March 11, 2019
Read our advice on securing your pet friendly rental
According to recent research nearly half of UK’s population owns a pet. The same statistics also suggest that roughly one in five homes is occupied by a pet-owning family, yet agents still struggle to let properties to families with pets. Landlords are often worried about how our furry little friends are going to leave their homes at the end of a tenancy.
The most common call we take as an agent is “It’s for a family and we have a dog. We are really struggling to find pet friendly properties.” It breaks our hearts to hear as almost every member of our staff have their own pets, and as we all know they are very much part of our families.
Most landlords see taking a pet as a bit of a gamble, as they invest a lot of time and money in their rental properties and worry about the potential damage that could be caused, even if they are pet owners themselves!
Considering whether or not to accept a tenant with a pet can be a difficult decision for a landlord, as they invest a lot of time and money in their rental property. But if you know how, you can make it work for both you and your landlord.
Here’s our advice for securing your pet friendly rental
- Tell us a bit about your pet, for example is your pet well behaved or even send us a photo.
- Be honest about the amount of pets you have (not like Susan who tells us she has two cats when in fact she has ten!).
- If you have rented with pets before, ask your previous landlord to give you a pet reference.
- Give yourself time to look for the right home for you and your furry friend so you don’t have to rush and take the next best thing just because they will accept a pet.
- Ask if the landlord/owner wants to meet up with you and the pet, this way they can really get a feel for you as a family and no doubt your little fur ball will win them over.
- Stick to the pets clause in your tenancy agreement. Here at Simon Blyth if we know there is going to be a pet at the property, its forms part of your tenancy agreement. This means that upon ending your agreement you agree to have the carpets professionally cleaned and any damage rectified before giving back the keys.