search down to the Lot or the Correze regions - - the alternative is for us to get a dog sitter here for a month and go out and hope to find something suitable to buy in that time .

 

 

Yvonne

[Chancer]

I am not sure that a landlord in France can actually specify no dogs allowed, they certainly cannot get the tenants out once the neighbours start complaining about the noise, smell etc.

Around here it seems to be the norme that the smaller the apartment the larger and more ferocious the dog must be, 5 years on and I have only ever seen one guy walking a dog, which to his credit he does regularly, all the others send their lives cooped up in apartments or knee deep in doggy doo on tiny terrces or balconies.

I hope that soemone can tell me that I am wrong as it is one of the major worries for when I rent out my first apartments.

[danny]

Always ask, do you have animals, if the answer is yes and the property is not suitable, simply look for another tenant.

[Chancer]

Far too simplistic Danny and as far as the legal protection of tenants here in France you might as well be from a different planet.

Even were I to ask and use a lie detector the first thing around here that a tenant does in a bed-sit is move in the boyfriend/girlfriend, start a family and during the 9 month wait get a great big **** off dog.

And as far as I can see there is nothing that you can do about it.

It is no better and perhaps worse in more affluent areas, Paris being a good example.

I'm sorry if the reply sounds confrontational but if only life for a landlord in France were as simple as you state!

[yvonne]

We would not wish to cause a nuisance to either any potential landlord or neighbour whch is why I thought of renting a small holding ( away from neighbours ! ) -  just finding out if anyone has done this ?

 

 

Yvonne

[danny]

I have a couple of properties rented and I am fully aware of the legalities of the french renting system. Basically the tenant get 100% protection and the owner gets zit. I have found to my cost that using agents to rent the properties puts my profits into their pockets and has left me with problems. Now I do everything myself, advertising, taking up references and financial investigations.

Regarding dogs it depends on how you ask the question, for example when talking to prospective tenants I bring them to my house and we sit at the table with my labradour under our feet, generally is is easy to find out if they have a dog. I have no problems with dogs in properties that have gardens and are fully enclosed. For apartments it is a big no. It is the same for smoking in the properties, however I make it clear that any smoke damage will be taken out of the deposit. Having said the above I do have one apartment where upon ringing the intercom I was answered by the elderly tenant with a dog barking in the background. She told me it was her sisters and that she was looking after it for the day, the day has turned into 4 years but she does look after the property very well and always pays the rent on time.

Renting in France is a risk but you can go a long way to reducing the risk.

As far as the original poster's problem in finding a property to house 6 dogs, I feel it will be a difficult task.

[Catalpa]

Yvonne, find the AngloInfo for your prospective area and ask if anyone has anything suitable. On AngloInfo Normandy there seems to be shedloads of British people advertising property for sale and / or rent and if you're up front with your needs you might be surprised by how much response you get. Or you might not! But it's worth investigating because British people have a tendancy to have rural properties with outbuildings.

http://france.angloinfo.com/

You probably want the Limousin and Midi-Pyrénéés forums. I believe you have to join both separately.

[Joanna]

We rented with a dog and there was no problem, in fact I think it is expected that if you rent in the country you will have a dog(s) and cats too.  The problem that we did have is thaat most rental properties seemed to be near the road so not cat safe and a lot of them weren't fenced in so not dog safe either.  Of course you can pay for your own fencing which is expensive but  the landlord is unlikely to object to you improving his property!

[Megan le Fey]

I rent a house here from a French landlady. I rented it unseen through one of the many immobilier websites, told the agent that I had two Great Danes. She said that there was no problem and so far, after two and a bit years there hasn't been. I see that the dogs behave theirselves and if they cause any damage (which up 'til now, they haven't), I must pay - and rightly so.

[yvonne]

Thanks that's really helpful !!- I think it makes sense to rent for a while until we find our ideal place to buy

for those of you interested in seeing our hairy beasties here they are !

www.simplesite.com/grondemon

 

Yvonne

[Megan le Fey]

Ohhhh, WOW. What stunning dogs!!!