Lets For Pets in Residential Letting

The National Approved Letting Scheme is supporting a campaign launched by the Dogs Trust to encourage a more pet friendly approach to letting residential property. Letting Agents are being asked to back the “Lets with Pets” scheme to encourage their landlord clients to take a more generous view to letting their property to tenants with pets. Exclusion of pets is most often a standard, but the NALS points out that a significant percentage of the residential letting population are being discounted as potential tenants and customers; pet owners make up 43% of the population!

But would Letting Agents want to be responsible for encouraging Private Landlords to allow pets in their properties? Sometimes this area is best covered by an implicit exclusion of all pets, with special arrangements, assurances and agreements made, between landlord and tenant, on application. A survey conducted by the Dogs Trust indicated that many Landlords are prepared to accept pets. First thoughts are of dogs and cats, but surveys show that reptiles and amphibians outnumber dogs by two million. It is certainly preferable that any pets are agreed, rather than kept and hidden. “Lets with Pets” offers advice to Agents and Landlords on letting out property to tenants with pets.