These are the locations with the landlords most accepting of pets
With many landlords or letting agents imposing a strict 'no pets allowed' policy, it can often be a struggle to find a new home for ourselves and our pets.
A new study by Hillary's reveals that more than half of renting Brits (57 per cent) who want to get a pet are currently unable to due to their landlord or letting agents’ stipulations. Two fifths (41 per cent) of tenants want a cat, 32 per cent want a dog and the remaining 27 per cent want a small pet e.g. a hamster or rabbit.
'Britain is certainly a nation of pet lovers, and most of us couldn’t possibly be without our favourite furry companion,' said a Hillary's spokesperson. 'However, having an animal in your home comes with a lot of responsibility – they can make a lot of mess and sometimes cause damages – so it’s understandable that many landlords and letting agents won’t allow them in their properties.'
In order to help Brits find a place that their pets will be welcome, Hillary's have created a nifty tool which enables renters to search for towns and cities in the UK with the most lenient landlords when it comes to owning a pet.
By using the tool, Hillarys found that those most accepting of pets were in Belfast where only 3 per cent of landlords don’t allow pets. This was closely followed by Reading (4 per cent), Kingston-upon-Thames (4 per cent), Woking (4 per cent), Oxford (6 per cent), Southampton (6 per cent), Preston (8 per cent), Leicester (8 per cent), Newcastle-upon-Tyne (8 per cent) and Manchester (9 per cent).
On the other end of the scale, locations to avoid include Carlisle, which has the highest percentage (68 per cent) of 'no pets allowed' properties. Newport (63 per cent), Gloucester (63 per cent), Nuneaton (57 per cent), Falkirk (55 per cent), Peterborough (50 per cent), Wakefield (50 per cent), Lincoln (47 per cent), Chesterfield (46 per cent) and Hastings (45 per cent) also ranked as being home to some of the least pet-friendly properties in the UK.
So how does it work? Simply enter your desired city on the Lets for Pets calculator and you'll be presented with the average number of landlords in that region who are accepting of pets. The lower the percentage the better, as it means landlords and letting agents are more lenient in this location. Unfortunately though, you can't find out specific areas of a city. So if you live in London you'll find that 29 per cent of landlords don't allow pets in rented properties, but you won't be able to find out if landlords in Camden are more accepting than landlords in Wimbledon, for example.
Try the Lets for Pets calculator here.
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