Property: Beware buyers, it's a jungle in there

Rainforest birds are not the usual way to improve your property's value. They do give it character, though, says Penny Jackson

A shriek from the landing and an extraordinary beak pokes through the banisters, rattling them for attention. A green carpet liberally speckled with stains from discarded fruit has been treated more like a forest floor than a hall floor. It isn't everybody who would let their home be taken over by a toucan.

But then Jane Tremlett, whose London house is a menagerie of Doctor Dolittle proportions, is not fazed by a messy bird which is as gregarious and noisy as a child. While others hesitate before allowing the dog upstairs, or panic when the cat scratches the wallpaper, this refugee from the rainforests has the run of the house. As she cuddles the bird, it starts to purr like a cat and Mrs Tremlett explains that life in a cage would kill the toucan. "Teri is one of the family. She adores us and we couldn't keep her any other way." Other birds she does have in cages - in the sitting room, the kitchen, and the aviary in the garden.

The house is an animal lover's paradise but an estate agent's nightmare. Pets take their toll on a property, which is why so few landlords allow them. Paintwork gets chipped, carpets ruined and on the sales side, prospective buyers who have to hold their noses when going round a house are not often keen to make a return visit.

As we step over an aged rabbit in Jane's kitchen, past a conservatory with tropical tortoises and tiny turtles into a garden with yet more rabbits and guinea pigs, she admits that her house has been ruined by the animals. "Because of the way the toucan breathes we can't paint the house or even beat the carpets. She couldn't stand it."

Half-eaten lampshades dangle from the light fittings and chunks are missing from a door. "The parrots have a go at them when they're not after each other. They've even started on the cable. One did give a burglar a fright, though." Most people, believes Mrs Tremlett, who owns Chiswick Pets in west London, underestimate the space needed by birds and reptiles. The neighbours also have to be considered. "If our aviary wasn't soundproofed, the noise would be overwhelming."

Unless an estate agent is unfortunate enough to be asked to value the house of the woman in north London who has five iguanas roaming free, dogs and cats are the worst they have to encounter. The trouble with most owners is that they fail to see why not everyone finds their pets lovable. A good many buyers from abroad, particularly, are frightened of animals, says Adam Carey of Friend & Falcke. "We found it quite difficult to sell a lovely Chelsea house because the dogs would salivate at the sight of a stranger. We had to insist they were locked up. But if they didn't get you, the parrot would." Rentals are particularly hard to find for pet owners. In America, some leases carry a requirement that any cats are de-clawed - not likely to go down well in this country. Penny Parr-Head, of Hamptons International, says that landlords, not surprisingly, often ask for a deposit of three months in case of damage and the lease would carry a specific pet clause about cleaning. "We let one Fulham house to an immaculately dressed woman. When we visited the house it was a horror of animal faeces and open tins of food. The animals had clearly not been out for months." But she has also known doubtful landlords to be won over on meeting an animal. The large London estates have a blanket clause in leases saying no pets but a good reference on an animal can soften that. Edward Mead of Douglas & Gordon says that over the years a number of sales have been lost because of the clause. "It's not intended to keep out the ageing pooch, rather the exotic pets some people choose." Like toucans perhaps. But even the Tremletts have a yen for an animal-free zone. Pushed out by their pets, they will all be moving to a farmhouse in Devon with space and outhouses. Toucan permitting, of course.