Industry News
Pet ownership is soaring but few landlords allow them
particularly cute puppies, as people found they had a lot more time on their hands and they coveted company and excuses to undertake exercise. But this trend has butted up against a long
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running feature of the private rented sector, which is that many landlords ban the keeping of pets in their rental properties. And this is at odds with the wishes of a lot of actual and potential tenants. New research from the property technology
company Home Made, has revealed how far out of step landlords and tenants are from each other. The research has revealed:
• Registrations of new puppies jumped by 26 per cent between April and June with one in ten renters now looking for pet friendly properties;
• Just 2.8 per cent of UK rental properties are pet friendly, with 39 per cent of pet owners unable to rent a property, just because they own a pet; and
• Plymouth is home to the most pet friendly rental properties, with eight per cent of landlords welcoming pets, but in Belfast and Leicester there were no pet friendly properties advertised as recently as October.
Some two thirds of landlords say they are worried about the possibility of damage being caused to their property by pets, while a quarter say that their letting agent actively advised them against advertising as ‘pet friendly’. But it appears these landlords are missing out,
because over half of renters would be happy to pay a five per cent premium to cover any damage a pet might cause, with seven per cent happy to pay a ten per cent premium. Over half of pet owning renters would also be happy to set up a meeting so the landlord can get to
Plymouth is home to the most pet friendly rental properties, with eight per cent of landlords welcoming pets
know them and their pet and over a third would be happy to provide references from ex-landlords to demonstrate their pet is well behaved. However, it is possible that some changes of
opinion maybe in the offing as 56 per cent of landlords say they are currently considering changing their policies to allow pets in their rental properties following the rise in pet ownership during lockdown. Nearly half of all landlords (49 per cent) recognise that tenants would be inclined to stay longer in the property, and a third (34 per cent) believe it would lead to fewer periods with no renter in the property. Commenting on the data, Home Made’s
founder and CEO, Asaf Navot, said: “We’re a nation of pet lovers – even more so following lockdown. But finding a rental property to suit you and your pet or pets can be tough. It is understandable many landlords are
concerned about potential damage to their properties as we know that pets can be hard on a home. But there are real upsides to renting to pet owners – they're often more conscientious tenants and they stay longer.
THE TOP 10 UK CITIES FOR PET FRIENDLY RENTAL PROPERTIES Ranking City % of pet friendly rental properties: 1 Plymouth 8% 2 Edinburgh 6% 3 Stoke 4% 4 Northampton 4% 5 Glasgow 4% 6 Manchester 3% 7 Bristol 3% 8 London 3% 9 Nottingham 3% 10 Liverpool 2%
ne of the most popular responses from the public to the lockdown has been the acquisition and keeping of new pets,
Ombudsman names social landlords guilty of ‘severe maladministration’
The Housing Ombudsman has continued its tougher and more transparent approach by naming and shaming the five social landlords it found guilty of ‘severe maladministration’. The Ombudsman named the five landlords as
the London boroughs of Camden and Newham, as well as the housing associations Together Housing, Cottsway Housing and the Hyde Group. Both Camden and Newham councils left
residents in poor living conditions for years, having failed to perform outstanding repairs. The
Ombudsman ordered both councils to pay thousands of pounds in compensation. Together Housing did not properly consult 29
supported housing residents before it withdrew support services; Cottsway gave a tenant the wrong tenancy agreement to sign, leading her to believe wrongly for 15 years that she had a preserved Right to Buy, while Hyde ignored a leaseholder’s queries about service charges for eight months and then failed to respond to her complaint, despite being asked to six times over four months.
16 | HMM December/January 2021 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
The Ombudsman plans to release further
details of cases that result in a ‘severe maladministration’ determination and will notify the Regulator of its findings, in line with their recently agreed memorandum of understanding. Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway
commented: “This report focused on the few but most serious failings where we investigate and make a finding of severe maladministration. Issues with complaint handling featured in all the cases, together with poor record keeping in several. “I have been encouraged by the response from
landlords in wanting to put things right and hope that by publishing these cases, the learning is shared more widely across the sector, to help improve services and benefit residents.”
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