Letting to tenants with pets

The Dogs Trust estimate that in the region of 40% of us in the UK have pets. Probably mostly dogs, cats and caged birds. As about 12-15% of the population live in rented accommodation it is fair to say that there must be many potential tenants looking for accommodation who have pets.

However many landlords routinely reject all pets as a matter of course, worried about the potential damage they could do to the property and its contents, and virtually all tenancy agreements have clauses prohibiting pets as standard.

However a report available on the Dogs Trust 'lets with pets' web-site challenges this viewpoint and suggests that many landlords are foolish to reject out of hand many people who would, along with their pets, prove to be excellent tenants. A survey carried out by the Dogs Trust also shows that

• 78% of pet owners reported that they had experienced difficulties finding privately rented accommodation that would allow their pets
  
• 54% of pet owners were never able to find a suitable property that accepted pets, and
  
• 8% of people had to rehome their pet

A landlord therefore who is willing to allow pets in his property will find that he has a much larger pool of potential tenants and is likely to let his property quicker, and to tenants who will probably stay for longer, meaning fewer voids.

In order to assist landlords, at Landlord-Law we have produced a new tenancy agreement specifically for landlords letting to tenants with pets. It contains special 'pets' clauses in the terms and conditions and fields for details of the pets, their vet, and someone who will look after them in case of emergency. You can read about it in the article 'Letting to tenants with pets' which you can download from here.