Letting Your Property to Pet Owners

Landlords are traditionally resistant to letting to pet owners.

With statistics showing that over 50% of households in the UK own a pet, landlords could be cutting down their potential market by more than half.

The reason that landlords are so resistant is usually the fear of the damage that a pet can cause, be it scratching at doors, dirtying carpets, or damaging furniture (although clearly some properties, such as flats, are just not suited to pets).

In the majority of cases, these fears are unfounded, and landlords could be turning away perfectly good tenants.

It is perfectly reasonable for a landlord to ask for a higher deposit to cover potential damage that could be caused by a pet, or to have carpet cleaning at the end of the term as a condition of the contract.  A landlord can additionally ask for a previous landlord reference for the pet, to ensure that there has been no previous damage caused by the animal.  In this way, any potential damage which could be caused by a pet is limited, and the landlord has a much wider choice of potential tenants.

Not only this, but lets which accept pets are so few, that your property will really stand out to pet-owning households.

Ultimately the decision lies with the landlord, but next time you are looking for new tenants, please do consider letting to pet-owners.