The UK’s market leading Property Inventory software, reveals that pet-friendly rental homes account for as little as two per cent of current listings in some major British cities and whilst many landlords fear the damage a pet could cause, it could be a financially smarter move to let to a tenant with a pet.
Inventory Base has analysed the number of pet-friendly rental listings as a proportion of all listings across 15 major British cities* to see how many landlords are welcoming pets into their properties, before looking at the ways in which being pet-friendly can actually improve the profitability of being a landlord.
As of 2024, it is estimated that 17.2 million UK households own at least one pet.
In light of this love of pets, the UK government has made a number of moves in recent years to encourage landlords to welcome pet-owning tenants into their properties.
First came a change to the government’s model tenancy agreement to state that a landlord’s default position should be that well-behaved pets are allowed, and more recently the Renters’ Rights Bill also suggests that landlords should be more lenient with pets.
Despite this, there appears to be a continued reluctance from landlords to allow tenants to bring pets into the home.
Inventory Base’s research shows that of the 65,826 rental properties currently listed on the market across 15 major cities, just 4,688 are listed as being pet-friendly, equivalent to 7.1% of the market.
Landlords appear to be most open to pet ownership in Glasgow where 11.3% of all rentals are described as being pet-friendly. This is followed by Edinburgh (10.1%), Manchester (10%), and London (8.1%).
Meanwhile, the least pet-friendly landlords are found in Newcastle where just 2.1% of available stock is being marketed as pet-friendly.
This is followed by Nottingham (2.9%), Cardiff (2.9%), Leeds (3.2%), Leicester (3.4%), and Bristol (3.9%).
