UK pet friendly properties

Pet Friendly Renting in London & The UK

14.03.2021 10:21 am

The Best Pet Friendly Property Portals & Facebook Groups

Anyone coming to the UK and London with a pet, realises sooner or later, that finding rentals that allow pets is not easy. It is time consuming and a lot of landlords and estate agents say no to pets We are a pet loving nation, 50% of the population has a pet and lockdown witnessed a surge in people adopting pets, in particular puppies.

This article from The Guardian refers to the magical effect pets have on mental health. As a dog owner myself, it is so true. Your dog or cat cuddles up to you after a long day, you stroke their fur and it calms you down. The stresses of the day quickly pass you by.

Pets also have a positive effect on children and many younger generations see their dogs and cats as part of their family, their ‘fur babies’. With covid lockdown, there are an increasing number of therapy dogs to offer comfort to people in hospital. The love offered by a dog makes you feel better inside. Indeed, a magical, almost mentally healing effect.

Yet with all these positive effects pets have on ‘hoomans’, finding pet friendly accommodation in the UK is difficult with only 7% of landlords allowing pets according to the latest Government statistics.

This article from the BBC entitled Renters in England set to be allowed to keep ‘Well Behaved Pets’ is misleading in the sense that nothing has changed. The Government has merely suggested landlords allow pets, there is nothing that legally supports pet owners.

Pet friendly rentals in London & the UK is a ‘hot’ topic with both sides very passionate about it. A solution has to be found as both sides have valid points.

What are the main concerns of landlords?

  • Damage to the property and inability unlike some EU countries to ask for insurance cover and the deposit is capped to 5 weeks rent only.
  • To many, the property is an investment and there have been ‘horror’ stories of pets badly damaging properties.
  • Flea infestation after a tenant leaves. In some EU countries the tenant is liable even after they have left.
  • Some say no to pets for religious reasons.
  • Pet friendly rentals in London, for example, are restricted due to head leases where the building owners (freeholders) have a no pets clause.
  • Some Estate Agents do advise their clients against allowing pets.

The Best pet friendly renting portals and apps

Pets Lets

Pets Lets is a UK pet-friendly property portal offering properties where landlords 100% consider pets. As a start up portal it is growing all the time and there is an information hub about pets which is really informative. Set up by a dog owner and property professional, Pets Lets welcomes people contacting them and asking advice. There is also a Relocation Service for people across the UK looking for help finding pet friendly rentals. All about pets & property and more than a portal as it is about creating an on-line community. Pets Lets is so passionate about pets and property that they have set up a Pets & Property Tips.

Primelocation

A well-known property portal which covers UK residential as well as commercial property. When it comes to pet friendly rentals in London or in the UK, there is no filter.

Rightmove

One of the biggest UK property portals with lots of information and property listings across the country. When it comes to filters with pest there is very little.

Open Rent

Open Rent is a property portal with direct access to landlords. When a property comes on the market, it is first come first served when contacting the landlord. A popular site and there is a pet friendly filter which is great for pet owners. There is no middleman or agent so you can avoid extra fees too. The one problem is that when faced with competition, a landlord nine times out of ten, will go for the tenant without a pet. There is also a mobile app, so worth looking at when looking for a place to rent with your dog or cat.

Move Bubble

Move Bubble is purely app based. Using Move Bubble, renters can make contact with estate agents and there are lots of filters to make it a more focused search. There is also a pet friendly filter, which is good news for pet owners looking to rent.

Spare Room

If you have a pet and are looking for a spare room or shared pet friendly accommodation, then this is the site to go to.

Zoopla

Zoopla is another one of the leading portals. There is a pet friendly property filter which is limited and mostly lists Open Rent properties.

Be aware that some of the buildings which state pets are considered can have no pets clauses. Sometimes agents and even landlords are not aware of the no pets restrictions in some of the bigger London blocks. A no pets clause in a head lease is a real issue in many buildings across the capital and is something that needs to be reformed.

Pet Friendly Property Facebook Groups

Pets & Property Tips As mentioned earlier, this group is set up by Pets Lets and offer people advice and comes up with ideas apart from the portals of sourcing pet friendly UK properties. Useful tips of the trade.

Renting with Pets UK A popular and established group with pet friendly properties listed as well as people asking for advice on finding a home for their pets. Worth joining

Lets with Pets This is a again a useful group to be a member of if you are looking for dog or cat friendly accommodation. You find people do post across the groups so there may be some repetition. Good to be a member of all of them though.

Dog Friendly Developments

8 Water Street, Canary Wharf A Pawsome Pet Friendly building with 174 allowing dogs and cats by Vertus. These are also listed on Pets Lets and Biscuit, the Co-Founder of Pets Lets has personally inspected the building and the flats and was suitably impressed. There will be an in-depth blog to follow on these amazing pet friendly apartments in Canary Wharf on Pets Lets under the Information Hub.

Fizzy Living

If you want to be part of a fun, vibrant and pet friendly community, then have a look at Fizzy Living developments in Hayes, Canning Town, Epsom, Walthamstow, Lewisham, Stepney Green and Popular. Again, there are no middlemen, no fees and you deal directly with the sales team.

Essential Living

Essential Living again offers a pet friendly community with no middlemen or agency fees. You go direct. The developments are spread across in Islington, Bethnal green, Maidenhead and Greenwich.

Cheval Collection

Cheval offers a number of high-end London pet friendly flats in Zone 1, in areas such as Knightsbridge, Hyde Park, South Kensington as well as Edinburgh. Stays vary from a few nights to a much longer period of time. Certainly apartments to pamper your pets.

Relocation/ Home Search Consultants

Pets Lets

Pets Lets specialises in finding pet friendly rentals for clients with pets across the UK. They look after pet owners across the UK looking to move as well as people relocating with their pets to the UK. The portal is 100% about pets and property. All you need under one roof.

“As a side note, I’m amazed at how much you’ve managed to find in less than a day. I’ll definitely pass Pets Lets details to anyone in the market going forward.” A Happy South African Pets Lets Client, 2021

London Relocation

London Relocation offers a relocation service for families, corporate as well as people with pets. They also a property search service in the Capital for people looking to buy properties.

Dogs Trust

The Lets with Pets Scheme offers valuable information on renting with pets for landlords as well as tenants. As useful site to go to for more in-depth information about what is needed when looking for pet friendly properties. Everything from putting together a Pet CV to giving you a pets clause to insert into rental tenancy agreements.

This article was written by Russell Hunt, Founder of Pets Lets, a UK pet-friendly property portal offering properties where landlords consider pets as well as a pet friendly relocation service. For useful advice or to find out more about the UK pet friendly rental market, feel free to join our Pets and Property Tips Facebook Group for helpful professional advice on pets and property.