Property Press Online

Just 7% of rental properties listed on the market allow pets. However, this could be set to change. The government are looking into changing tenancy contracts which may stop landlords being able to refuse pets in a property.

Howsy, rental management experts, researched the best places in the UK for renters who have pets. They took into account green spaces, properties with a garden, and financial costs. To do this, they analysed government data covering the usage of land throughout the UK, and took the top 50 areas for percentage cover of green space and domestic gardens. They then looked at this top 50 while taking into account which had the lowest cost in rent per month on average.

Green space

The location with the highest percentage of land taken by green space, a massive 97.3%, was Richmondshire. If we also take into account rental costs, Carlisle came at the top with 91.7% of its land being green space and rent averaging only £487 per month.

Second for lowest average rent is East Lindsey where it costs £513 per month. Third at £517 came Scarborough, fourth was Staffordshire Moorlands at £536, fifth came West Lindsey at £550. Taking a look at the second half of the top ten for lowest average rent, Basset Law came sixth at £551. Joint seventh is Eden at £570 and High Peak at £570. Ninth is Richmondshire at £587 and tenth is Craven at £605.

Homes with a garden

Many people would agree that if you have a pet like a cat or dog, a garden is essential for their well being. Cats like the ability to explore the outdoors, and dogs need a place to have a good sniff and do their business.

The research also looked in to the top locations with domestic gardens as a high percentage of land use.

Harrow came first for the highest percentage of land as domestic gardens, at 34.7%. However, it’s expensive to rent here at an average of £1,407 per month.

This is where Blackpool comes in. 22.8% of Blackpool’s land is taken by gardens for homes, and the average rent is low at only £527 per month. This means that Blackpool is the city with the highest chance of bagging yourself a house with a garden at a low rental cost.

Looking at the top 50 for domestic garden land usage, and narrowing them down by lowest average monthly rent, here are the next 9 to finish off the top ten. Joint second place is Dudley and Walsall with an average monthly rent of £572, fourth is Wolverhampton at £573, and fifth is Derby at £586. Coming sixth at £589 is Sandwell, seventh is Leicester at £629, Torbay is £633 in eighth place. Finally, joint ninth place are Nottingham and Coventry with an average monthly rent of £657.

Are you struggling to find a place to rent because of your pet?

If you have a pet and you’ve found that it hugely reduces your choice of homes to rent, we want to hear about it. Comment below on your situation and how you worked around it, and how you feel about the government considering changing the rules.