Do kids or pets cause more damage? Property manager reveals the truth – and a surprising quirk about Aussie tenants who are renting with BOTH
A property manager has revealed that parents, rather than pet owners, are more likely to be turned down for a rental property because children cause more damage than pets.
Skye Taylor, founder of Adelaide-based Taylored Property Management, said she has seen several types of damage to children of all ages that pets could never cause.
Ms Taylor explained her position to Daily Mail Australia, calling it a ‘logical’ conclusion.
“Children have access to significantly more areas of the property than a pet has access to,” she said.
‘The risk is also greater due to the different age groups, ranging from toddlers to teenagers.’
Ms Taylor believes other letting managers discriminate if a potential tenant has children because of the damage they cause.
“As a single mother, I found it challenging when looking for a place to rent and I wondered if the stigma surrounding children was to blame,” she said.
“I had a solid rental history and nothing to worry about.”
Property manager Skye Taylor (pictured) claims children cause more damage in rental properties than pets
The mother-of-two (pictured) would never discriminate against applicants with children, but believes some property managers do
Ms Taylor said that while the damage pets do is often ‘close to the ground’, such as scratched floorboards, dirty walls, gnawed skirting boards and going to the toilet indoors, children have many more ways to cause damage.
“I’ve seen hair straighteners on carpets, nail polish spilled on the floor, text drawings on walls and windowsills, as well as text leaking onto floors – which is a common occurrence,” she said.
“One time a teenage girl had oil in a pan on the stove and she forgot about it and the oil caught fire.
‘Fortunately the kitchen was only smoke damaged and had to be repainted, but it could have been significantly worse.
“A pet has never done that before.”
The manager said that every time the floor gets damaged, it has to be replaced, which can cost the tenant quite a sum.
Skye Taylor (pictured) said it makes sense that children do more damage to property than pets because they have access to more parts of a home
‘Usually it’s a replacement for that specific room or space.
“If it’s texta or nail polish, you’re not going to be able to get that stain out until a property manager talks about it unless it’s addressed right away.”
The mother of two also said children can damage the floor by wearing football and soccer boots, and by tapping in with shoes.
And because children can be ‘dirty’, surfaces such as walls and light switches can become permanently dirty.
“Many people don’t realize that if parents don’t wipe that down regularly, over time it can cause deeper damage to the paint and the stain line cannot be removed,” she said.
“In the long run, you may end up needing new paint if you neglect it.”
Ms Taylor said tenants should also be aware of their children using blue tac, which can leave a greasy residue and sticky tape as it can remove the plaster.
But the property manager admits that when pets do damage, it is usually bigger and more expensive.
‘I had a building where an animal was gnawing on the skirting boards in one room and used the skirting board as a toilet in another room.
‘The skirting boards in the toilet room had to be replaced together with the connecting floors. I think it cost about $5,000.”
Ms Taylor also said cat urine causes the most damage due to its strong odor and caustic nature.
The property manager (pictured) said that while children cause more damage than pets, the mess left by pets that are not properly cared for by their owners is usually more expensive to repair, such as replacing a concrete subfloor due to cat urine.
“Floorboards are the worst (for cat urine) because it seeps through the seams in the floorboards,” she said.
‘I know of a situation where there were 27 cats and the subfloor – the actual concrete under the floor – had to be completely replaced.
‘All the window sills had to be replaced because they were level with the floor. It just permeated everything.”
But the property manager has noticed something interesting about Australian renters: people are much more likely to clean up after their pets than their children.
“I have found that most tenants with pets will go out of their way because they are very grateful to be able to have their pets and will take care of the property to compensate for that,” she said.
‘But that doesn’t seem to be the case with children. There is obviously more acceptance of children in rental properties, so tenants are not as tense about them as they are with pets.”