Britain is, without doubt, a nation that loves its pets. As the pet population continues to grow, many homeowners bring with them everything from dogs and cats to birds and hamsters.
What is surprising to some is that the stance of most landlords when it comes to pets in rented accommodation seems to have remained unchanged.
This is of course for understandable reasons, even the most well-behaved pets can have their accidents and depending on how responsible the owner is, they can be quite destructive to a property.
A new study from LSL Corporate Client Department surveyed over 3,200 people throughout the UK on pets in rented accommodation and revealed some reasons why it may be time for landlords to make some exceptions.
This survey asked its participants, if and just how much they would be willing to pay to have a furry friend in the place that they are renting.
It was found that 31% of 18-35-year-olds are willing to pay more for their pet and are happy to pay &25.55 extra a month on average for the privilege. With an average &300 extra annual profit, could landlords be persuaded to allow pets, providing that a deal is structured to cover the potential cost of any damages?
There were some differences seen between male and female tenants, with 31% of women prepared to pay more in comparison to the 23% of men willing to pay a premium.
There has already been some movement in this direction from the build to rent sector, with some developers looking to create pet-friendly one bedroom units that come with a garden.
Martyn Alderton is the National Lettings Director at Your Move, a sister company of LSL, and spoke on the results of the survey, he said, “Our research clearly shows that being able to live with a pet is a huge incentive for some tenants. For example, landlords could request a slightly higher deposit, six weeks instead of four, to protect the property; or as this research shows could consider increasing the monthly rent slightly to cover the cost of any pet-related damage”.
Many believe that there is huge potential for landlords to increase their income by structuring a lettings agreement that allows pets but also works for them. This is an opinion shared by CEO of Dog Friendly, Steve Bennet, who commented, “One of the most common questions that we receive from dog owners is: Where can they find private landlords who will allow dogs? I know from personal experience that having a dog, or as in my case dogs, the choice of properties available to my family was severely restricted. Accommodation suppliers who welcome dogs tell us that dog owners usually take more care of their rooms and their properties than non-dog owners – so it really is time for landlords to recognise that one in three households own a dog, which is a massive potential market too many landlords are still ignoring”.
